When we are one

Chapter 25 Corbin

The ride back feels different.

The air is heavy, and every rustle in the trees sets my senses on edge. Anika rides just ahead of me, the glow of the vial tucked safely beneath her shirt like a second heartbeat. She hasn’t spoken since Gretel’s warning. Neither have I.

Because the witch’s words echo louder than either of us want to admit.

“One of them is working with the rogues.”

The pack. My pack. The people I’ve trained with, protected, trusted. The same people who raised me, who call me their future Alpha. One of them would see Anika dead. Would risk everything—our unborn pups, our future—for what? Power? Revenge?

Ezra snarls low in my chest. He’s not just angry. He’s ready to rip someone apart.

When we finally reach the edge of the pack lands, I slow the horse. Anika stops too and turns to me, her hair whipping softly in the wind. The moonlight kisses her features, but there’s tension in her jaw. She feels it too—the shift, the change, the threat.

“Do you believe her?” she asks, her voice barely more than a whisper.

I dismount and walk toward her, brushing a thumb along her cheek. “I believe enough to be dangerous,” I murmur. “And I believe no one touches you or our pups. Ever.”

Her eyes soften just a bit, but I see the war behind them. She’s terrified. Not just of the traitor, but of the past, the truth we uncovered, and the power she’s only beginning to understand.

“We play it smart,” I continue. “We keep it quiet. We watch, we listen. No one knows about the vial. No one knows what Gretel said. Not until we know who we’re really dealing with.”

Anika nods, and I help her off the horse, keeping her close as we walk the final stretch home.

The pack house is glowing with lights in the distance, laughter and chatter spilling out through open windows. It all looks so normal.

But I know better now.

Someone inside that house wants to betray us.

And gods help them when I find out who.

We step through the front doors of the pack house, the familiar scent of pinewood and stone washing over us. Anika keeps her head low, her hand gripping mine a little too tightly. She’s quiet—too quiet—and I can feel her anxiety thrumming through the mate bond like a war drum held at bay.

She’s afraid. Not of the rogues, but of what’s coming next.

I guide her upstairs without a word. When we reach our room, I press a kiss to her forehead and feel her lean into it, just slightly. As much as I want to stay, I need answers. Protection starts with action.

Stay here. Lock the door, I say softly through the bond. I’ll handle this.

I step into the hallway and immediately reach for the pack link.

Briar, front of the door. Now.

His response comes instantly, even if it’s laced with confusion.

Copy. I’m on my way.

Normally, I’d call on Beta Banks for something like this. He’s protocol. Reliable. But given everything we just uncovered with Gretel, and knowing how shaken Anika is, I know she’ll feel safer with Briar nearby—even if the very idea of him standing that close to her makes Ezra growl low in my chest.

I shove the jealousy down. Now is not the time.

I make my way to the den. Father is seated in his usual armchair, pouring over patrol schedules and rogue reports, the weight of the pack resting on his shoulders like armor. Mother is at the far end of the room, her hands busy with fabrics and parchment—final touches for the mating ceremony, I assume.

They both look up when I enter. Their eyes search my face, catching on the tension there.

“Corbin?” my mother says carefully.

I don’t hesitate.

“We’ve got a mole,” I say flatly. “Inside the pack.”

Father’s expression hardens, all traces of weariness vanishing.

“Explain,” he commands.

I close the door behind me and step further into the room. “Gretel confirmed it. One of our own has been working with the rogues. She couldn’t name them—only that the danger is close. That whoever it is, they’ve seen us. They’ve spoken to us. Eaten at this table.”

Mother drops the ribbon she was tying. “Are you certain?”

I nod. “Anika felt it the moment we walked in. I felt it too. Someone’s watching us—and it’s not from the shadows anymore. It’s from inside these walls.”

Father rises to his feet slowly. “We’ll find them,” he says, his voice low and dangerous. “But we move carefully. We don’t spook them.”

“We can’t afford to,” I agree. “Not with Anika... not with the pups.”

At the mention of the pups, my mother inhales sharply. Her eyes soften for a moment—only a moment—before they harden with Luna steel.

“I’ll double-check all staff assigned to the ceremony,” she says. “Anyone suspicious, even slightly, gets pulled.”

“I want full background checks on everyone who’s had access to the house, the training grounds, and the patrol logs,” my father adds. “Start with the inner circle.”

I nod and turn toward the door.

“And Corbin,” my father calls after me. I pause, half-turned.

“Protect her. No matter what.”

I don’t need to be told twice.