CALIFF My guts told me that Shadow was hiding something from me, and it was never wrong, but I was willing to wait until she was ready. Watching her freeze like that terrified me, and it wasn’t like her. She was tactical alert and could sense danger a mile away, but not today. She saw the man coming towards us, though, and she was able to warn our guys ahead of time. Something was bothering her, distracting her from focusing on the job. I wanted to ask Zarah if she noticed something different about Shadow’s behavior, but that witch would never betray Shadow. But I still tried my luck. CALIFF: Can we talk? I sent the text and slipped my phone into my pocket. We just arrived back at the compound. We came back home yesterday since I had already felt better. And I couldn’t depend my job on Duke when he had work. “Here.” Kairo handed me discreetly the folded manila envelope. “Thank you.” I slipped it into my jacket pocket. “Guys, come with me.” “I’m hungry.” Shadow grabbed the han

CALIFF “I’m so sorry, Claire. I wish I had good news.” “I want you to be honest with me, Alpha. Is my husband dead?” “I don’t know, Claire.” I shook my head. I didn’t know how to answer a grieving woman waiting for her mate to return to her. And she looked like she had been crying and hadn’t been sleeping well. “The PD in the city and the sheriff hadn’t found a body. So we have hopes. That’s why we’re not giving up.” She smiled sadly. “I know he’s still alive. I may not be able to reach him out through our link, but I know he’s just somewhere having a midlife crisis and will come back to me once he realizes he has someone waiting for him at home.” “I’m sure they are doing their best to find him, and we are doing the best we can.” She stood up. “I can feel him, Alpha. I know he’s still alive.” I held the woman’s hand and smiled. “Then we will hold on to that.” “Thank you.” “No, Claire. Thank you. Just stay home. When he comes back, you will be there for him.” Once she left th

CALIFF “What is it?” I stopped dead in my tracks. I sensed the anxiousness coming from Shadow. “I smell blood.” We began sniffling the air. The metallic scent became more pungent. “It’s animal blood.” She was right. “Yeah.” “I’ll go check it,” Kairo volunteered himself, but Lyon stopped him. “You don’t go alone. That could be a trap. For a smart guy, sometimes, you’re an idiot.” “Okay, big guy,” Kairo said, but without flaring his nose at Lyon. “What’s the plan, Alpha?” “Lyon and Kairo, go check if it’s an animal attack or killed by some animal hunters. Tor, stay behind them. Be the lookout.” “Right, because it did not die naturally,” Shadow said. “Just look out for traps, and—” “And be vigilant. Got it.” Zack groaned, pissed off at how Kairo replied to his Luna. “Show some respect, Kairo.” Kairo slightly bowed his head at me and Shadow. “I’m sorry. I mean no disrespect, Alpha, Luna. I was just excited. That’s all.” “Are you done?” Lyon waited impatiently for him. “Righ

CALIFF “I’m just connecting the dots. I mean, come on. Didn’t ever cross your mind the possibility?” “That’s fucking absurd.” I gritted my teeth in enraged. I couldn’t believe Shadow, of all people, was accusing Calder of being a murderous rogue. What was his angle? Why was he killing random people? Culling the herd? “I’m not accusing him,” she said, defending herself. I couldn’t even believe I was still listening to this. “He may not know what’s going on with his wolf, but there’s a possibility that he’s—” “It’s impossible, Shadow. Are you even hearing yourself right now?” “I know we all have blind spots when it comes to our family, blood, our pack, but we should take into consideration that he could be sick. The same week he came to visit you, the sheriff found a dead body and then the mercenary. Sean Nest was found just a few miles from us and from his residence. Is that a coincidence? Am I the only one seeing this?” She made an awful kind of sense, but there was no way Clader

CALIFF “You look stunning, and you’re not wearing the gown and jewelry I bought for you.” And not only that. She was still mad at me and sleeping in the other room. “You cleaned up pretty well, yourself, Alpha. And yes, Sebastien paid a lot to buy this gown.” It was the longest sentence she had ever said to me in the past three days. And I missed my mate. I missed the sweet and funny and caring Shadow. I just couldn’t believe this was happening, and she was making it her mission to prove herself right and make me suffer in the end. If there was one thing we had in common, we were both stubborn, strong-headed, and never yield. As the limousine drove smoothly through the night road, Lyon and Zack gave us privacy. “You’re making it personal when we should work in this case together, and hunters are still hunting while we are fighting for nonsense.” “Sebastien is right after all.” She scoffed. A disgusting smile appeared on her red lips. She looked absolutely stunning tonight, thou