Her sympathy evaporated like morning dew under the desert sun.
Conall paused at the exact spot where they’d confronted each other days earlier.He crouched, studying the ground where evidence of their encounter remained despite wind and weather.He lifted his head, scenting the air.
Could he sense her watching?Did the mate bond give him that awareness?
As if in answer, he turned slowly, his gaze sweeping the ridge where she hid.For one heart-stopping moment, she thought he looked directly at her position.Then he moved on, continuing his patrol.
Nadine released the breath she was holding.
For the rest of the afternoon, she maintained her surveillance, changing positions regularly to avoid detection.
The pattern became clear: The Sunburst Pack had increased security, particularly along their eastern border.They were scanning for both Nadine and the tactical team that had attacked them.
Interesting that they considered both threats.
On the second day of her watch, she spotted something that made her blood run cold.
A tall, lithe woman with black hair pulled back in a severe braid—a mirror image of herself—approaching the Sunburst Pack’s main compound from the north.
The woman carried herself with the same watchful tension that Nadine recognized from her own reflection.
But it wasn’t Nadine.
Someone was impersonating her.And doing it well enough to fool casual observation.
She tracked the impostor through her binoculars, watching as the woman was intercepted by a patrol—not the twins, thankfully, but two other wolves she didn’t recognize.After a brief conversation, the patrol escorted the woman toward the main compound.
They were bringing her in.
They think it’s me.
Cold fury replaced her initial shock.
Someone had anticipated her moves, had created a countermeasure specifically designed to confuse the situation.
The team from the ravine?Perhaps.They’d clearly known who she was, and had targeted both her and Conall with precision.
But why send in a doppelgänger?
What was the strategic objective?
Nadine chewed her lower lip, her mind racing through possibilities.
Intelligence gathering.Infiltration.Disruption of my investigation.
All valid goals.All potentially devastating to her mission.
She needed to get closer, to learn what this impostor was saying to the Sunburst leadership.But moving into the main compound’s vicinity with her still-healing injury would be suicidally reckless.
Nadine retreated to her root cellar to consider her options.
Now she faced not just the Sunburst Pack and her unwanted mate bond but an unknown player with resources sophisticated enough to field a convincing double.
As she paced the small space, her mind circled back to her father’s final communications.
Had he known about these other players?Had he tried to warn her?
The memories were tinged with grief, making any objective analysis difficult.
