The shift is subtle at first, so small it would be easy to miss if I were not already listening for it, the way pressure changes when something moves from abstract opposition to intent, and I feel it settle under my skin as we stand watching the uncut footage ripple outward.
My tablet vibrates once.
Then again.
Sally stills mid motion, her fingers hovering above the screen as her eyes narrow. “That’s not reaction traffic.”
Ben turns slightly, scanning the room the way he does when instinct tells him something is off. “Then what is it.”
I glance down and see the notification header before I open it, because it is not routed through the usual channels and it is not flagged as internal or external, just direct, stripped of metadata that would make it traceable at a glance.
Unknown sender.
I do not open it immediately.
That alone tells me everything.
Ben notices the pause. “Savannah.”
“I know,” I say quietly, and then I open it.
There is no preamble.
No flourish.
Just a sentence, precise and unadorned.
You crossed a line that does not forgive.
My wolf rises instantly, not in panic but in recognition, something cold and focused tightening under my ribs as instinct flags this for what it is, not anger, not bluster, but intent.
Sally steps closer. “What does it say.”
I tilt the screen toward her without handing it over, because my fingers have gone very still. “That.”
She inhales sharply. “That’s not public rhetoric.”
“No,” I agree. “It’s not meant to be.”
Ben’s jaw tightens. “Do not reply.”
“I won’t.”
The tablet vibrates again before the silence can settle.
Second message.
We know where you sleep.
The room goes quiet in a way that is different from before, not tense with anticipation but sharp with assessment, and I feel every eye on me even though no one speaks, because this is the moment when threat becomes logistical.
Sally swears softly and reaches for her own tablet. “Source.”
“Internal,” Ben says at the same time, and we look at each other because we both recognize the pattern, the timing, the access required to make that statement anything but empty.
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Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Omega and The Arrogant Alpha (by Kylie)
Very great read. Could have done with out the last few chapters....
Love the story. How can I read the remaining?...