The reply came thirty-one hours after I sent the message.
I was on my knees in the great hall, scrubbing the stone floor where Kingston had rejected me two nights before. The water in my bucket had gone cold. My hands were raw. The rag smelled like lye and old blood.
The phone buzzed once in my pocket.
I didn't stop scrubbing. I kept my head down, my movements steady, while two warriors walked past me toward the dining hall. They didn't look at me. Omegas were furniture. You stepped around them, but you didn't see them.
I waited until their footsteps faded. Then I pulled the phone out and read the message.
*Terms accepted. Extraction window: Pack Banquet, frozen lake border, three days. Operatives will position during the event. Create separation from primary targets when signal is given. Document everything until then. Destroy this device after reading.*
No signature. No reassurance. Just logistics.
I read it twice. Then I deleted the message, pulled the SIM card, and dropped the phone into my bucket of dirty water. The screen went black.
I pressed my hand over the dead mate mark on my neck—the reflex I couldn't break—and felt nothing.
Three days.
I could survive three days.
I went back to scrubbing the floor.
***
Cassidy found me in the kitchen that afternoon.
I was washing dishes at the deep sink, my hands submerged in scalding water. The burns on my wrists from the silver chains were still healing. The heat made them ache, but I didn't pull my hands out. Pain was just information. I could file it away and keep working.
"Adaline."
Her voice was soft. Concerned. The voice she used in front of Kingston.
I turned my head slightly but didn't look at her directly. Omegas didn't make eye contact with the Luna unless given permission.
"Yes, Luna," I said quietly.
She stepped closer. She was wearing a pale blue dress today, something elegant and understated. Her hair was pinned back. She looked like someone's gentle, devoted mate.
"I wanted to check on you," she said. "Make sure you're settling into your new duties."
I kept my hands in the water. "I'm managing."
"Good." She paused. "And Kason?"
My fingers tightened around the plate I was holding. I made myself relax them.
"He's adjusting," I said.
Cassidy tilted her head. "He's in the eastern yard today. Helping with the supply crates. It's good for him. Builds character."
I knew where Kason was. I'd watched him from the kitchen window all morning—a small figure in an oversized shirt, dragging crates twice his size across the dirt while older wolves ignored him. The silver collar around his neck caught the light every time he moved.
"Thank you for looking after him," I said.
The words tasted like ash, but I said them anyway.
Cassidy smiled. "Of course. We're all family here."
She reached out and touched my shoulder. Her hand was warm. Gentle.
"I know this is hard for you," she said softly. "But you have to understand—Kingston made the right choice. For the pack. For everyone."
I looked at her then. Just for a second.
Her eyes were very blue. Very clear. And underneath the soft concern, I saw it again—the thing I'd seen the night of the ceremony.
She wasn't afraid I would fight back.
She was afraid I wouldn't break.
"I understand," I said.
Cassidy's smile widened. She squeezed my shoulder once, then turned and walked out of the kitchen, her footsteps light on the stone floor.
I waited until she was gone. Then I pulled my hands out of the water, dried them on a rag, and picked up the small notebook I'd hidden beneath the sink.
I flipped to a new page and wrote:
*Cassidy's schedule: Morning patrol review, 6 AM. Breakfast with Kingston, 7:30 AM. Eastern yard inspection, 10 AM. Private office work, 2-4 PM.*
I added a note at the bottom: *She watches Kason during office hours. Always alone.*
Then I closed the notebook and slid it back into its hiding place.
Two days and eighteen hours until extraction.
***
That night, after the pack had eaten and the great hall was empty, I slipped down to the Omega kennels.
Kason was awake. He was sitting on his mat, his knees pulled to his chest, staring at the wall.
I knelt beside him and touched his hair. He leaned into my hand without looking at me.
"Does it hurt?" I asked, nodding toward the collar.
He shook his head. Then, after a pause, he nodded.
I pulled him into my lap. He was so light. Too light.
"Three more days," I whispered against his hair. "Can you be strong for three more days?"
He nodded again.
"Good boy."
I held him until his breathing evened out and his body went slack against mine. Then I laid him down on the mat, pulled the thin blanket over him, and stood.
As I turned to leave, I heard a sound from the corridor outside—low voices, tense and clipped.
I pressed myself against the wall beside the door and listened.
"—not what we agreed." A man's voice. Rough. Unfamiliar.
"I'm handling it." Cassidy's voice, sharp and cold. Nothing like the soft Luna tone she used in public.
"You're not handling anything. The woman's back. The kid's still breathing. I did my job. You pay me what you owe, or I start talking."
"You'll do no such thing."
"Try me."
A pause. Then Cassidy's voice again, quieter but harder.
"Fine. Double the original sum. But this ends after the Banquet. No more contact. No more demands."
"We'll see."
Footsteps. Moving away.
I stayed frozen against the wall, my heart pounding in my chest.
Cassidy had hired someone. Someone who knew about me. About Kason.
And whatever she'd paid him to do, it wasn't finished.
I pulled the notebook from my pocket and wrote in the dark:
*Cassidy meeting unknown male. Payment dispute. Reference to "the Banquet." Threat of exposure.*
Then I slipped out of the kennels and made my way back to the Omega quarters.
Two days and sixteen hours.
I could document everything in two days.
And then I would disappear.
