Shunned By An Alpha, Cherised By A Lycan

Chapter 217:

“Checking on your goddess of a wife again?” he asked, that annoying smirk plastered across his face.

I rolled my eyes and smirked back. “Jealous, much?” Jasmine had been… insatiable lately. This morning had been the hottest of all; she just keeps making me love her more. Not that I was complaining.

“What can I say, Kade? When you marry perfection, leaving the bed feels like a crime.” His laugh was low, but he didn’t disagree. Honestly, who could? Jasmine was everything—smart, sexy, and just dangerous enough to keep things interesting. But today wasn’t about her—not entirely, at least.

“Anyway,” Kade continued, cutting through my private moment of self-praise. “I just came from the hospital. Checked on our pack members who were injured during that little rogue incident. Good news—no fatalities.”

I nodded, filing that under things I already knew because, well, Alpha.

“And?”

“And,” he continued, “I’ve been digging into the whole Enzo’s-missing-sister situation. It’s messy. All we’ve got is her birth picture, which, let me tell you, is about as useful as a map without directions. I’m running searches based on her features, but it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack that’s been set on fire.”

I sighed dramatically, running a hand through my hair because I knew it looked great when I did that. “Kade, you’re supposed to be good at this. Don’t tell me you’re stumped by a couple of old photos.”

“Easy for you to say,” he shot back, settling into the chair opposite mine. “You’re not the one sifting through thousands of faces to find someone who might not even know she’s missing.”

“Fair,” I admitted, though I wasn’t about to let him off the hook. “But you’ll figure it out. You always do.”

Kade shifted in his seat, leaning forward now, his tone dropping slightly. “There’s something else. About the attack.”

That got my attention. I leaned forward too, elbows resting on my desk, fingers steepled. “I’m listening.”

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 g𝖺𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⧿𝖼𝗈𝗺

“They didn’t just target Jasmine,” he said carefully, like he was tiptoeing through a minefield. “I mean, yeah, they knew she’d be your weakness, but I don’t think she was the endgame. This felt… calculated. Like they were trying to mess with your head, throw you off your game.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Mess with my head? Do they not realize who they’re dealing with?”

Kade shrugged. “They might. That’s why it’s tricky. If it wasn’t about her, then what?”

“Traitors,” I said, the word tasting bitter on my tongue. “There’s someone inside this pack working with those rogues. Has to be. No way they got this close otherwise. I want them found, Kade. Yesterday.”

“Already on it,” he said, his tone sharp. “But whoever it is, they’re covering their tracks well.”

“Not well enough,” I said, standing now because the energy coursing through me needed an outlet. I paced to the window, looking out over the dark expanse of forest. The moon hung low, its silver light bathing everything in an eerie glow. “No one betrays my pack and walks away unscathed. We’ll find them. And when we do…” I let the sentence hang, knowing Kade understood exactly what I meant.

“You think it’s more than just about Jasmine, though?” he pressed, following my train of thought.

I nodded, turning to face him again. “It has to be. This pack has enemies. Always has, always will. But this? This felt personal. Someone’s playing a dangerous game, and they’re using Jasmine to get to me. That makes it my problem.”

Kade leaned back, crossing his arms. “So what’s the plan, fearless leader?”

“First,” I said, ticking off on my fingers, “you keep digging into Enzo’s sister. If she’s out there, I want her found. Second, you find that traitor before I do. Because if I get to them first, it won’t be pretty.”

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