Rage

Scheme

LIAM

The door shuts with a dry click, and only then do I let out the breath I’ve been holding since halfway through the conversation.

What a f*****g mess...

I lift my eyes and find Oliver staring at me, feet up on the desk, fingers crossed over his chest.

"I liked her," he says.

"I didn’t," I reply flatly.

"Oh, come on. She’s smart, impulsive, nosy, and hot as hell."

"Still don’t like her."

"So that means I can go ahead and try to win her over? Maybe get a kiss from that mouth eventually?"

I shoot him my best murderous glare. Oliver answers with a smirk. He tilts his head slightly and narrows his eyes.

"She’s your mate, isn’t she?"

Is there anything this bastard doesn’t see?

"Yeah, she is," I say with a sigh.

"What a horrible death, man."

I sigh again and rub my hands over my face.

"When did you find out?" Oliver asks

"Last night at the bar. The moment I looked into her eyes." It hit like a punch to the gut. My bones knew before my mind did. And everything inside me — the man, the wolf, the killer — knew instantly: she was mine. And also knew it was f****d.

"So you went to the bar waiting for my signal to take care of Elijah Mason, and in the meantime, you found your mate? That’s so f*****g romantic."

I get up abruptly and go to the crystal cabinet in the corner to find something to drink. I grab the strongest bottle I see and fill a glass to the brim. The liquid burns on the way down and does absolutely nothing.

"Now that we got that out of the way," Oliver begins calmly, "'I killed him'? What the f**k?"

I return to my desk and take another sip. Still useless.

"I knew she wouldn’t do anything about it."

"Seriously? What if she was wearing a f*****g wire?"

"She wasn’t."

"You couldn’t have been sure."

"I was. You should’ve seen her last night at the bar. She was so pissed off about Elijah

Mason walking free she would’ve done the job herself if she’d had the chance."

"Good thing she didn’t. Taking that bastard out was incredibly satisfying."

I drink again. This time, it’s finally starting to kick in.

"She smelled you at the Vanderbilt crime scene. I told you that would bite us in the ass," Oliver says.

"Are you giving me a lecture now?"

"Feels like you could use a series of them, my friend. First, in all your righteous fury, you forgot to use the magical essence to mask your scent before entering the building..."

"I did it afterward."

"And you saw how well that worked."

"Only a werewolf with an unusually sharp nose could’ve picked up my scent there."

Oliver stands and pours himself a drink.

"And that very werewolf just happened to be the one you met last night at the bar. You even asked her what kind of justice she preferred? You might as well have confessed. Oh wait — you just did!"

He takes a long sip, shakes his head, and looks at me.

"What the hell is going on with you, Havoc? You find your mate and suddenly start making mistake after mistake?"

I stare at him in silence. Part of me wants to tell him to shut the f**k up. The other knows he’s right.

"We need someone inside the police, right?" I counter. "She’d be perfect for that. That’s what I thought, at least.

"So you met your mate last night and already wanted to recruit her to our cause."

It wasn’t a question, so I don’t answer. Oliver watches me for a few moments, all the humor gone from his eyes.

"She’s going to destroy you, you understand that?" he says. "That she-wolf is a walking minefield. First chance she gets, she’ll take you down, me too, and everything we’ve spent years planning."

"We won’t let that happen."

"I won’t let that happen. If I see you slipping because of her, I’ll kill her."

"You wouldn’t dare..." I growl, my fangs pushing through.

"Oh, I’d dare," Oliver growls back, his own fangs showing. Dark veins rise along his neck and his eyes gain a shadowy green glow. "It’s my job to stop you from losing yourself, no matter what.

For a moment, all I see in Oliver is the pain of someone who’s already seen me lose control once before. He’s not bluffing. And that’s exactly what scares me

"How about we focus on what’s happening instead of what you think might happen?" I snap back.

Oliver stares at me for another second, like he’s about to pounce and tear my throat out.

Then he looks away, downs the rest of his drink in long gulps, and takes a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Okay," he finally says. "Let’s keep Evalyn’s death as a last resort. For now, we need damage control."

"She knows I killed Elijah. And she suspects I did the same with Vanderbilt."

"She won’t stop until she proves the latter. Bro, she’s going to be on our backs, and that’s going to screw everything up."

We fall into a heavy silence.

"We can’t let that happen," I say. "Now that we’ve started, we can’t stop. So, what’s the solution?"

"I have an idea.

"Finally. What is it?"

Oliver takes a moment before answering.

"Look, she’s on our trail and she won’t let up. So why not keep her on our trail — but for a different reason?"

I get it instantly.

If we can’t beat her… we bring her in.

EVALYN

I spend the rest of the morning trying to be productive.

I cross-reference Benedict’s data, map out routes, compare reports, review interrogations, look for connections. In the end, the only thing I find is that Benedict’s companies provided services to the Havoc Corporation.

Which means absolutely nothing.

I decide to take a break for lunch. When I come back, I’m told Charles wants to see me in his office.

With a sigh, I head over there. The second my hand touches the doorknob, I feel it. His scent. The bond pulsing under my skin like an old burn someone just rubbed salt into.

I open the door.

Sitting in the chairs are Charles, Liam, and Oliver.

Shit.

Did they come to complain that I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong and hit them with accusations I couldn’t prove?

I try to keep my face neutral, but my body reacts before I do. His presence pulls my gaze like a magnet. The bond stretches inside me, alive, hungry, making me want to step back… or two steps forward.

"Look," I begin, "before you…"

"Maybe it’s best if you listen first, Evalyn," my boss says gently. "Please, have a seat."

I sit down, suspicious. If this isn’t what I think it is, then what is this meeting about?

"This is Liam Havoc, Alpha of Havoc Industries, and this is Oliver Calwyn, his Beta and attorney."

So my superior doesn’t know what I pulled off.

I play along. "Nice to meet you both. I’m Evalyn Stone."

Oliver’s smug little smirk at all this theater makes me want to punch that perfect face of his.

"They’re here to share some information about the Benedict Vanderbilt case," my superior continues. "Since you’re in charge of the investigation, I thought you should be part of this conversation."

I nod in acknowledgment. What the hell are they planning?

"Well, as we were telling Colonel Charles before you arrived," Liam begins, all formal, "Benedict’s company provided certain services to mine. But some time ago, I started to suspect some irregular activity and decided to look into it."

His voice reaches me perfectly clear, but every part of me is too focused on the deep tone, the way he moves like he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and still has time to notice me. Damn bond.

He pushes a few folders in my direction. I open them. Inside are bank statements, accounting spreadsheets. Where is he going with this?

"My magohackers found some suspicious activity. Internal spreadsheets from shell companies with payments to coded names, international transfers to offshore accounts. Plus several documents encrypted with advanced magic."

"Was all of this obtained legally?" Charles asks, and I nearly roll my eyes.

"Do you want results, or are you worried about protocol, sir?" Oliver fires back, of course.

"Go on."

"All of this suggested Benedict was involved in shady business," Liam says. "Our crypto-archmage was only able to decrypt the most important files earlier this morning."

He pulls up something on a computer and shows us the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen. Several nymphs, chained up, paraded in some kind of auction, masked men placing higher and higher bids.

My stomach churns. I close my eyes for a second so I don’t throw up on the desk. When I open them again, Liam’s eyes are already on me. Locked. And for a moment, it’s not the CEO or the vigilante staring back. It’s the mate. My mate. As if he feels everything I do, just as strongly.

"You’re telling me Benedict was involved in trafficking magical creatures?" Charles asks.

"I’m showing you," Liam replies. "More than that, he also seemed involved in drug trafficking and other banned magical substances, as well as being active in the black market."

Charles goes through the folders along with me. But something’s off. The folders are too clean. The videos are in perfect sequence. The spreadsheets have conditional formatting and red highlights. Like someone had carefully studied all this. For days.

Everything here screams preparation. Like he anticipated every step. And deep down, I hate to admit it, but I find that attractive. His control. His command. The fact that, even when I don’t trust him, my body still insists on recognizing him as mine.

"This morning," I repeat, like I’m tasting a lie on my tongue. "Your hacker managed to crack the encryption this morning."

"That’s right." Oliver nods, crisp, sharp, precise. His green eyes daring me to challenge him. "We came to report it right after."

It can’t be a coincidence. This morning I go to their office and accuse them of Vanderbilt’s murder, and now they show up with this mountain of evidence?

"What exactly do you want with all this?" I ask, sharper than I intended.

"We thought this information might help. After all, if he was involved in that kind of thing, then he could’ve been killed by a rival or someone else tied to it," Liam says, calm and contained.

Of course. A masterful way to redirect suspicion away from himself.

"In that case, thank you very much," I say. "We’ll go over the documents carefully and…"

"That’s not all," Liam says.

"What else?"

"I don’t want my company’s name linked to this sort of thing, so I want to help with the investigation."

"Excuse me?"

"We have access you don’t. Evidence you’d need days just to get a warrant for. We can make things easier," Liam explains.

"There’s no way a civilian is getting involved in this…"

"They’re not just civilians, Evalyn," Charles cuts in.

"Come again?"

"Mr. Liam and Mr. Oliver have police academy training and forensic certification. They just never took the job."

"And why would a billionaire CEO and his lawyer go to the police academy?"

Oliver shrugs. "What can I say? We like learning new things."

"I have another request," Liam begins. "You’ll see in the documents several references to an organization called The Web. It’s likely the network that manages the trafficking of magical creatures, drugs, weapons, and more. From what I saw, there are infiltrators everywhere. So I’d like only me, Oliver, and Evalyn to take the lead on this case."

"We haven’t even accepted your proposal and you’re already choosing who gets to work with you?" I ask, scandalized.

Of course he wants to work with me. It’s not just the investigation. It’s the bond. He feels it as much as I do. Maybe even more. And using that to his advantage is a dangerous game he clearly knows how to play far better than I do.

"Actually, I’m ready to accept, Evalyn," my superior says.

I pause just to stop myself from punching the table.

"Can we talk privately, Charles?" I ask, holding back.

"Of course. Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse us," Charles says, getting up.

"Don’t worry," Liam says. "We can wait outside."

Once they’re gone, and I’m sure they’re not listening with their ears pressed to the door, I turn to my boss.

"I told you this morning I picked up Liam Havoc’s scent at the crime scene, and now you want me to work with him?"

"You’re the detective I trust the most here."

"That’s not the point. Don’t you see this is just a smokescreen to stop us from investigating him?"

"Evalyn, first, you haven’t brought me anything solid so far. Second, we’re talking about dismantling a complex, multifaceted trafficking network. What good is proving whether Liam was or wasn’t involved in Vanderbilt’s murder if he has so much to offer us?"

"You say that so naturally it’s almost hard to believe."

"If you want to keep investigating the guy, go ahead. But work with him on this first. Then you arrest him, deal?"

"Fine. I accept, under one condition."

"And what’s that?"

"That I’m able to confirm their alibis for the night of the murder."

"Alright, go ahead."

I stand and call the two of them back into the room.

"Where were you on the night Benedict was killed?"

"Wait a second. This turned into an interrogation? Just like that?" Oliver snaps.

"I need to know if I can trust who I’ll be working with."

"I spent the night with Nathalie Ashworth, socialite and daughter of the owner of Ashworth Enterprises," Liam says, reluctantly.

Something breaks inside me. A sharp sting runs through my ribs like I’m being pulled apart from the inside.

It’s not jealousy.

It’s the bond, screaming that he’s mine, even if I don’t want him. Even if he chose someone else. Even if he rejects me.

"And I had a wonderful night with Victoria Winters. Daughter of Sylvia Winters, COO of Winters Pharmaceuticals," says Oliver, with a hint of pride.

"Alright, I’ll check your alibis and let you know if we’re going to work together."

After some final pleasantries, they leave.

I go back to my desk and make a few calls. In the end, their alibis check out.

Looks like I really am going to have to work with Liam Havoc to take down a magical creature trafficking ring.

The problem is, working with him might take me down too.