Raygar's POV

“This is too easy,” I muttered under my breath.

My Beta, Hugo who was standing watch near the entrance of the hallway, responded through the earpiece. “Don’t jinx it.”

He wasn’t wrong about that. But truly the security was terribly weak. Damien’s guards barely did anything more than show off their uniforms and strut like as if they owned the place. For an Alpha supposedly running a tight ship, this entire mansion was reeking of overconfidence.

I moved past another group of laughing guests casually to avoid drawing any attention to myself. It was as if up to half of the pack was there and they were just making merry. I kept my head down and followed the route I’d memorized from the blueprints my spies stole last week.

Just as I turned the corner before the staircase something ran into me.

A girl slammed right into my broad hard shoulder, nearly knocking herself backwards. Her whole body was soaked in Goddess knows what. She smelled bad and it looked like frosting and cake was in her hair. Her face was flushed as if she’d just escaped a war zone.

I looked into her hazel brown eyes which were wild with panic.

And then her voice was In my head.

“Help me. Please. I can’t breathe.”

My whole body stiffened. Her lips weren’t moving, but I heard her clear as day.

My wolf stirred and became alert. You can’t just form a link with a stranger. Not unless…

Before I could ask her anything, she turned away and ran up the stairs. and took off down the hall. I stood frozen for a second as her voice continued ringing in my head.

Then Hugo’s voice cut in through the earpiece. “Ray, focus. Where are you?”

I shook myself out of it. “Taking the stairs now to the North wing. I'm outside the study and I’m going in.”

The lock on Damien’s door was electronic but it was no match for my custom device that could break into any room. I slid it into the panel and after a soft click, the door opened.

Hugo kept talking. “Two guards down the hallway. They’re busy flirting with some omega twins. You’ve got maybe ten minutes.”

“That’s more than enough time,” I said as I stepped inside the room.

It was dark and cold like a typical Alpha office with bookshelves, leather chairs, and a heavy desk that were meant to show off power. I moved straight to the desk and switched on the computer. Of course it needed a password, but that was another easy thing to crack.

I inserted a second device into the port and let it do the work. Random numbers rolled across the screen as the software cracked the code and ten seconds later, I was in.

“Talk to me,” Hugo said.

“I’m in. Give me a minute.”

I opened the folders on the desktop but most of them were useless to me. Pack rosters, financial reports and event plans. But then I saw a folder marked “Imports.”

Inside it were files labeled with what seemed to be code names and addresses… vampire locations.

Bingo.

I scrolled through what seemed to be encrypted transactions of trades, shipments, meetings scheduled at neutral zones, dates, names and even locations. Damien wasn’t just welcoming the vampires into wolf territory, he was even doing business with them.

I pulled out my flash drive and copied everything I could find with what little time I had left.

“Ray?”

“I’ve got it,” I whispered. “Everything we need.”

Just as the last file finished downloading, I heard footsteps outside the door.

“Hugo, we’ve got company,” I said.

“Copy that. Two guards moving past. No eyes on you.”

I closed everything, yanked out the drive, and slipped it into my inner coat pocket. I quietly left the study and joined Hugo, who was waiting at the end of the hallway near the stairs.

“We’re ghosts,” he said, flashing a grin.

But then a voice caught our attention.

Damien.

“Hide,” I hissed, grabbing Hugo and pulling him into a shadowed corner just around the bend of the grand staircase.

From where we crouched, we couldn’t see who he was talking to but we could hear everything.

“I, Alpha Damien Rogers of the Silverback Pack, reject you, Selene Monroe, as my mate.”

I glanced at Hugo, who raised an eyebrow.

Mate rejection? Publicly?

This guy had no honor.

“You’re wolfless and worthless. You will never been a real Luna.”

Then came gasps, whispers and even some laughter. The crowd was eating it up like a damn show.

Then whoever he was talking to replied in a quiet shaky voice, “I… I accept.”

Whoever she was, she had just been tossed aside like garbage. But I couldn't care less. I just needed to get out of here without being caught.

I stayed hidden until the footsteps faded, then slipped out with Hugo.

Once we passed through the back exit of the mansion and headed for the forest, I pulled out the flash drive and stared at it in the moonlight.

“This is it,” I said. “The smoking gun.”

“You sure?” Hugo asked as he brushed pine needles off his shoulder.

I nodded. “Damien’s done. Silverback is corrupt. He’s dealing with the same monsters who slaughtered my parents and half of Blackwood.”

Hugo didn’t say anything for a moment as we started walking toward the car we parked hidden away in the woods.

“So Alpha Raygar, what's our next move?” Hugo finally asked.

My thoughts were definitely on the strategy we would use, on preparing for the assault, breaking down Damien’s allies and stripping the Silverback Pack of its power.

“We’ve got the proof. Silverback is compromised. It’s time to bring them down.”