Jax’s hands shook slightly, though he masked it with the steady grip he always carried. Shadows from the estate stretched long in the late afternoon, and he felt them move against him in shapes he didn’t recognize. His wolf snarled low in his chest, uneasy, sensing a wrongness that pierced deeper than anything he’d encountered before.
“Where is she?” he muttered under his breath, eyes scanning every corner, every shadow. The thought of Raya, trapped somewhere while the pack bowed to an imposter, made his blood boil.
Lyra’s mimicry had been flawless, flawless enough to fool Derek, the entire pack, even the closest allies. But not Jax. His wolf knew. His senses screamed at him. She wasn’t Raya. Every subtle movement, every shift in scent, every blink of the eyes wrong.
Wrong.
The word ec
