Chapter Seven: The Man Who Killed Him
1169 Words
I sat completely still, staring at the blank screen.
Caden was rigid beside me. "Play it again."
I did.
We listened to that voice three more times.
And on the third time, I knew.
I knew exactly who had killed Kieran.
Not Marcus. Not a hired rogue.
Not just anyone.
Owen.
Caden's best friend. His most trusted enforcer. The man who'd been by his side for over a decade.
The man currently in charge of our security. The man standing closest to us when the shots were fired.
"No," Caden said quietly. "That's not—that can't be—"
"Listen to it again."
He did.
And I watched his face as the realization hit. As everything he thought he knew shattered.
When the recording ended, he stood up abruptly and walked to the window. His hands were clenched into fists.
"He was in my office this morning," Caden said, voice tight. "Helping me plan security protocols after the shooting.
Looking me in the eye and lying."
"He's been lying for years."
"I trusted him." The words sounded like something breaking. He turned to look at me. "I trusted him with everything. With pack security. With my life. With—" He stopped. "He knew I was investigating. I told him six months ago. He helped me gather evidence. He—"
"He was feeding information back to Nora," I finished. "Keeping her one step ahead."
Caden's expression was something I'd never seen before. Not anger. Not grief. Something colder.
"He killed my brother," he said quietly.
And this time, there was no emotion in his voice at all.
Which was worse.
"Stood at his funeral. Looked me in the eye and helped me search for the truth. All while knowing he was the one who'd—"
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
We sat in silence for a long time.
Then Caden said, very carefully, "We can't let him know we know."
"What?"
"Owen is dangerous. He's been inside our security for years. He knows every protocol, every weakness. If we confront him directly, he'll either disappear or—" He stopped. Looked at me. "You're the primary target now. As Luna. As someone who inherited your mother's abilities. If Owen knows we've figured it out—"
"He'll come for me."
"Yes."
I thought about Owen. Friendly, competent Owen. Who'd checked on me after Kieran died. Who'd smiled and made jokes and been nothing but professional.
Who'd murdered my husband in cold blood and then helped cover it up.
"So what do we do?" I asked.
Caden was quiet for a moment.
Then: "We set a trap."
The plan was simple.
Tomorrow, at the council meeting, I would formally request a financial audit. As Luna, I had that right. Marcus and Rowan would object, but they couldn't refuse without looking guilty.
The audit would reveal the embezzlement.
Marcus and Rowan would panic.
And when they did, they'd contact Nora.
And Nora would give orders.
Probably to Owen.
"We let him make his move," Caden said. "We make you look vulnerable. Isolated. And when he comes for you—"
"We catch him."
"And we make him talk. About Nora. About The Vault. About everything." His jaw was tight. "Then we burn the whole network down."
It was a good plan.
It was also terrifying.
"I'll be bait," I said.
Saying it out loud made it real.
"Protected bait." He looked at me steadily. "I won't let him touch you. I promise."
"You can't promise that."
"Yes I can." His voice was absolutely certain. "Because I'm not losing you the way I lost Kieran."
It didn’t sound like a promise.
It sounded like a vow.
Something in my chest tightened.
We looked at each other across the small space between us, and I realized this was the first time we'd been truly alone since the wedding. The first time we'd had to acknowledge what we'd become to each other.
Husband and wife.
Alpha and Luna.
Partners in a war that could kill us both.
"I need to tell you something," I said quietly.
"What?"
"I doubted you. When I first found Kieran's files. When I saw that you knew about the embezzlement and hadn't acted immediately." I paused. "I thought you might be part of it."
"I know."
"You don't seem angry about that."
"Why would I be angry? You were being smart." He stood and walked over to where I sat. "You didn't know me. You had no reason to trust me. And trust needs to be earned."
"Have you earned it?"
The question felt bigger than it should have.
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said, very quietly, "I'm trying to."
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Not with everything unraveling inside my head.
I lay in the enormous bed in our quarters—Caden had insisted I take the bedroom while he took the couch in the sitting room, despite my protests that we were married now and that seemed ridiculous—and stared at the ceiling.
My mother had been murdered.
I'd inherited some kind of ability I didn't fully understand.
Kieran had loved me but also used me.
Owen was a killer working for a conspiracy that spanned decades.
And tomorrow, I was going to walk into a council meeting and start a war.
Around 2am, I gave up on sleep and walked into the sitting room.
Caden was still awake, sitting at the desk with his laptop open, going through files.
He looked up when I came in. "Can't sleep?"
"No."
"Neither can I." He gestured to the chair across from him. "Want to strategize or just sit quietly and pretend the world isn't ending?"
I almost smiled. "Option two sounds nice."
"Good choice."
I sat down. We didn't talk. We just existed in the same space while he worked and I tried to process everything that had happened in the last five days.
After about twenty minutes, he spoke.
"For what it's worth," he said, not looking up from his laptop, "I'm glad you said yes. To the marriage."
"Even though I spent three days thinking you might have killed Kieran?"
"Especially because of that." Now he looked at me. "It means you're not stupid. And I need someone who isn't stupid if we're going to survive this."
"That's possibly the least romantic thing anyone's ever said to me."
"I'm not trying to be romantic. I'm trying to be honest." He paused. "But if you want romance, I can—"
"No," I said quickly. "Honest is fine. Honest is good."
He nodded and went back to his laptop.
And I sat there in the quiet and thought about the fact that somewhere between the funeral and right now, Caden Blackwood had become the only person in this world I actually trusted.
Which was either the smartest decision I’d ever made…
or the one that would get me killed.
I supposed I'd find out soon enough.
- Writer
