Chapter 21
1093 Words
The Name They Buried
The rain started falling harder.
Not enough to drown the clearing, but enough that the steady drip through the trees became a constant sound around them, water sliding from branches and darkening the gravel beneath everyone’s feet. The cold dampness clung to Kaia’s skin, but she barely noticed it anymore.
Her attention stayed locked on Rowan.
He hadn’t moved closer since arriving, though every line of tension in his body looked like he wanted to. The men near the building had gone silent again after Rowan snapped at the one who spoke out of turn, but the damage was already done. Kaia could still see the unease on their faces, the way their eyes kept drifting toward the cracked wall behind her like they wished they could seal it shut again before she saw too much.
Too late for that.
Something terrible happened here.
She knew it now.
The realization sat heavily in her chest as she looked between Rowan and the abandoned structure, trying to force the pieces together into something that made sense. But the harder she tried, the worse the feeling under her ribs became, because none of this felt recent.
This wasn’t some new threat.
This was old.
Old enough to rot into the walls.
“Talk to me,” she said quietly.
Rowan dragged a hand across the back of his neck, rainwater catching along his knuckles before dripping to the ground. The gesture looked tired. Frustrated. Like he was trying to figure out which truth would hurt her least.
“There’s nothing in that building you need to see.”
Kaia let out a hollow laugh. “You keep saying things like that after I’ve already found it.”
His jaw tightened again.
For a second she thought he might shut down completely, retreat back into that cold distance he used whenever he wanted control of a conversation again. Instead, his gaze flicked toward the damaged wall behind her before returning to her face, and something inside his expression shifted.
Resignation.
That scared her more than the yelling had.
“Years ago,” he said slowly, “before you came here… before any of this…” His voice roughened slightly before he continued. “Someone disappeared.”
The clearing went completely still.
Even the men near the building seemed to brace for what was coming next.
Kaia’s stomach tightened hard.
“Disappeared?” she repeated carefully.
Nobody disappeared in packs.
Not without people noticing.
Not without rumors spreading.
Not without bodies eventually turning up somewhere.
Unless the wrong people made sure they didn’t.
Rowan’s eyes held hers for a long second before he answered. “She was one of ours.”
The words landed heavily enough that Kaia felt them physically.
A woman.
Her mind immediately latched onto that detail harder than anything else.
The metallic smell drifting from the building suddenly felt stronger.
“What happened to her?” Kaia asked.
The silence stretched too long.
And suddenly she didn’t think she wanted the answer anymore.
One of the men near the structure shifted uneasily before looking away altogether, and Kaia caught the movement out of the corner of her eye. Shame. That’s what it looked like.
Not fear.
Not guilt.
Shame.
“She found something she wasn’t supposed to,” Rowan said quietly.
Kaia felt the words settle coldly against her skin.
The rain continued falling steadily around them, soft against leaves and gravel and old wood, but the clearing somehow felt quieter than before, like even the forest itself was listening now.
“What kind of something?”
Rowan’s throat worked once before he answered. “Evidence.”
Kaia stared at him.
For a second, nothing connected properly in her head. The fight. The surveillance. The hidden building. The way Rowan forced her out of the pack like he was trying to push her away from something instead of punishing her.
Then understanding hit hard enough to make her chest tighten painfully.
“This isn’t about enemies outside the pack,” she said slowly.
Nobody answered.
They didn’t need to.
Oh God.
Her gaze snapped toward the men around the clearing again, really looking at them this time. Not attackers. Not random wolves guarding territory.
People protecting a secret.
People terrified of it getting out.
“She found out someone in the pack killed her,” Kaia whispered.
The reaction was immediate.
One man swore softly under his breath.
Another looked away.
And Rowan closed his eyes for half a second like hearing it out loud made it more real somehow.
Kaia felt something cold crawl down her spine.
“How long?” she asked quietly.
Nobody answered.
Her voice sharpened. “How long have you known?”
“Kaia—”
“How. Long.”
Rowan finally looked back at her fully. “Long enough.”
The answer punched straight through her patience.
“Are you kidding me?” Her voice cracked sharply across the clearing. “You let me stay there knowing this was happening?”
“It wasn’t active anymore.”
The second the words left his mouth, Rowan looked like he regretted them.
Kaia stared at him in disbelief. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.” His voice dropped lower. “It’s supposed to explain why I panicked when it started again.”
Again.
That word hit harder than anything else.
Kaia’s pulse started pounding unevenly in her throat. “Started again,” she repeated slowly.
Rowan didn’t answer immediately.
And then she understood.
The pictures.
The messages.
The watching.
Whoever killed that woman thought Kaia found something too.
The realization hollowed the air out of her lungs so fast she actually took a small step backward before catching herself.
“Oh my God.”
Rowan moved instinctively at the sight of it, taking a step forward before stopping himself. “That’s why I forced you to leave.”
Kaia laughed once, but it sounded shaky now. “You could’ve just told me.”
“They were already watching you.”
“And you thought throwing me out publicly was better?”
“Yes.”
The certainty in his answer stunned her into silence.
Not because he sounded cold.
Because he sounded terrified.
The rain continued pouring steadily around them as Kaia looked at him standing there in the middle of the clearing, soaked through and exhausted and carrying a fear big enough to destroy everything between them just to keep her alive.
And somehow—
that hurt worst of all.
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