Claimed by the Steel Pack

The Red Ledger

Chapter 4: The Red Ledger

​The east wing suite was a golden cage.

​I barely slept. Every creak of the timber beams, every sway of the hemlock trees outside my double-pane windows sounded like someone...or something, prowling the grounds.

​By sunrise, I gave up on sleep entirely. I showered, pulled my hair into a tight knot, and went straight to the sleek obsidian desk in the adjacent study. The encrypted laptop Kaelen had provided sat waiting, booted up to a custom interface displaying decades of raw financial data from Vance Global Logistics.

​I didn't focus on the high-level corporate revenue. I dug straight into the sub-ledgers, the messy, granular transaction logs where corporate thieves always leave their footprints.

​Three hours in, my back ached and my eyes burned, but the patterns were undeniable.

​Eight million dollars hadn't just disappeared three years ago when my father worked here. It had been systematically rerouted through four shell companies before landing in a physical procurement fund labeled Project Aegis.

​The purchases attached to Project Aegis weren't corporate assets. They were bulk orders of raw silver, military-grade wolfsbane extract, and reinforced titanium fencing.

​"Finding what you came for?"

​I jolted, my hand dropping to the trackpad.

​Kaelen stood in the doorway of my study, holding two ceramic mugs. He was dressed in a dark fitted suit without a tie, looking relaxed, dominant, and infuriatingly refreshed.

​"You don't knock?" I asked, pulling the screen down slightly to hide my notes.

​"It's my house," he said smoothly, walking in and placing one of the mugs on my desk. The rich scent of dark roast coffee immediately filled the room. "And you left the door open."

​"These numbers don't make sense, Kaelen," I said, leaning back in the leather executive chair. "Your company spent over twenty million dollars last year alone on non-standard security hardware and medical supplies that aren't registered with any health authority."

​Kaelen took a slow sip from his mug, his dark brows lifting slightly. "You move fast."

​"I'm good at my job," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "My father didn't steal eight million dollars. He found Project Aegis, didn't he? He saw that Vance Global was laundering corporate profits into a private paramilitary fund, and when he raised questions, your board framed him."

​Kaelen’s expression hardened, the easy composure slipping away to reveal the cold predator underneath. He set his mug down on the mahogany surface with a quiet, deliberate tap.

​"Your father saw the numbers, yes," Kaelen said softly. "But he didn't understand what he was looking at. He thought it was a political bribe. He was preparing to go to the federal prosecutor."

​"He was doing his duty!"

​"He was about to expose a war," Kaelen snapped, his voice dropping into that deep, chest-rattling bass that made the hair on my arms stand up. He leaned over the desk, pinning me with a gaze so intense I forgot how to breathe. "Those funds don't buy bribes, Calla. They buy the silver netting and wolfsbane suppressants that keep rogue factions from slaughtering human civilians in the city lower quarters."

​I stared at him, my pulse pounding in my ears. "Rogue factions... you're talking like this is a war zone."

​"It is a war zone," a cold voice cut in from the doorway.

​Greta stood leaning against the frame, a leather tactical binder tucked under her arm. Her eyes swept over me with unbridled contempt before shifting to Kaelen.

​"The southern scouts reported three rogue scent-marks along the river ridge, Alpha," Greta said briskly. "They’re pushing closer. We need to lock down the estate perimeter and move the human back to the secure bunker in the main house."

​"I don't need a bunker," I said, standing up so fast my chair rolled back against the wall. "I need answers."

​"You need to do what you're told," Greta retorted, stepping into the room. "You have no idea what's out there, little auditor. If the Ironbound rogues breach that treeline, your flash drive and your balance sheets won't stop them from tearing your throat out."

​"Greta, enough," Kaelen growled.

​The single command hung heavy in the air. Greta snapped her mouth shut, though her chest heaved with suppressed anger.

​Kaelen turned back to me, his amber eyes catching the morning light filtering through the window. "She isn't wrong about the danger, Calla. The discrepancy you're looking for isn't just in the past. Someone inside Vance Global is currently leaking our supply routes to the rogues."

​My breath hitched as the realization hit me. "A mole."

​"A mole with high-level financial clearance," Kaelen confirmed, his gaze locking onto mine with an unreadable, possessive intensity. "Clear your father's name, find me the leak in these ledgers, and I give you your freedom. But until then... you stay by my side."

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