Chapter 3
The training grounds had never felt so silent. Even with fifty wolves scattered across the field, the air hung heavy with a tension that made everyone move like they were walking through water. I could feel their eyes tracking me as I strode away from Vada's kneeling form, could sense the questions burning through the mind-link like wildfire.
Beau stood frozen among the warriors, his face the color of ash. Our eyes met across the distance, and I watched him flinch. Actually flinch. The mighty Beta, the wolf my father had elevated from rogue trash to pack leadership, couldn't even hold my gaze.
Luna snarled inside me, wanting to cross that field and tear the truth from his throat in front of everyone. But I held her back, channeling her fury into the cold calculation that had become my armor. This wasn't the moment for confrontation. This was the moment for him to understand that I knew. That I'd always known. That every second he'd spent thinking himself clever had been nothing but borrowed time.
I let my aura pulse once—sharp, deliberate, a Luna's warning that needed no words. Then I turned my back on him and walked toward the pack house, my spine straight, my steps measured. Behind me, I felt the training session disintegrate into chaos as wolves abandoned their drills to whisper and speculate.
Perfect.
That evening, I sat in my father's office with Riley Chen, watching the young accountant's hands shake slightly as he reviewed the treasury files I'd carefully compiled. Riley was perfect for this—mid-ranking enough to be credible, ambitious enough to want to prove himself, and absolutely loyal to pack law. He'd never question an assignment from the Alpha and Luna.
"These discrepancies," Riley said, his voice tight with professional outrage, "they're substantial. Whoever authorized these transfers violated at least six different pack financial protocols." He looked up at me, then at my father, confusion warring with duty in his dark eyes. "This is Beta-level clearance. But surely Beau wouldn't—"
"We don't deal in assumptions," Bruce cut him off, his Alpha authority making the words absolute. "We deal in evidence. You'll conduct a full audit, Riley. Official. By the book. Report your findings directly to the pack council."
"And Riley," I added softly, letting my Luna aura wrap around the words like silk over steel, "discretion is paramount. We can't have accusations flying around without proof. This stays between us until you have irrefutable evidence."
He nodded, gathering the files with trembling hands. "Of course, Luna. I'll begin immediately."
After he left, my father poured two glasses of whiskey and handed me one. We didn't toast. We just drank in silence, two predators savoring the hunt.
"He'll panic," Bruce said finally.
"I'm counting on it."
The rumors spread faster than I'd anticipated. By the next morning, the mind-link buzzed with speculation about financial irregularities, about investigations, about corruption in high places. I felt Beau's anxiety spike through our mate bond—sharp, acidic, desperate. He tried to hide it behind his Beta mask, but I knew him too well. Could taste his fear like copper on my tongue.
I went about my Luna duties with serene precision. Attended the morning council briefing. Reviewed patrol schedules. Smiled at pack members who greeted me with respectful bows. All while watching Beau slowly unravel at the edges.
He cornered me in the hallway outside the council chambers, his hand catching my elbow with just enough pressure to make Luna growl. "Saylor, we need to talk."
"About what?" I kept my voice light, curious, as though I couldn't feel the panic radiating from him in waves.
"These rumors. This audit. It's—" He ran his free hand through his hair, that nervous tell he'd never managed to hide. "It's insulting. After everything I've done for this pack, to be investigated like some common thief—"
"Then you have nothing to worry about." I pulled my arm free gently, letting my fingers trail across his wrist in a gesture that could've been affection or threat. "Riley is thorough. If the books are clean, the audit will prove it. Unless..." I tilted my head, watching his pupils dilate. "Is there something you need to tell me, Beau?"
"No. Nothing. I just—" He swallowed hard. "I don't like being questioned."
"Neither do I," I said softly, and walked away before he could see the smile spreading across my face.
That night, I didn't go to bed. Instead, I settled into the security office with a cup of coffee and access to every camera in the pack house. The night guard, Marcus, had conveniently been reassigned to perimeter patrol—my father's doing. I was alone with the monitors, watching empty hallways flicker in grainy black and white.
At 2:47 AM, movement caught my eye. A figure slipping through the shadows toward the administrative wing, moving with the careful stealth of someone who knew exactly where the cameras were positioned. But he'd forgotten about the new system my father had installed last month. The upgraded angles. The thermal imaging.
Beau's face appeared in perfect clarity as he used his Beta codes to access the treasury office. I leaned forward, hardly breathing, as I watched him pull up the digital ledgers on the main computer. His fingers flew across the keyboard, deleting entries, altering timestamps, creating false authorizations that would supposedly justify the missing funds.
He was so focused on covering his tracks that he never noticed the red recording light blinking steadily in the corner. Never realized that every keystroke, every deletion, every desperate attempt to rewrite history was being captured in crystal-clear detail.
I recorded it all. Saved multiple copies to encrypted drives. Sent one directly to my father's secure server and another to the pack council's evidence vault.
When Beau finally left, sweating and shaking, I sat back in my chair and allowed myself a moment of pure, cold satisfaction. He'd just handed me everything I needed. Not just proof of embezzlement, but proof of tampering with evidence. Proof of consciousness of guilt.
Proof that would destroy him completely.
Luna hummed with approval inside me, her earlier rage transforming into something sharper. Something patient. We were predators, and our prey had just walked into the trap.
I finished my coffee and headed to my chambers as dawn broke. Beau would be back soon, probably thinking he'd saved himself. Probably believing his cleverness had bought him safety.
Let him believe it. Let him sleep soundly for one more night.
Because tomorrow, Riley would present his audit findings to the council. Tomorrow, the walls would start closing in. And there would be nowhere left for Beau Coleman to run.
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