No,she agreed, though her expression remained troubled.But it had everything to do with him using me to systematically murder your entire leadership structure.And if he did kill himself to frame you...She shuddered.That’s a level of manipulation I’m not sure I can forgive.
At the sound of approaching vehicles, Nadine’s head snapped up from Gregory’s note.
Through the open storage unit door, she watched three black SUVs pull into the facility’s parking lot with military precision.
That’s Anders,Conall said, standing and moving to her side.Faster response time than I expected.
Nadine folded Gregory’s letter carefully and slipped it into her jacket pocket.The shrine around them—Vincent’s portraits, the behavioral modification protocols, decades of Chimera infiltration—felt like evidence of her own blindness.
How had she missed the signs that her father had been compromised?
Anders emerged from the lead vehicle, his movements carrying the controlled urgency she’d learned to recognize.Behind him came a team of five pack members, all armed and alert, along with Dr.Chen.
And there, stepping out of the second SUV with tension radiating from every line of his body, was Quinton.
Even from fifty feet away, his posture radiated pure fury.The way his hands clenched into fists at his sides.The deliberate distance he maintained from his twin as the team approached.
Status report,Anders called as he reached the storage unit entrance.
We found Gregory’s real investigation,Conall replied, gesturing to the contents around them.Everything he gathered on Chimera’s operations.Including their endgame.
Anders stepped inside, his sharp gaze cataloging the shrine-like arrangement.Vincent memorabilia?
More than that.Nadine stood, her professional mask sliding back into place despite the emotional turmoil churning beneath.Gregory seems to have been running his own convoluted ops.These are all trophies from successful behavioral modifications.
She handed Anders the Omicron Protocol folder.And here are the full details on Chimera’s plans for simultaneous activation of neural interfaces across dozens of packs.Mass behavioral control leading to territorial acquisition.
Anders flipped through the documents, his expression growing grimmer with each page.Timeline?
Soon,Conall said.The acceleration of attacks suggests they’re in the final preparation stages.
We need to move these materials to a secure location,Anders decided.Full analysis, cross-reference with our existing intelligence.
Agreed,Nadine said, but her attention had shifted to Quinton, who remained just outside the storage unit.His dark eyes—identical to Conall’s—were fixed on his twin with an intensity that made her wolf nervous.
Quinton,Anders called.Help coordinate the evidence transfer.
Quinton stepped into the storage unit, and Nadine immediately understood his agitation.His nostrils flared as he caught the mingled scents clinging to both her and Conall—the unmistakable evidence of intimacy that no amount of showering could completely erase.
Her stomach clenched.Of all the ways for Quinton to discover what had happened between them, this was possibly the worst.
Interesting discovery,Quinton said, his voice dangerously calm as he surveyed the shrine.But his gaze kept flicking between Nadine and his brother, tension pouring off him in waves.
Gregory’s final communication indicates he planned to have Nadine eliminate Sunburst’s new leadership,Conall said, either oblivious to his twin’s growing fury or choosing to ignore it.
Right.Quinton’s laugh was sharp enough to cut glass.Because that explains everything.Including why you smell like—
Quinton.Anders’s voice carried a warning.Focus on the mission.
But Quinton wasn’t listening anymore.His attention was fixed on Conall with laser intensity.
You slept with her,Quinton said flatly.
The words dropped into the storage unit like a grenade.Anders went very still.The other pack members suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.Nadine’s neck crawled with heat, mortification mixing with defiance.
That’s not—Conall started.
Don’t.Quinton’s voice cracked with emotion he rarely showed.Don’t lie to me.Not about this.I can smell her all over you.
