The pounding at the door rattled the walls, each strike louder than the last. I could feel the pressure building, the demand for answers, for something more than the lies we had been living with. Leo stood across from me, his eyes pleading for me to stick to the story, to claim that my name was Lourdes, but I was done with the facade. My name was Mitchell, and I wasn’t hiding behind lies anymore.
“Selene owes me answers,” I whispered, my voice hard with resolve. This had to stop. I moved toward the door, but just as my hand reached for the handle, Merripen’s voice—my wolf—stopped me cold.
“Don’t,” she said, her words rippling through my mind like ice. “Marcus has chosen to act against us once more. He’s trying to expose us. We must show them he’s alive, Mitchell. We deserve to be heard,
