DANE POV
Something was wrong with this evidence.
I spread the documents across my desk for the tenth time, trying to figure out what bothered me. Everything looked perfect—too perfect. Thea's scent at forbidden locations. Encrypted messages in her handwriting. Three witnesses swearing they'd seen her near rival territory.
It should be open and shut. A clear case of betrayal.
So why did my chest feel like it was being ripped apart?
"You're certain these are authentic?" I asked Corwin. Thea's father stood across from me, his face emotionless.
"My daughter's handwriting, Alpha. I'd recognize it anywhere." His voice was flat. "I never thought she'd betray us, but the evidence is clear."
His daughter. He talked about Thea like she was a stranger, not his child.
"Doesn't it bother you?" The question escaped before I could stop it. "Condemning your own daughter?"
Corwin's jaw tightened. "It bothers me that she'd commit treason. But I serve the pack first, family second. That's what it means to be Beta."
Cold. Efficient. Everything a Beta should be.
So why did I want to punch him in the face?
Because he's lying, Reign snarled in my mind. My wolf had been agitated since the evidence appeared. The scent is wrong. The timing is wrong. Everything is WRONG.
"How is the scent wrong?" I demanded internally. "The trackers confirmed it was Thea at every location."
Her scent, yes. But not her presence. Scent can be transferred, planted, manipulated.
I wanted to dismiss it as paranoia. But Reign had been right before—about the bond corruption, about Sable, about everything I'd been too stubborn to see.
A knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Enter."
Kieran walked in, his expression troubled. "Alpha, I need to speak with you. About Thea."
"Not you too," I muttered. "Everyone's suddenly concerned about the traitor."
"That's just it—I don't think she is one." Kieran closed the door. "I've known Thea her whole life. She's quiet, shy, keeps to herself. But disloyal? Never. This feels wrong."
"The evidence—"
"Can be faked." Kieran leaned forward. "Dane, think about it. Thea has no motive. She doesn't want power, doesn't have connections with rival packs, barely speaks to anyone except that Omega healer. Why would she suddenly commit treason?"
I'd wondered the same thing. "People can hide their true natures."
"For three years? Without a single slip?" Kieran shook his head. "And the timing is suspicious. This evidence all appeared in the last week, right when you started questioning your bond with Sable."
My blood went cold. "I never told anyone about that."
"You didn't have to. I've known you since we were pups. I can see you pulling away from her, looking confused when you're together." Kieran's eyes were intense. "What if someone wants Thea gone before you figure out the truth?"
"What truth?"
"That she's—"
The door burst open. Sable swept in, her face flushed with anger. "Dane! Why haven't you arrested Thea yet? The evidence is clear! She's a traitor and she needs to be punished!"
The venom in her voice shocked me. This wasn't the gentle Luna who smiled at pack dinners. This was someone who wanted blood.
"I'm reviewing the case," I said carefully.
"Review?" Sable's voice rose. "She betrayed us! She leaked our defenses to enemies! What more do you need?"
"Proof that she actually wrote those messages," Kieran said quietly. "Not just that they're in her handwriting. Anyone with magic could forge—"
"Are you defending a traitor?" Sable turned on him. "As Beta, you should be demanding her execution!"
"I'm demanding justice," Kieran shot back. "Real justice, not a witch hunt."
"Enough!" My alpha command silenced them both. "I'll handle this my way."
Sable's eyes filled with tears. "I just don't want her to hurt us, Dane. She's been acting so strange, making up stories about mate bonds and—" She stopped, looking like she'd said too much.
My wolf perked up. What stories?
"What mate bond stories?" I asked slowly.
"Nothing." Sable backpedaled. "Just... Father mentioned she's been delusional. Claiming things that aren't true. I'm worried about her mental state."
Every instinct I had screamed that she was lying.
But before I could push further, guards knocked on the door. "Alpha, we have Thea Calloway. As requested."
My heart clenched. "Bring her in."
They dragged Thea into my office and my chest exploded with pain. She looked terrible—thin, pale, trembling. Her grey eyes were huge in her gaunt face.
When those eyes met mine, I felt it. The pull. The bond. The connection I'd been denying for three years.
MATE, Reign howled. Our mate, suffering, dying, and we did nothing!
"Did you betray the pack?" The words came out harsher than I intended, pushed by guilt and confusion.
Thea opened her mouth. I saw a hundred emotions flash across her face—pain, longing, resignation, despair.
"I didn't," she whispered.
"Then explain the evidence! The messages in your handwriting, your scent at forbidden locations, the witnesses!"
"I can't." Her voice broke. "I don't remember any of it. Someone's framing me but I have no proof and no one will believe me anyway so what's the point?"
"The point is defending yourself!" I roared, my alpha power making her flinch. "Give me something, anything to doubt this evidence!"
She looked at me for a long moment. Through the bond I didn't want to acknowledge, I felt her emotions—love mixed with bitter resentment, hope crushed by three years of suffering, the desire to tell me something warring with the certainty that I wouldn't listen.
"Would it matter?" she asked quietly. "Would anything I say matter to you, Alpha?"
The question hit like a physical blow.
Would it? If she told me she was innocent, would I believe her over the mountain of evidence? Over her own father's testimony? Over Sable's tears?
My silence was answer enough.
"I didn't betray the pack," Thea said again. "That's all I can tell you. Believe it or don't."
She wouldn't defend herself. Wouldn't fight. Just stood there accepting her fate like she'd already given up.
It infuriated me. Made me want to shake her, to demand she care about her own life.
Why did I care so much?
Because she's ours, Reign whimpered. Our mate, and we're killing her.
"Your silence admits guilt," I said, pushing away the voice of my wolf. "Thea Calloway, I exile you from Thornbrook territory. You have until dawn to leave. Cross our borders again and I'll execute you myself."
I expected tears. Begging. Something.
Instead, Thea looked at me with eyes that had already died.
"As you command, Alpha." Her voice was hollow. Empty.
The guards dragged her away.
The moment she was gone, my chest felt like it was caving in. I collapsed into my chair, gasping.
"Dane!" Kieran rushed over. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know. It feels like... like I'm dying."
Sable was at my other side instantly. "You're just stressed, my love. Once that traitor is gone, you'll feel better."
But I didn't feel better. I felt worse. Like I'd just made the worst mistake of my life.
Through the window, I watched guards escort Thea toward the boundary. She walked with her head down, defeated.
And I swear on the Moon Goddess, I saw her look back at me once.
Not with hatred. Not with anger.
With goodbye.
Like she'd finally accepted that I would never see her. Would never know the truth.
Like she was letting me go.
NO! Reign threw himself against my mental barriers with unprecedented strength. GO AFTER HER! STOP THIS! SHE'S INNOCENT!
"How do you know?"
Because I can feel her! The bond is real and she's telling the truth and if you let her go you'll regret it for the rest of your life!
My hand was on the door before I knew I was moving.
"Dane?" Sable's voice was sharp. "Where are you going?"
"I... I don't know."
But I did know. I was going after Thea. To demand the truth. To understand why my wolf was going insane. To figure out why exiling her felt like cutting out my own heart.
Before I could move, Kieran gripped my shoulder. "Wait. Look at this."
He held up one of the evidence documents. Under the lamplight, I could see it now—tiny inconsistencies. Letters that were almost right but not quite. The ink color varied slightly between sentences.
"This was written by multiple people," Kieran said quietly. "Someone traced Thea's handwriting to forge these messages. This is a setup."
Ice flooded my veins.
"But who would—"
I turned. Sable stood by my desk, her face pale. And in her eyes, just for a second, I saw something that made my blood run cold.
Guilt.
"Sable," I said slowly. "Did you know these were fake?"
"What? No! How dare you accuse—"
"Answer the question."
Our eyes locked. And in that moment, through whatever remained of our corrupted bond, I felt it.
She was lying.
She'd always been lying.
And Thea—
Oh gods. What had I done?