Kade stared at the computer screen in his office until the footage blurred together and he had to blink to clear his vision.
He had been watching the warehouse ambush for six hours straight. Playing it again over and over again. Focusing on different parts each time.
The hunters dropping from the ceiling. The silver bullets. The wolfsbane gas. His wolves going down. The chaos and blood and screaming.
And Marcus standing at the back doing nothing.
Kade had watched that part at least twenty times now. His Beta was just standing there while a hunter ran past him. Not fighting. Not helping. Just watching.
He played it again.
Marcus turned his head when the hunter passed. Made eye contact. The hunter nodded and kept running.
They knew each other.
Kade held the mouse so hard that the plastic cracked.
His Beta was working with the hunters. Had to be. Nothing else made sense.
But he needed more than footage that could be interpreted in different ways. He needed proof that could not be argued or explained away.
His phone buzzed. Another report of a pack member poisoned with wolfsbane. The fifth one this week, three were dead, two were barely hanging on.
His pack was being slaughtered and he could not stop it.
And Sage was locked in his bedroom two floors above him because he could not look at her without seeing his father's death.
His wolf inside him wanted to go to her. The mate bond was causing physical pain that got worse every hour they stayed separated. Headaches that made it hard to think. Chest pain that made breathing difficult.
But she had lied. Hidden what she was. Let him bond with her knowing she was the daughter of his father's killer.
He did not know if he could forgive that.
His office door opened without a knock. Marcus walked in looking calm and put together like always.
"You wanted to see me?" Marcus asked.
Kade turned the computer monitor so Marcus could see the paused footage. "The warehouse. Walk me through what happened."
Marcus glanced at the screen and his expression did not change. "We were ambushed. Hunters came from above. I was trying to protect our rear position and coordinate escape routes."
"You did not fight."
"I was assessing the situation." Marcus looked at him without flinching. "Making strategic decisions. That is what a Beta does."
"A hunter ran right past you."
"It was chaos. I missed him."
"He looked at you. You looked back."
"Are you accusing me of something?"
Kade stood up and walked around his desk. "I'm trying to understand why my second-in-command was not fighting while my wolves were dying."
"I was doing my job," Marcus said. "If you don't trust me to do that then maybe you should find a new Beta."
"Maybe I should."
The room went quiet. Marcus stared at him and something was different with the way he looked at Kade. Anger, resentment. It was gone fast but Kade saw it.
"Is this about her?" Marcus asked. "The rogue's daughter? Because half the pack is questioning why you are keeping her alive."
"She is my mate."
"She is a liar who hid her bloodline from you." Marcus stepped closer. "Her father killed yours. You watched it happen. And you are protecting her?"
"Get out," Kade said quietly.
"The pack wants justice…"
"I said get out."
Marcus left but not before Kade caught his scent. Sweat and adrenaline. The smell of a wolf who was stressed and lying.
Kade sat back down and went through his financial records. Something Marcus had said last week about needing more funding for security. It had seemed reasonable at the time but now Kade wanted to check.
He spent two hours going through accounts and found the first irregularity around midnight. A transfer of fifty thousand dollars to an offshore account. Then another. And another. Going back six months. Almost three million dollars total moved out of pack funds.
He tried to trace the offshore accounts but they were locked behind passwords he did not have. He would need a warrant or a hacker to access them.
And he did not know who he could trust to help him.
His phone rang. Vanessa's name on the screen. He almost did not answer but something made him pick up.
"What do you want?"
"To help you," Vanessa said. Her voice was sweet like honey. "I know you are dealing with a lot right now. The attacks. Your mate's bloodline. Marcus pushing for changes."
"How do you know about any of that?"
"I still have friends in the pack, Kade. They talk to me." She paused. "I have information about the attacks. About who is really behind them."
"Then tell me."
"Not over the phone. Meet me tomorrow night. Dinner at Canlis. Just the two of us."
Every instinct told him it was a trap but he was desperate. "Fine. Eight o'clock."
"I'll see you then." She hung up.
Kade dropped his phone on the desk and rubbed his face with both hands. He was exhausted.
The mate bond pain was getting worse. His pack was falling apart. His Beta was lying to him. Money was missing from pack accounts.
And he had locked his mate in his bedroom because he was too angry and hurt to face her.
He stood up and headed for the elevator. He needed to talk to Sage, to get answers about her father and her bloodline and why she hid it.
The elevator climbed to his floor. He walked to the bedroom and unlocked the door.
The room was empty.
Kade's heart stopped. He checked the bathroom. The closet. Under the bed like she might be hiding.
She was gone.
He found the note on the nightstand in Marcus's handwriting.
Moved the rogue's daughter to holding for her own protection. She is too dangerous to keep in your home. Will await your orders on how to proceed.
Kade crushed the note in his fist.
Marcus had taken her without his permission. Without orders.
His Beta was making moves against him and Kade had been too blind to see it.
He pulled out his phone and called his head of security. "Where are the holding cells?"
"Three blocks south of the tower. Basement level."
"Is Sage Monroe there?"
A pause. "Yes sir. Beta Marcus brought her in this morning."
Kade ended the call, stared at the empty bedroom, at the bed where he slept next to her for weeks.
He pushed her away because of her bloodline. Locked her up because he could not deal with his own pain.
And Marcus had taken advantage of that to move her somewhere Kade could not protect her.
He needed her whether he wanted to admit it or not.
She was his mate and more than that, she might be the only person he could actually trust right now.
Everyone else seemed to be lying to him.