Rejected: Her Revenge Plan

Chapter 7: The Secret

Xavier’s POV

I played the recording three times, my anger building with each listen.

"This is worse than I thought," I finally said, setting down my phone. "Your father isn't just being manipulated, he's being positioned as the fall guy."

"What do you mean?" Elara leaned forward, her green eyes wide with concern.

"Think about it. When this deal goes south and it will, who takes the blame? The beta who recommended it. Your father." I leaned back, studying her reaction. "Meanwhile, Silverpine gets exactly what they want, the humans get access to sacred territory, and Moonville implodes from within."

Her face turned pale, and I could see the moment the full implications hit her. Good. She needed to understand what we were really dealing with.

"We have to warn him," she said.

"With what evidence? A secretly recorded conversation?" I shook my head. "He would ask how you got it. Then you would have to explain our arrangement. Then he will forbid you from seeing me, lock down information, and we'll lose our inside access."

"So we just let him walk into this trap?"

"No. We gather enough evidence to expose the entire conspiracy before he signs anything." I pulled out my phone, zooming in on Moonville territory. "Show me exactly where the northwestern territory is."

She studied the map, then pointed to a large forested area along the border. "Here. It's been pack land for over two hundred years. Mostly wilderness, some old structures."

Old structures. My pulse quickened. "What kind of structures?"

"I don't know. I've never been there. It's considered sacred ground. Only the alpha and beta are allowed access."

Of course. Keep everyone away from what they're really hiding. "Keep the general pack population away from whatever's actually there."

"You think my father knows what he's selling?"

"I think your father knows there's something valuable there, but not what the humans really want it for." I zoomed in further, already mapping routes in my mind. "We need to see this territory ourselves. Tonight."

"That's impossible. It's restricted. If we're caught…"

"If we're caught, you're visiting sacred ground to pray for guidance about your broken bond. It is perfectly reasonable for a distraught pack member." I allowed myself a slight smile. "And I'm not planning on being caught."

"You can't come. You're not from the Moonville pack. Your scent alone would trigger alarms."

I had anticipated this objection. "I have ways of masking my scent. Ways of moving through territory undetected." I met her eyes, letting her see the certainty there. "I didn't become alpha of Shadowmere by playing it safe, Elara."

I used her first name deliberately, watching a shiver run through her. The broken bond was making her more receptive to me than she probably realized.

"When?" she asked, and I felt a flash of satisfaction. She was in.

"Midnight. Meet me at the eastern border access road. Wear dark clothes and bring a flashlight." I stood, dropping cash on the table. "And Elara? Don't tell anyone. Not Riley. Not your mother. No one."

"I know how this works."

"Do you?" I studied her for a long moment, reading the conflict in her expression. "Because you're still thinking like a loyal pack daughter. You need to start thinking like someone willing to burn everything down to find the truth."

I left before she could respond. She needed time to process, to commit fully to this path. And I needed to prepare.

Back at my car, I made three phone calls. The first to my beta, Marcus, updating him on the situation. The second to a contact who specialized in scent-masking compounds. The third to someone who owed me a favor and had access to ground-penetrating radar data for the region.

By the time I reached Shadowmere, I had confirmation of what I'd suspected. The northwestern territory showed unusual energy signatures. Exactly like the nexus point where my father had fallen.

I spent the afternoon studying satellite imagery, mapping patrol routes, and calculating optimal approach vectors. This wasn't my first infiltration mission. It wouldn't be my last.

At eleven, I dressed in black tactical gear and applied the scent-masking compound. It wouldn't hold up to direct contact, but from a distance, I had read it as nothing more than forest wildlife.

I arrived at the meeting point fifteen minutes early, positioning myself to observe Elara's approach. She arrived alone, dressed appropriately, moving with cautious determination. Good instincts.

At exactly midnight, I stepped from the shadows.

"Ready?" I asked.

"As I'll ever be."

We moved into the forest, and I led us along the route I'd mapped. The terrain matched my expectations, old growth forest, minimal undergrowth, good sight lines. I'd studied this area for hours. Every tree, every depression, every possible approach.

"How do you know where you're going?" she whispered.

"I studied satellite images. Mapped the terrain. Identified the most likely locations for structures." I glanced back at her. "I'm thorough."

We walked for thirty minutes. The forest changed around us, growing denser, older. The air pressure shifted. My wolf stirred uneasily, recognizing power when it felt it.

"Do you feel that?" Elara asked.

"Power and old magic. This land has been sacred for far longer than two hundred years." I stopped, pointing ahead to where my research suggested the structure would be. "There."

We approached carefully. I checked the carvings with my fingers.

"These are druid symbols," I said. "Pre-shifter. This land was sacred before any of our kind claimed it."

"What do druids have to do with anything?"

"Everything." I pulled out my phone, photographing from multiple angles. "Druid sites are nexus points. Places where the veil between worlds is thinnest. Where magic is strongest. If the humans know about this—"

"They'd want to study it. Harness it. Use it."

"Exactly." I moved around the structure, documenting everything. "This isn't about land development or scientific research. This is about power. Raw magical power that humans have been trying to access for centuries."

A branch snapped behind us.

Every instinct went on high alert. I grabbed Elara's arm, pulling her behind the stone structure. We crouched in the shadows, and I counted heartbeats. Two people approaching. No, three.

"—supposed to meet us here at midnight," a man said.

"He'll come. Thorne's never late." A woman's voice.

I felt Elara freeze beside me and knew she had recognized the speaker. Celeste.

I kept my grip on Elara's arm, a warning to stay absolutely still. My phone was already recording, capturing every word.

"Your father's taking a risk, inviting humans to sacred ground," the man continued.

"My father knows exactly what he's doing. Once we activate the nexus, Silverpine will control more power than any pack in the region." Celeste's laugh was cold. "Moonville's too stupid to realize what they're sitting on. By the time Robert figures it out, the contracts will be signed and the territory will be ours."

My hand tightened on Elara's arm.

More footsteps. Gregory Thorne's scent reached me even through my masking compound.

"Gregory." Celeste's voice turned respectful. "Everything's arranged?"

"Robert's reviewing the contracts tonight. He'll sign by Friday." Thorne's confidence grated. "The humans are prepared to move immediately once we have legal access."

"And the girl? Elara?"

"She’s broken and sad. No threat." Thorne paused, and I felt my muscles coil. "Though someone's been asking questions about you. Xavier Lockwood from Shadowmere."

So they knew I was looking. Good. Let them worry.

"Lockwood's always sniffing around where he doesn't belong," Celeste said dismissively. "Let him investigate. He'll find nothing."

Wrong. I'm finding everything.

"Nevertheless, we should accelerate the timeline. I don't like loose ends."

"Agreed. I'll push Alpha Vaughn to finalize everything within forty-eight hours."

Forty-eight hours. The timeline just compressed drastically.

They continued talking, but moved away from our position. I kept us hidden for ten minutes after silence returned, making sure they were truly gone.

"We need to leave. Now." I pulled Elara to her feet. No more stealth, speed was our priority. We ran through the forest, and I pushed the pace hard. She kept up better than I expected.

We didn't stop until we reached her car, both breathing hard from exertion and adrenaline.

"They're moving faster than I thought," I said, pulling out my phone to verify the recording had captured everything. "Forty-eight hours. That's all we have."

"To do what? We can't prove any of this."

"Yes, we can." I held up my phone. "I recorded everything. Their entire conversation."

Hope flared in her expression. "That's evidence. Real evidence."

"It's a start. But we need more. We need to connect Celeste directly to the drugging, to the manipulation, to everything." I met her eyes in the darkness. "Which means you need to get close to Julian again. Make him think you're considering reconciliation. Get him to tell you everything he knows."

"He won't know anything useful.."

"He's the future alpha. His father will brief him on the territory deal. We need details. Specifics. Names of everyone involved." I stepped closer, knowing I was asking her to do something that would hurt. "I know I'm asking a lot. But this is our shot."

She looked up at me, and I could see her measuring me. Trying to understand my real motivations.

"Why do you really care about this, Xavier? It's not just about protecting Shadowmere."

The question cut deeper than she knew. For a moment, I considered deflecting. Maintaining the careful distance I always kept but she deserved the truth. She was risking everything based on my word.

"I told you already but let me explain more, five years ago, my father stood at a druid nexus just like this one." The words came hard, scraping against old wounds. "Because someone promised him power if he granted them access. Because he believed them, and it destroyed him from the inside out until I had no choice but to end his life."

The memory burned. My father's eyes, wild with corrupted magic. The weight of the blade in my hand. The moment I became alpha by p*******e.

"I won't let that happen to another pack. I won't let these people win again."

Elara's expression softened with understanding and something else. Compassion, maybe.

"Okay," she said quietly. "I'll talk to Julian. I'll get you what you need."

Relief washed through me. "Thank you."

Without thinking, I reached out and brushed my fingers against her cheek. The contact sent unexpected electricity through me. She sucked in a breath, her pupils dilating.

"You're stronger than you know, Elara Monroe."

Then I forced myself to step back, to disappear into the darkness before I did something stupid like kiss her. She was a means to an end. A source of information. Nothing more.

I kept telling myself that all the way back to Shadowmere.

But the memory of her skin under my fingers, the way her breath had caught, the flare of attraction in her eyes, those stayed with me long into the night.