Chapter 10 · Moonclaim - Chapter 10: The Hunter Mark

Ivy couldn't breathe.

The face in the background of that frozen frame, blurred and half-turned, belonged to someone she'd seen two months ago. Someone who'd told her to run.

Leon was staring at her. His hand still gripped the tablet, knuckles bone-white. "Who is it."

Not a question. A command.

She opened her mouth. Nothing came out. Her pulse hammered in her ears, drowning out the hum of the basement lab's air system. The stolen footage sat between them like a live grenade.

"Ivy." Leon's voice dropped, and she felt the wolf under it, barely leashed. "You recognized someone. Tell me."

She took a step back. Her hip hit the edge of the workbench. "I—"

He moved fast. Not touching her, but close enough that she could smell the faint copper tang of blood on his jacket from the dock fight. Close enough that the mate bond pulled, a sick warm tug under her ribs that she wanted to claw out.

"Don't lie to me," Leon said. "Not now."

"I'm not—" She swallowed. Her throat was dry. "I need to think."

His jaw tightened.