60

POV – Kallen
“You know, Kai-Lea may be in far more danger from Kaitlyn than I initially thought,” I said, my voice carrying a hard edge. My thoughts had been spiraling ever since Tobias and Wade came to me with the report. I couldn’t shake the knot forming in my gut. I handed the document to Stuart, watching his expression shift as he began to read through it. “Tobias and Wade just brought me this,” I continued, gesturing toward the papers. “There's absolutely no reason Kaitlyn should be anywhere near that area. None.”
Stuart looked up, his brow furrowing. “Near the abandon falls?” he asked, his voice low.
“Exactly,” I nodded. “And that’s not all. I spoke with Emma earlier, and she confirmed something that has me on edge. Apparently, Kaitlyn wasn’t just angry about us bringing Kai-Lea here—she was furious. Emma told me she overheard Kaitlyn ranting to herself in an open field, talking about how she had finally succeeded in getting us to cut ties with Karrin and Cal. But here’s the thing... I don’t think she was talking to herself. I think she was talking to someone.”
Stuart's eyes flicked back to the report, his grip on the paper tightening. “Mavrek,” he muttered, piecing together what I was already suspecting.
“Exactly. It all adds up,” I said, my voice growing harsher with each word. “Think about the ritual Carmella did for us. We saw Mavrek at the center of more than a few incidents, and none of those things should’ve been possible—unless he had help from within. And who better to give him that edge than someone who had prior knowledge of our movements? Kaitlyn was always in the know. She would’ve known about each and every one of those situations before they happened.”
Stuart’s jaw clenched, the lines in his face hardening. “I’ve been thinking about this too. Kaitlyn was the one who helped plan the stops on our upcoming trip, right? What if... what if Kai-Lea is using this trip to catch her? It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s already put the pieces together.”
A flicker of pride surfaced in his voice, and I couldn’t help but feel the same. Kai-Lea was always a step ahead, methodical in her thinking and quick to act when the time was right. “I think that’s exactly what she’s doing,” I said, nodding in agreement. “But there’s something else that’s been gnawing at me. We both know there might be another traitor coming with us.”
Stuart's eyes met mine, and we didn’t need to say it aloud. Reggie. The name echoed in my mind like a curse. I swallowed hard, the bitterness of the thought settling uncomfortably in my chest.
“Reggie...” I murmured, letting the name hang in the air.
We had known him for years. Reggie had been there when we were nothing but a group of misfits, learning to protect each other and trying to navigate this pack’s complicated politics. He’d been loyal—or at least I had thought so. We’d laughed, trained, and bled together. Hell, I’d even called him more than a friend, I’d go so far as to consider him a brother. But lately, things hadn’t been adding up. The sneaking off, the lies about where he was going.
I had tried to brush it off at first, to tell myself that he was just going through something personal, something unrelated to the pack. But I couldn’t ignore it anymore. Not if it could lead Kai-Lea or this pack into danger.
“I hate to even consider it,” I said, my voice heavy, “but we can’t afford to be naïve. We can’t pretend everything is fine just because we don’t want to believe it. Not when lives are at stake. If Reggie is involved in this—if he’s been working with Mavrek or Kaitlyn or someone else altogether—it would be devastating. For all of us. For the pack.”
Stuart remained silent, watching me closely, probably sensing the inner conflict I was wrestling with. While Reggie is his friend as much mine, he was more drawn to Tobias than I was. So, if Reggie turned out to be another traitor helping Kaitlyn or Mavrek, or who know who else. Making a part of me still not wanting to believe it. A part of me wanted to hold onto the idea that Reggie was still the same guy I know that maybe he was just caught in something over his head and didn’t know how to get out of it. Or maybe I am completely off base with all this.
But I knew better than to trust my emotions alone.
That’s why I had set the plan in motion.
“I came up with a plan,” I finally admitted, my hands curling into fists at my sides. “A way to trap Reggie, to find out once and for all if he’s been working against us.” I glanced over at Stuart, gauging his reaction. He didn’t seem surprised, but I knew he wasn’t happy about it either. More because if it turned out to be true I’d lose a part of me. As Reggie has been instrumental in helping shape the person I am just Tobias has been for Stuart.
“What’s the plan?” he asked after a moment, his voice measured.
“I’ve had Tobias and Wade tracking Reggie’s movements. Nothing overt—just enough to see where he’s going and who he’s talking to. If there’s any suspicious activity, they’ll know. We’ve also set up a few false leads—things we’re letting slip to Reggie, knowing he’ll try to pass the information along if he’s truly involved. If he takes the bait, we’ll have our answer.”
Stuart exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “And what if he doesn’t?”
My heart clenched at the question. It was a possibility I didn’t want to think about too deeply because, in truth, I didn’t know what would be worse — finding out Reggie had betrayed us, or finding out we’d misjudged him all along.
“I hope I’m wrong,” I admitted, my voice quieter now. “I hope... that Reggie isn’t involved. That he’s not a traitor. But we can’t afford to take that chance. Not with Mavrek in the mix. If Reggie’s been compromised, we need to know before we walk into something we can’t get out of.”
The words felt heavy, like lead sinking in my chest. Reggie had been like a brother to me once. The idea of setting a trap for him, of suspecting him of working against us—it felt like a betrayal of its own. But the stakes were too high for personal loyalties.
If Reggie had turned on us, if he’d been working with Kaitlyn and Mavrek or someone else all this time, then he wasn’t the man I thought he was. And that man—the one who would betray his pack, who would betray me and my brother—had to be stopped.
But deep down, I still held onto a shred of hope. Hope that this was all a misunderstanding, that Reggie was innocent, and I’d have to apologize for doubting him. Hope that when this was all over, we could go back to how things were before all this chaos—before Mavrek, before Kaitlyn, before the betrayals.
“I want to believe that he’s still the same person I knew,” I said, glancing at Stuart, who was watching me with understanding in his eyes. “I don’t want to lose him. But if he’s guilty, we can’t let him hurt Kai-Lea or anyone else. We need to protect our own.”
Stuart nodded; his jaw tight. “I know. We do what we have to. We always have. But in situations like this we can’t afford to look weak or naïve. And simply thinking you might be wrong on this would be seen as naïve. Trust me, no one knows how much I hope that you are wrong about Reggie. Because I know how I’d feel it was Tobias. Wade’s always been a friend to both of us. But we gravitated to Reggie and Tobias separately.”
There was a hard truth in his words, one that we’d both come to accept as part of our roles in this pack. Sometimes, protecting those we loved meant making the difficult choices. Even if it meant turning against those we once called family.
Just then, Tobias and Wade entered the office, their expressions tense, as if they knew the weight of what we were dealing with. “It’s in place,” Tobias said, his voice clipped.
I nodded, keeping my face neutral. “Good. The two of you are the only ones who know,” I said firmly. “We’ll tell Kai-Lea as soon as she’s done with Mom. If this works out, we’ll have caught two traitors before we even get back from the trip. Kaitlyn is Kai-Lea’s target. Wade your job is to protect Kai-Lea like never before if something goes down. Reggie is ours.”
Saying it out loud made the reality hit even harder. The anger I felt toward Reggie—whether justified or not—boiled just beneath the surface. Watching him sneak off, lie to my face about where he was going, and now, the thought that he could be working with the enemy...
It was a betrayal I wasn’t sure I’d ever recover from if it turned out to be true.