Chapter 138
The tension in the packhouse was suffocating. Even as the sun rose, casting its golden light through the wide windows, the lingering unease from last night’s attack clung to the walls like an unwelcome guest. Every step I took felt heavier, as if the weight of what could have happened to the twins was pressing down on me.
I held Lily in my arms, her tiny fingers tangled in my hair as she rested against my chest. Logan sat comfortably on my hip, his little head tucked under my chin. Their warmth gave me strength, reminding me why I had to stay focused. They were safe—for now.
The pack was in chaos. Warriors moved through the hallways, reinforcing security and questioning staff members. Whispers followed me wherever I went, eyes darting toward me with a mixture of curiosity and admiration. They all knew it was me who had caught the intruder. Me who had saved the Alpha’s children.
Jake had been quiet since the attack. He had been the first to arrive when I sounded the alarm, his wolf barely contained as he surveyed the scene. His hands had curled into fists, his body vibrating with restrained fury. But he hadn’t said much—not even when I told him we needed to talk. He simply nodded, his usual cold demeanor returning as he gave orders to double the guards and investigate the drugged warrior who had been stationed outside the twins’ room.
Now, I sat in the living area with Sophie and Fatima, my arms wrapped protectively around the twins while they played with their stuffed animals. Sophie tapped her fingers against the table, her expression dark.
“I don’t like this,” she muttered. “That woman—whoever she was—had a plan. You don’t just sneak into the Alpha’s home, past warriors, unless you’re confident you can get away with it.”
Fatima crossed her arms. “We need to figure out who she was working for. There’s no way she was acting alone.”
I nodded, my fingers absentmindedly stroking Lucas’s back. “She was a pack member—one of the workers in the kitchen. But I don’t recognize her. That’s the problem. I know almost everyone here, at least by face. But she seemed new.”
Sophie’s eyes narrowed. “Then we start there.”
Jake entered the room then, his presence immediately commanding attention. He was dressed in his usual black shirt and jeans, his posture stiff, as if he hadn’t allowed himself a moment to rest. His icy blue eyes met mine briefly before shifting to Sophie. “Did you find anything?”
Sophie shook her head. “Not yet. But we have a lead. The woman worked in the kitchens.”
“I already have warriors questioning the staff,” Jake replied, his voice sharp. “If she was planted here, we’ll find out by who.”
I hated how easily he dismissed me, as if I wasn’t the one who had actually stopped the intruder. But I bit my tongue, not wanting to start another argument in front of the others. Instead, I focused on what mattered—getting to the truth.
Fatima leaned forward. “We should go through the pack records. If she was a recent hire, there should be some documentation.”
Jake hesitated before nodding. “Fine. Do it.”
I handed the twins to Sophie and followed Fatima down the hall to the archives. It was a small, dusty room filled with filing cabinets and old ledgers. We quickly found the section for pack employment records and started searching.
“I swear,” Fatima muttered as she flipped through a stack of papers, “if Joseph was behind this, I will personally bring him back from his cell just to punch him in the face.”
I almost smiled, but my thoughts were too heavy. Joseph was locked away, sentenced for his crimes. But that didn’t mean he had been working alone.
“There,” I said, pointing to a name on the list. Lydia Garrison. Age: 29. Hired: Two months ago.
Fatima pulled out her phone. “I’ll check the pack database to see if she has any family here.”
She frowned as she scrolled through the information. “That’s weird… There’s nothing on her. No family, no pack history before joining us. It’s like she appeared out of nowhere.”
A chill ran down my spine. “She was planted here.”
Fatima looked up at me, her expression grim. “And we have no idea how many more like her could be hiding in plain sight.”
We brought our findings back to Jake, who listened with a clenched jaw. His wolf was on edge—I could see it in the way his shoulders tensed, the way his nostrils flared slightly. He wanted blood.
“We’ll keep digging,” I told him. “But we have to assume there are more spies in the pack.”
Jake exhaled slowly, his hands resting on his desk as he thought. “Security will be increased immediately. I don’t care if it makes people uncomfortable—they’ll have to live with it.”
Sophie, who had just entered the room, sat down with a sigh. “Jake, the pack is already nervous. If we start treating everyone like a suspect, we might cause a panic.”
Jake’s eyes flickered toward me. “And what do you suggest?”
I swallowed hard. “We need to be subtle. Keep an eye on new members without making it obvious. The last thing we want is for the real enemy to go into hiding because we scared them off.”
Jake considered this, then finally nodded. “Fine. But if anyone so much as breathes wrong near the twins, I want them dealt with.”
His protectiveness made my chest tighten. He cared—deep down, no matter how cold he tried to be, he loved those babies.
Later that night, I sat in my room with the twins, watching them sleep. The soft glow of the nightlight cast gentle shadows across their peaceful faces. They looked so innocent, so unaware of the danger surrounding them.
I ran my fingers through Lily’s soft curls. “I’ll protect you,” I whispered. “No matter what it takes.”
The door creaked open slightly, and I turned to see Jake standing there. His usual unreadable expression was in place, but something in his eyes looked… conflicted.
“I just wanted to check on them,” he said.
I nodded, moving aside so he could step closer. He looked down at them, his hand hovering over Logan's tiny chest as if afraid to touch him.
For a brief moment, I saw it—the vulnerability he tried so hard to hide.
“They mean everything to you,” I murmured.
Jake didn’t respond right away. When he finally spoke, his voice was softer than usual. “They’re all I have left of her.”
I wanted to say that wasn’t true—that he had the whole pack, that he had people who cared about him. That maybe, just maybe, he had me too.
But I kept those thoughts to myself.
Instead, I simply said, “We’ll find out who did this, Jake. We’ll stop them.”
He nodded, his eyes lingering on me for a second too long before he turned to leave.
As the door closed behind him, I let out a shaky breath.
This war was just beginning. And I wasn’t sure if Jake and I were on the same side—or if we were simply walking parallel paths, never meant to truly meet.
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