The Mate He Left Behind

Breaking Point

The heavy oak door of the archive room clicked shut behind us as Marcus hauled Vane out into the corridor like a sack of grain.

"Get your hands off me!" Vane choked out, his voice cracking as he stumbled over his own boots. "The council will hear about this! You can't just"

"Save your breath for the executioner, Vane," Marcus snapped, shoving the traitor hard against the stone wall. "Move. Before I decide to snap your neck right here in the hallway."

I walked a few paces behind them, keeping my hands shoved deep into the pockets of my tactical jacket. The adrenaline from the showdown was slowly fading, leaving behind a sharp, buzzing tension in my veins.

Caleb slowed his long strides to match mine, his broad shoulder brushing against my arm. His green eyes searched my face in the dim torchlight. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I murmured, glancing up at him. "Just processing the fact that we actually caught him red-handed."

"It's not over yet," Caleb warned quietly, his jaw tightening. "Vane is just one piece of the puzzle. The senior elders who were sitting at that table with him are still out there, and they're going to panic once they realize their puppet has been locked in the pack dungeons."

"Let them panic," I retorted with a faint smirk. "Panic makes people make mistakes. That's exactly how we get the rest of them to expose themselves before the full moon assembly."

Caleb stopped walking, turning to look down at me with a mix of fierce pride and deep frustration. "You really don't know when to quit, do you? Most people would want to lock the door and hide after a stunt like that."

"I've spent five years hiding, Caleb. I'm done with it," I replied evenly, meeting his intense gaze without flinching.

Before Caleb could answer, Marcus jogged back up the corridor from the lower dungeon stairs.

"Vane is secured in maximum security cell four," Marcus reported, breathing a little heavy. "No communication in or out. I doubled the guard rotation down there just in case any of his sympathizers try a stupid rescue attempt."

"Good work, Marcus," Caleb nodded approvingly. "What about the elders?"

"They scattered the second Vane was pinned to the bookshelf," Marcus smirked. "They're probably burning their correspondence files as we speak. But my trackers are keeping eyes on their residential quarters."

"Good. Keep them sweating," Caleb ordered. "We drop the hammer on all of them during the full moon gathering in forty-eight hours."

"Got it, Alpha," Marcus saluted sharply, then turned and headed back toward the guard post.

The hallway fell quiet again, save for the echo of our boots against the stone. We reached the private residential wing, and Caleb unlocked the heavy double doors of our suite, ushering me inside before stepping in and locking it tight behind us.

Inside, the suite was warm and dead quiet.

"Is Leo still asleep?" I asked, shrugging off my tactical jacket and tossing it onto the armchair.

"Out like a light," Caleb said, walking over to check the adjoining bedroom door before coming back to stand right in front of me. He reached out, his large, warm hands gently gripping my waist. "You should get some sleep, Maya. It's almost three in the morning."

"I'm not tired," I whispered, resting my hands against the solid wall of his chest. I looked up into his striking green eyes, the lingering tension of the night wrapping around us like a physical weight. "Every time I close my eyes, I keep replaying what Vane said. What if the council still tries to pull something during the assembly, even without Vane?"

"Let them try," Caleb murmured fiercely, his thumb tracing the curve of my hip. His voice dropped into a low, rumbling growl. "I told you before, Maya. I will burn this entire pack to ash before I let anyone take our son, or before I let anyone separate us ever again. Do you trust me?"

I stared at him for a long moment, watching the raw, unadulterated devotion burning in his eyes. All the walls, all the doubt, all the fear of the past five years melted away into nothingness.

"I trust you, Caleb," I breathed out softly.

He didn't wait another second. His head dipped down, capturing my lips in a deep, hungry kiss that swept away every remaining ounce of hesitation. My arms instinctively looped around his neck, pulling him closer as his strong arms swept me up off my feet, carrying me effortlessly toward the bedroom as the storm outside finally gave way to a quiet, breaking dawn.