chapter 15
937 Words
Stephanie moved through the dim hallway with quiet steps, her breath shallow and her heart hammering against her ribs. The scent still lingered soft, floral, with the underlying hint of white jasmine and deception.
Rachel.
She’d followed it instinctively, something primal and furious waking in her veins. Why was Rachel sneaking through the packhouse like a thief in the night?
Stephanie reached the end of the corridor and paused beside the guest room. The scent was stronger here. She leaned in, ears sharpened.
Muffled voices.
She pressed her back to the wall, inching closer. The door wasn’t fully shut.
“…he doesn’t suspect a thing,” Rachel’s voice came through clearly. Cold. Calculated. “He’s so blinded by guilt over Stephanie that he doesn’t see what’s right under his nose.”
Another voice answered a male voice. One Stephanie didn’t recognize. Rough, with a southern drawl.
“And the girl? What if she remembers?”
Rachel scoffed. “Please. She’s too busy playing victim to think straight. But if she digs too deep… we’ll just finish what we started.”
Stephanie’s blood ran cold.
Finish what?
There was a creak under her foot.
Silence in the room.
Then footsteps.
The door opened.
Rachel froze, her green eyes wide as they landed on Stephanie.
Stephanie raised her chin. “Don’t stop on my account.”
Rachel blinked, then gave a sugary-sweet smile. “Oh, Stephanie! You scared me. I was just speaking with—”
But Stephanie had already stepped inside.
The man standing behind Rachel looked like a rogue. Feral eyes. Scarred arms. Definitely not a member of Blood Moon.
“What’s he doing here?” Stephanie asked, her voice calm but laced with steel.
Rachel looked between the two of them. “He’s a… consultant. Ryder asked me to look into some patrol upgrades.”
Stephanie didn’t say anything. She simply turned, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind her.
But her chest was on fire.
Ryder needed to know. Now.
She found him in the training yard, sparring with Beta Cole. His shirt was soaked in sweat, muscles glistening under the sun, focus razor-sharp. But the moment he saw her expression, he stopped mid-strike.
“Stephanie?”
“Rachel’s hiding something,” she said without pause. “I heard her speaking with someone in the guest room. A rogue. She mentioned you. Me. She said if I remember anything, they’ll finish what they started.”
Ryder’s jaw clenched.
Cole stepped forward. “You sure?”
“I heard it with my own ears.”
Ryder didn’t hesitate. “Cole, bring three guards. Lock down the guest rooms. No one in or out.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Ryder wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to her. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she said honestly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been okay since the day I was taken.”
His face tightened with guilt.
“I’m sorry, Steph. For not protecting you back then. For not questioning more when you disappeared.”
Stephanie looked away. “It wasn’t your fault. But I think Rachel had more to do with it than we thought.”
Ryder stepped closer. “Then we’ll find out the truth. Together.”
And for once, she believed him.
That night, Stephanie couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts spun like a storm Rachel’s words, the rogue’s face, and the creeping suspicion that this was all just the beginning.
She slipped out of her room and headed for the archives. If Rachel had forged or manipulated reports about her disappearance, the original patrol records might still exist.
The archives were kept below the east wing, sealed behind iron doors and guarded by enchantments only ranked members could bypass.
She used her Luna status.
Inside, the room smelled of old parchment and burning sage. Scrolls and digital records lined the walls.
She typed in the date of her a*******n.
Only one report came up.
Patrol report: Stephanie Dawn spotted crossing the northern border alone. Declared rogue.
Her blood turned to ice.
That was a lie.
She didn’t cross the border. She was dragged.
She went deeper.
A second, hidden report popped up encrypted under Rachel’s clearance code.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
CONFIDENTIAL – Eyes Only
Subject: Stephanie Dawn
Mission status: Completed. Target relocated. Rogue scent applied to body.
Directive from: High Council Clearance – Raven Crest
Stephanie stepped back, the words blurring in front of her.
High Council?
This wasn’t just pack betrayal.
This was political.
And Rachel had sold her out to someone above Ryder’s rank.
She printed the file and ran.
Ryder was still awake, pacing his office when she burst in.
He stood immediately. “Stephanie?”
She handed him the printed report. “Read this.”
He scanned it, his face paling.
“This… this is treason. This means someone from the High Council ordered your abduction.”
Stephanie’s voice trembled. “And they made it look like I betrayed you.”
He looked at her. Really looked at her.
And in that moment, Ryder made a choice.
“We’re going to the Council,” he said. “Tomorrow. I don’t care who it offends. I won’t let them cover this up.”
Stephanie nodded. “I’m with you.”
He stepped forward and gently touched her cheek. “This isn’t just revenge. It’s justice for what they did to you. And for what they stole from us.”
She leaned into his hand.
And for the first time in years, she let herself believe in him again.
- Writer
