Chapter4:The Truth Before Dawn
964 Words
The next two days passed in a blur of preparation I barely participated in.
Flowers were chosen. Seating was arranged. The ceremony would be held in the forest clearing where pack rituals were traditionally conducted. Iris handled most of it while I stayed in the archives, going through Kieran's files over and over, looking for anything I'd missed.
The anonymous messenger from the east garden never contacted me again.
I tried calling the number she'd texted from. Disconnected.
Which meant either she'd been scared off, or she'd been dealt with.
I tried not to think about which one.
On Thursday night — the night before the wedding — I got another text.
Unknown number. Different from the first threat, different from the messenger.
Tomorrow you marry him. Tonight, listen to what your husband really said about you.
Below it was an audio file.
My hands were shaking as I hit play.
The recording was muffled. Like it had been made secretly, hidden recorder in a pocket or bag.
But the voices were clear enough.
Kieran's voice: "You said she would be safe. You PROMISED me she'd be safe if I went through with this."
A second voice. Female. Cold. Unfamiliar.
"She IS safe. As long as she doesn't find out what you really are. What WE really are."
"This was a mistake. I should never have agreed to this."
"It's too late for regrets, Kieran. You made your choice. Now play your part, or we both lose everything."
The recording cut off abruptly.
Like someone had decided that was all I was allowed to hear.
I played it again.
And again.
What you really are.
What WE really are.
Kieran had been working with someone. Someone who knew things about him that I didn't. Someone who'd made him promises about my safety.
Someone female.
I stared at my phone.
Then I texted back.
Who is this? Who was he talking to?
The response came immediately.
Ask your new sister-in-law.
My blood didn’t just run cold.
It froze.
Iris.
I knew that voice.
I’d heard it a hundred times.
Trusted it.
Iris.
I sat on the edge of my bed and tried to breathe.
Iris had been helping me. She'd been the one person in this pack I'd thought I could trust.
But she'd been lying to me from the beginning.
She'd known what Kieran was doing. She'd been part of it. And she'd let me believe she was just as confused as I was.
What you really are.
What did that mean?
What had Kieran been hiding?
What had Iris been hiding?
I stood up. I was going to confront her. Right now. I was going to—
Someone knocked on my door.
I froze.
"Elara? It's me."
Caden.
I shoved my phone under my pillow and opened the door.
He stood in the hallway, still dressed from whatever meeting he'd been in, looking at me with an expression I couldn't read.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
I stepped aside.
He walked past me, then stopped in the middle of the room and turned around.
"I know you don’t trust me."
Not defensive.
Just… certain.
I didn't respond.
"And I know you're investigating Kieran's death. Don't look surprised—you're not as subtle as you think you are." He paused. "I also know you found financial irregularities tied to Marcus."
My heart stopped.
"How—"
"Because I've been investigating the same thing for the last six months." He looked at me steadily. His gaze didn’t waver.
"Long before you knew there was something to find." Since the day Kieran told me what he'd found.
I stared at him.
"You knew," I said. "And you did nothing."
"I did nothing publicly," he corrected. "Because if I'd moved too fast, whoever's behind this would have buried the evidence and disappeared. I needed time to build a case that would actually stick."
"Kieran didn't have time."
Something crossed his face. Pain, maybe. Or guilt.
"I know," he said quietly. "And I'll carry that for the rest of my life. But if you think I'm protecting the people who killed my brother—" He stopped. Took a breath. "I'm not. I'm trying to destroy them. Carefully. Completely. So they can't hurt anyone else."
I wanted to believe him.
I wanted to believe him so badly it hurt.
But Iris's voice in that recording kept echoing in my head.
Play your part, or we both lose everything.
"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked.
"Because tomorrow you're going to become my wife. And I need you to know that whatever you think about me—I'm on your side." He paused. "I know you found Kieran's files. I know what's on that USB drive. And I know you think I might be involved."
"Are you?"
"No."
"Then prove it."
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he pulled something out of his jacket pocket and held it out.
A second USB drive.
"Everything I've gathered over the last six months," he said. "Names, evidence, communications. Including things Kieran didn't find." He paused. "The person giving Marcus and Rowan orders isn't who you think it is."
I took the drive with shaking hands.
"Who is it?"
"Look at the files. Then decide if you still want to marry me tomorrow." He moved toward the door, then stopped. "And Elara? Be careful who you trust. Even the people who seem like allies."
Then he left.
I stood there holding the USB drive and thought about Iris's voice on that recording.
Play your part.
I plugged in Caden's drive.
Opened the first folder.
And in that moment—
everything I thought I understood about Kieran…
about this pack…
about who I could trust—
shattered.
- Writer
