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I have maybe three hours before Damon wakes up.
The pendant is still in his hand. Has to be. And if anyone sees that Thornwood crest before I get it back, I'm dead. Not omega-gets-punished dead. Actually dead.
I'm pacing my room. Can't sit. Can't think straight. My hair's still damp from the fastest shower of my life, but I can still smell the forest on my skin. Mud. Blood. The poison that nearly killed him.
The poison I didn't give him.
Mira's face flashes in my head. The way she looked at me like I was the enemy. Maybe I am. I saved him. I saved Cade's second. What kind of revenge is that?
I shake it off. Focus. The pendant. That's all that matters right now.
The pack clinic is on the east side of the main house. Two floors down. Damon will be there. Cade will be there too. And probably half the command chain, because someone just tried to kill the Beta.
I can't just walk in.
But I can't not try.
I change into clean clothes. Dark jeans. A loose sweater that hides the bruise forming on my ribs from dragging Damon's heavy ass through the woods. I pull my hair back. Try to look like I belong. Like I'm not about to do the dumbest thing I've ever done.
The hallway is quiet. Too quiet. Most of the pack is either asleep or at the clinic. I take the back stairs. The ones the omegas use. No one pays attention to us.
Usually.
Tonight, I catch two guards at the bottom of the stairwell. They're talking low, tense. I stop before they see me. Press myself against the wall.
"—don't know how he got dosed. Damon doesn't eat or drink anything he doesn't see prepared."
"Someone got close. Had to."
"Yeah, or someone on the inside."
My stomach drops.
They think it's internal. They're going to start looking at everyone. Including me.
I wait until they move off, then slip down the hall toward the clinic wing. The lights are harsh. Fluorescent. Everything smells like disinfectant and anxiety.
The door to the main recovery room is cracked open. I can see shadows moving inside. Hear Cade's voice, low and steady. Giving orders. He sounds calm. He always sounds calm. It's the kind of calm that makes you forget he could rip your throat out without blinking.
I edge closer. My heart is slamming so hard I'm sure they can hear it.
Then I see him.
Damon.
He's on a cot near the window. Still out. His skin looks gray under the lights. There's an IV in his arm. A monitor beeping next to him. And his hand—
His hand is open.
Empty.
No.
I freeze. Stare. My brain won't catch up.
The pendant. Where's the pendant?
My eyes dart around the room. A metal tray on the side table. His jacket folded on a chair. Boots on the floor. Nothing. I don't see it.
Maybe it fell. Maybe someone put it somewhere safe. Maybe—
"Sienna."
I almost jump out of my skin.
Cade is standing in the doorway. He's still wearing the same shirt from earlier, but the top two buttons are undone. There's dirt on his collar. His eyes are locked on me. Unreadable.
"What are you doing here?"
I swallow. Think fast.
"I heard about Damon. I just wanted to—"
"To what?" He steps closer. Doesn't blink. "Check on my Beta? You've never cared about him before."
"I care about the pack."
"Do you."
It's not a question. It's a test.
I hold his gaze. "Yes."
He watches me for a long moment. Then he moves past me, into the room. I follow because I don't know what else to do. He stops next to Damon's cot. Looks down at him. His jaw tightens.
"Someone poisoned him. Wolfsbane. Concentrated. Whoever did it knew what they were doing."
I force myself to breathe normal. "Is he going to make it?"
"He will." Cade's voice drops. "And when he wakes up, he's going to tell me everything he saw."
My throat goes dry.
"What do you mean?"
Cade turns to me. His eyes are darker now. Gold flickers at the edges. His wolf is close.
"He was found near the east border. Someone dragged him back. Saved his life." He tilts his head. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
I can't tell if he's fishing or if he knows.
I lift my chin. "Why would I?"
"Because you smell like the woods. And blood. And him."
Shit.
I don't move. Don't breathe.
Cade steps closer. So close I can feel the heat coming off him. His hand comes up, fingers brushing the side of my neck. Right over the mark. The bond flares, sharp and electric. I hate how my body reacts. How my pulse jumps.
"Tell me the truth, Sienna."
I meet his eyes. "I went for a walk. I couldn't sleep."
"A walk."
"Yes."
"In the middle of the night. In the woods. Where my Beta was dying."
"I didn't know he was there."
"Then how did you find him?"
I clench my teeth. "I heard something. I went to look. I saw him on the ground. I didn't know what else to do, so I dragged him back."
Cade's expression doesn't change. "Why didn't you call for help?"
"I didn't have my phone."
"Why didn't you shift and howl?"
"I—" I stop. Shit. That's what any real pack member would've done. "I panicked. I just reacted."
He's still staring at me. Still touching my neck. The bond hums between us, hot and insistent. I want to pull away. I want to lean in. I hate both options.
"You're lying," he says quietly.
My heart stops.
But before I can answer, before I can even think of what to say, Damon groans.
We both turn.
He's moving. His head rolls to the side. His eyes flutter.
"Cade." One of the healers steps forward. "He's waking up."
Cade's hand drops from my neck. He moves to the cot, leaning over Damon. I stay back. Every instinct screaming at me to run. But I can't. Not now. Not without knowing what he's going to say.
Damon's eyes crack open. Unfocused. Bloodshot. He blinks a few times, trying to clear his vision. Then he sees Cade.
"Alpha."
His voice is wrecked. Barely a rasp.
"Easy." Cade's tone shifts. Gentler. "You're safe. You were poisoned."
Damon's brow furrows. He tries to sit up. Cade pushes him back down.
"Who did this?" Cade asks.
Damon's eyes slide past him. Land on me.
My stomach clenches.
"Her."
The room goes silent.
Cade goes rigid. "What?"
Damon's hand lifts, shaking, pointing at me. "She was there. In the woods."
I feel every eye in the room lock onto me.
Cade turns. Slow. His face is unreadable, but his wolf is right there. I can see it in his eyes.
"Is that true?"
I don't answer fast enough.
"Is. That. True."
"Yes," I say. My voice is steady. Barely. "I told you. I found him. I dragged him back."
Damon makes a sound. Half laugh, half cough. "She's lying."
Cade's jaw ticks. "Explain."
Damon's eyes are clearer now. Sharper. He looks at me like he's seeing me for the first time. "She wasn't trying to save me. She was trying to finish the job."
"That's not true—"
"I grabbed her." Damon's hand moves to his chest. Pats his shirt. His face changes. "I had something. Proof. Where is it?"
The healer steps forward. "We didn't find anything on you."
"No." Damon's eyes snap to Cade. "I had it in my hand. A pendant. Silver chain. There was a crest on it."
My blood turns to ice.
Cade looks at me. "A pendant."
I can't speak. Can't move.
Damon pushes himself up on his elbows, ignoring the healer's protest. He's staring at me now. Really staring. "I know what I saw. That crest. I've seen it before."
"Where?" Cade's voice is dangerously quiet.
Damon's mouth twists into something ugly. "In the archives. The old pack records."
No.
No no no.
"What records?" Cade asks.
Damon doesn't look away from me. "The massacre files. From the Thornwood slaughter."
The room feels like it's tilting.
Cade's hand is on my arm. Tight. "Sienna."
I yank back. "I don't know what he's talking about."
"Liar." Damon's voice is stronger now. Vicious. "Check my jacket. I had papers. A list."
One of the guards moves to the chair. Picks up the jacket. Searches the pockets. Pulls out a folded piece of paper. Hands it to Cade.
Cade unfolds it.
I watch his face. Watch the exact moment he sees it.
His expression goes blank.
Then he looks at me.
And I know.
I know he sees my name.
Not Sienna Vale.
My real name.
Sienna Thornwood.
The last surviving daughter of the alpha he helped destroy.