“And let me make one thing very clear: I’m not trying to be Richard. I’m just trying to help people. And if your mind immediately equates that with Richard, then maybe that’s the best compliment a leader could hope for. Because if compassion, clarity, and conviction remind you of him, then maybe we should all be trying a little harder to live up to that standard.”
A few Alphas looked away. One nodded. Vexen’s face had gone stone still.
By the time the forum ended, the tension in the room had cracked like a plate dropped on stone.
Simon fell into step beside me in the hallway, still clutching a half–empty coffee cup like he’d forgotten it was there. “You just chewed through three egos like they were rawhide,” he muttered, glancing sideways at me. “Didn’t even blink.”
I kept walking, adrenaline still humming beneath my skin. “They brought an uneducated stick to a gunfight.”
He gave a low whistle. “You didn’t just hold your own. You dismantled them–quoted precedent, cited their own advisors, and still managed to sound like you were doing them a favor.”
“Maybe I was,” I said, glancing ahead. “If they can’t handle a few hard truths in front of their peers, they’ve got no business negotiating with foreign packs.”
Simon let out a low laugh. “You know what that was, right?”
“What?”
“Alpha energy.”
I snorted, but I didn’t deny it.
I let out a breath and smiled. “They never expect a clean kill.”
Back in my suite, the envelope waited like a trap. No markings. Just my name.
Inside: a photo of my parents. Younger. Smiling. Someone had scrawled “TRAITORS” across the bottom in harsh black ink.
My breath stalled. I stared, one hand braced on the edge of the desk.
Then I moved–slow, careful, deliberate. I folded the photo, locked it in my bottom drawer, and sat down like I hadn’t just felt the floor shift under me.
My hands shook as I organized the briefing notes for Richard.
His office smelled like coffee and cedar. He looked up the moment I entered.
“Tampering,” I said, handing him the folder. “Vote drafts being altered before signoff. Subtle changes in phrasing. Enough to shift intent.”
He flipped through the pages. His jaw tightened. “You traced it?”
I nodded. “To a device with known admin access.”
His shoulders stiffened, but he said nothing.
“They’re coming after you now,” he said.
I stood taller. “Let them.”
He rose, came around the desk. We were barely a breath apart.
“I should’ve kept you out of this,” he said.
1/2
Chapter 63
+25 BONUS
I shook my head. “You couldn’t have. I’m not your shadow, Richard. I’m part of this.”
His gaze searched mine. There was something unspoken in it, some war he hadn’t yet let himself lose.
I took a step closer. “And I need you to stand beside me when the arrows start to fly.” Emma met me outside the data center. She was already scrolling through logs, her brow furrowed.
“There,” she said. “That entry–it bypassed two layers of encryption and hit the live policy bank.”
I squinted at the metadata. “Device ID?”
She pointed. I recognized it instantly.
Adam.
Of course it was him.
I printed the file, slid it into a folder, and snapped the cover shut.
“I’ll take it from here.”
“Want backup?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “Just a door I don’t plan to knock on.”
I moved fast, every step sharper than the last. My heels echoed down the corridor, my pulse louder than the click of the latch as I turned it.
Adam looked up from his desk, startled.
I didn’t give him time to recover.
I stepped inside, folder in hand, and shut the door behind me.
“We need to talk,” I said, and my voice didn’t shake.
Not even a little.
