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The file hits the desk between us.
Cade's staring at the page like it burned him. My real name's right there in black ink. Sienna Thornwood. Daughter of Marcus Thornwood, alpha of the pack his father slaughtered six years ago.
I should run. Every instinct says run. But his hand's already on my wrist.
"Don't." His voice comes out low. Dangerous. "Don't even think about it."
Damon's still slumped in the chair behind us, breathing hard. "I told you. She's been lying this whole time. She probably poisoned me herself."
"Shut up." Cade doesn't look at him. His eyes stay locked on mine. Gold bleeding into the gray. His wolf's right under the surface. "Get out, Damon."
"You can't be serious. She's—"
"I said get out."
Damon shoves to his feet. He sways, catches himself on the doorframe. "You're making a mistake. She's Thornwood. You know what that means."
The door slams.
Then it's just us. Just me and the man whose father killed mine.
Cade's grip loosens, but he doesn't let go. His thumb presses against my pulse. He can feel it hammering. I'm not scared. I'm terrified.
"How long?" he asks.
I don't pretend I don't know what he's asking. "Six years."
Something flickers across his face. Not anger. Worse. Hurt. "You've been here the whole time. In my pack. Under my roof."
"Your father kept me." The words come out sharp. I want them to cut. "He liked having a Thornwood on her knees scrubbing his floors. You think I had a choice?"
"You had a choice three days ago." His voice drops. "When I marked you. When you accepted the bond."
I yank my wrist back. He lets me go this time. "What was I supposed to do? Refuse in front of the whole pack? Tell everyone I'm the last Thornwood and you're my fated mate? How long do you think I'd survive?"
"You think I'd kill you?"
"Your father did."
The air goes cold.
Cade steps back. His jaw's tight. For a second I think he's going to shift, going to let his wolf rip me apart right here. Instead he moves to the window. Puts his back to me.
"My father did a lot of things," he says. "I'm not him."
I almost laugh. Almost. "You took over his pack. You live in his house. You kept me here just like he did."
"I didn't know who you were."
"Would it have mattered?"
He turns. The look on his face makes my breath catch. "Yes."
I don't know what to do with that. Don't know if I believe it.
He crosses the room again. Stops close enough that I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. "You want revenge. That's why you stayed."
No point lying now. "Yes."
"You have a network. Other survivors."
I think of Mira. The silver-loaded syringe she gave me. The plan that just went to hell. "Maybe."
"And the poisoning. That was you."
My stomach drops. But I keep my face blank. "Damon said I was there. Doesn't mean I poisoned him."
"You're not denying it."
"I'm not confessing either."
His mouth almost twitches. Almost a smile. It's gone before I'm sure. "You're staying in this house."
"What?"
"You heard me. You're not going back to the omega quarters. You're staying here. In my wing."
Panic claws up my throat. "You can't—"
"I can." He's already pulling out his phone. "You're my mate. My luna. As of right now you're under my protection. Anyone who wants to touch you goes through me first."
"I don't want your protection."
"Too bad." He's texting someone. Probably his head of security. "Damon's already spreading the word. Half the pack knows there's a Thornwood in Ironridge. The other half will know by morning. You think you're safer out there?"
He's right. I hate that he's right.
"This is a cage," I say.
"It's survival." He pockets his phone. Steps closer. Close enough that his scent wraps around me, all pine and smoke and that thing I can't name. The bond pulls tight. My wolf whines. "You stay where I can see you. You don't leave the house without me. And you tell me everything about your revenge network."
"No."
"Sienna—"
"You want me to give up the only people who've helped me in six years? So you can what, lock them up too?"
His hand comes up. Cups the side of my neck. His palm's warm. I should pull away. I don't. "I want to know who's trying to kill my Beta. And I want to know what you were really looking for in that clinic."
My father's records. The truth about what happened that night. But I can't say that. Can't tell him I've been hunting for proof that the massacre was more than pack politics.
"I needed the necklace back," I say. Half true. "It was my mother's. The only thing I have left."
His thumb brushes the mark on my throat. The one he put there. I bite down on the noise that wants to escape. "You're scared," he murmurs. "Not disloyal. I can feel the difference."
The bond. He can feel my emotions through the bond. I shove him back. "Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't act like you know me. Like this means something."
"It does mean something." His voice is rough now. "You think I wanted this? You think I wanted my fated mate to be the daughter of the alpha my father destroyed?"
"Then reject me."
Silence.
His eyes bleed full gold. Wolf. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because you're mine." He says it like it's simple. Like it's fact. "And I don't let go of what's mine."
He leaves before I can answer. The door clicks shut. I hear the lock turn.
I'm trapped.
I sink onto the edge of the desk. My hands are shaking. The file's still there, my name staring up at me. Sienna Thornwood. Age eighteen. Last known survivor. There's a photo clipped to the corner. Me at sixteen, standing next to my father at some pack gathering. I look so young. I look happy.
I close the file. Shove it away.
Then I see the drawer.
It's not locked. Cade left in too much of a hurry. I shouldn't. I know I shouldn't. But my hands are already pulling it open.
Papers. Files. A flask. And underneath, a leather portfolio tied with string.
I pull it out. Untie it.
Letters. Old ones, the paper yellowed at the edges. The handwriting on the first envelope makes my heart stop.
Marcus Thornwood.
My father.
I unfold it with shaking hands. The date at the top is three months before the massacre. It's addressed to Geoffrey Blackthorn. Cade's father.
*Geoffrey—*
*I'm calling in the favor you owe me. I need protection for my daughter. I've uncovered something in the council records, something that goes back decades. They're going to come for Thornwood. I don't know when, but I know it's coming. If I don't make it, keep Sienna safe. You're the only one I trust.*
*One warning: whoever's behind this, they're embedded deep. Don't trust anyone on the Blackthorn council. Not even your Beta.*
*Burn this after you read it.*
*— Marcus*
The letter slips from my hands.
My father knew. He knew the massacre was coming. And he asked Cade's father for help.
The man who killed him.