Jaimen POV:
My desk was covered in paper. Spreadsheets, bank transfers, withdrawal slips.
Marcus stood by the door, silent as a statue. He knew better than to speak. The air in the office was so thick with my pheromones-aggression, confusion, fear-that the glass of water on my desk was vibrating.
I traced the line on the ledger with my finger.
*Date: October 14th. Three years ago.* The day of the extraction. The day of the rejection.
There was a withdrawal. A large one. Fifty thousand dollars, transferred to an offshore account.
"Who authorized this?" I asked, my voice deadly calm.
Marcus stepped forward. "The signature is yours, Alpha."
"I didn't sign this." I stared at the scrawl. It looked like mine, but slightly off. A forgery. A good one, but a forgery.
"Trace the recipient," I ordered.
"We already did, sir." Marcus placed a tablet on the desk. "It went to a shell company. *But we cross-referenced the routing number. It belongs to a known associate of the Blackwood Coven."*
*"The Blackwood Coven," I whispered. "That's Ivanna's mother's circle."*
*"There's more, Alpha." Marcus signaled to the guards outside. "We found one of the Rogues. He was trying to pawn a familiar ring in the border town."*
*Two guards dragged in a filthy, scarred man. He smelled of old blood and fear. On his finger was Christeen's class ring.*
*I was across the room in a second, slamming the Rogue against the wall. My forearm pressed against his windpipe.*
*"Where did you get that?" I snarled.*
*"Found it!" the Rogue choked out. "I just found it!"*
*"Liar!" I tightened my grip. "Who paid you? Who paid you to hunt her?"*
*The Rogue's eyes darted around the room. "The witch! The old witch paid us! She said the Alpha wanted the trash taken out!"*
*My blood ran cold. "What witch?"*
*"Magda!" he screamed. "Magda Blackwood! She was there! She and her daughter watched!"*
*I dropped him. He scrambled back, coughing.*
*"Her daughter?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.*
*"The pretty one," the Rogue sneered, sensing he might live if he talked. "Blonde hair. Smelled like roses. She told us to make it slow. Said she wanted to hear the Omega beg."*
*I stood there. Frozen.*
The woman I had protected. The woman I had sacrificed my true mate for. The woman whose son I had killed my own daughter to save.
She had orchestrated it all.
*Dr. Aris, the new pack doctor, stepped into the room tentatively. He held a plastic bag containing a jagged piece of metal.*
*"Alpha," Dr. Aris said softly. "I finished the examination of the remains. I found this embedded in the ribcage. It's not a bullet. It's a fragment of a ceremonial dagger. The alloy is specific to the Blackwood family."*
*The evidence was overwhelming. The money. The witness. The weapon.*
A scream built in my chest, a primal, animalistic sound of pure agony.
I fell to my knees, clutching my head. My wolf was howling, tearing at the inside of my skull.
*MATE! MATE! MATE!*
I had killed her. I had handed her over to the butchers.
"Alpha?" Marcus asked, terrified.
I looked up. My vision was red. My canines extended, cutting into my lip.
"Where is she?" I snarled. The human part of me was gone. There was only the monster left.
"Ivanna is in the nursery," Marcus whispered.
I stood up. The floorboards cracked under my feet.
"Seal the exits," I commanded. "No one leaves. Tonight, the Blood Moon runs red."
