Chapter 35

DEREK

The report sat on my desk, its edges curling slightly from how many times I’d already flipped through it.

I had been expecting something damning—evidence that Logan had schemed, that he had manipulated his way into Elena’s life while I had been drowning in grief. Or even that she’d been with him while she was still with me, despite her emphatic declaration that she’d never cheated.

Instead, I had found something far worse.

The truth.

I ran a hand over my jaw, exhaling sharply. The information had come from Carly, one of the rogues my patrol had captured. I remembered her vaguely from the day I’d found Elena. I’d been on the verge of killing the interlopers when Erebus had scented Nox.

Everything that happened after that was still dream-like; the look on Elena’s face the moment her wolf recognized mine…

I thought back to the few couples who’d managed to find their fated mates at the Masquerade Ball. The singular focus on their mate, the way everything around them faded to nothing but pure connection—pure want.

I could still hear Erebus howling “My MATE!”

The rogues who had been with Elena had become an afterthought. I couldn’t have picked them out of a lineup.

But Carly had certainly recognized me.

Caught crossing the packland border from Moonstone, it had come out that she’d been staying with Elena and her family in the packhouse mansion. As soon as my Gamma heard that, he brought her directly to me.

She had been wary at first, her lips tight with distrust, but when it became clear she had no real loyalty to Logan—only to Elena—she started talking. And what she had told me had changed everything.

Logan had been in Elena’s life long before she had lost her memories. They had been childhood friends. He had been there before me.

The knowledge settled in my chest like a slow burn, something bitter and sharp.

Elena hadn’t lied. She hadn’t betrayed me. She had just… moved on.

And why wouldn’t she?

I had all but forced her into rejecting our bond. I had told her to not bother coming back. I had let her go before I even understood what she was to me.

Of course she had chosen Logan.

A man who had always been there. A man who had never turned his back on her.

I clenched my fists against the desk, my breathing steady, controlled.

I had spent so much time resenting her for what I thought was betrayal. Now, the weight of my own mistakes pressed down on me, suffocating in its clarity.

I had pushed her away. And Logan had been there to catch her.

I looked at the rogue girl Carly, and then up at my Gamma.

“Feed her,” I said. “Make sure she has what she needs.”

Brock, my Gamma, gave me a sideways glance, but responded with a curt, “Yes, Alpha.”

Carly looked confused. “You—you’re letting me go?”

“Is there a reason I should hold you? Have you done something wrong?”

She shook her head. “No, sir. I just—” She looked helplessly at Brock, who stared straight ahead, giving nothing away. Ever the dutiful soldier. The girl trailed off and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“And you’re not a member of the rogue faction that’s been wreaking havoc on our territory?”

Her expression hardened. “No.”

“Then you’re free to go,” I said, my tone indicating that that was the end of the conversation.

I knew what she’d been about to say—that I’d never shown mercy to rogues before, that my reputation had certainly preceded me. But I had treated Elena, who I’d thought to be a rogue, terribly. And look what it had gotten me.

And I knew this particular rogue had saved Elena’s life.

Before I could dwell too much my apparent change in policy, I exhaled, forcing the thoughts aside. There were other things to focus on.

I turned to the second report in front of me—the Moonstone Alpha’s response. Or rather, his lack of one.

Moonstone had refused to meet with me ahead of the Alliance Summit.

That irritated me more than I wanted to admit. It was short-sighted. It was stupid. It was also exactly the kind of power play I had expected from Elena’s father.

The Alliance Summit wasn’t just a formality—it was a negotiation. One that would set the course for every pack in the region. It would have been in both our interests to hammer out some details privately before the Council forced something neither of us wanted.

And yet, he had turned me down outright.

I tapped a finger against my desk, my mind already turning over the possibilities.

Maybe I should pretend I never received the message. Maybe I should go to Moonstone anyway, force a conversation that needed to happen.

Because one way or another, this wasn’t over.

And I wasn’t going to let Moonstone shut me out.

ELENA

The estate was quieter than usual.

Too quiet.

It had been nearly a full day since I had realized Maggie, Carly, and Erin were gone. Since Chad and the maid had found me outside my father’s office, their expressions tense, their words measured.

The three rogues I had invited into my home—trusted—had disappeared in the middle of the night.

And my father had his own thoughts about why.

“They left on their own,” he said, his tone firm. “You invited outsiders into our pack, Elena. And now they’re gone. Don’t be naïve about what that means.”

I sat stiffly in the chair across from him, my hands clenched in my lap. “They wouldn’t have just left without telling me.”

“They wouldn’t have told you if they didn’t want you to know,” he countered.

I gritted my teeth. “You think they stole from us.”

My father exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I think they weren’t loyal to us to begin with. You may trust them, but that doesn’t mean you should have.”

I stared at him, my stomach twisting.

He was wrong.

Maggie wouldn’t betray me.

Carly and Erin wouldn’t betray me.

But something had happened.

And I was going to find out what.

---

I found Logan in the west gardens, standing beneath the sprawling archway of ivy-covered stone. He was always here when he wanted quiet, when he wanted to think.

When he saw me, he smiled. “Elena.”

I hesitated. I didn’t want to talk about my engagement. Didn’t want to talk about the party I never asked for.

I wanted answers.

“The Alliance Summit,” I said, skipping the pleasantries. “What do you know about the rogue attacks?”

Logan’s smile faded slightly. “That’s a broad question.”

I folded my arms. “Then let’s narrow it down. Do you know who’s behind it?”

He hesitated. A fraction of a second. But I caught it.

He exhaled, schooling his expression into something neutral. “No one knows for certain. That’s why the Summit is happening. To get ahead of it.”

I knew Logan better than almost anyone. I had spent my childhood with him, had trusted him before I had even known what it meant to trust someone.

I had never known him to be reckless. Never known him to lie to me. But I also knew when he was holding something back.

And right now, he was hiding something.

My heartbeat quickened. “You’ll be there, right?”

Logan nodded. “My pack may be small, but we have valuable resources. I’ll be representing them at the Summit.”

I studied him carefully. A day ago, I wouldn’t have thought twice about his answer.

But after what Aiden had said about him—about Logan feeling more like a brother than a father— And after seeing that boy in my memories who wasn’t Logan— Something inside me twisted.

He was too careful in the way he spoke.

Too measured. As if he knew more than he was willing to tell me.

I inhaled deeply, forcing my expression to remain neutral. “It’ll be good to have you there,” I said carefully.

And it would be.

Because I needed to find out what Logan wasn’t telling me.

And the Alliance Summit was the perfect place to start.