JOVE POV
The numbers don't lie.
But these numbers are telling me something impossible.
I stare at my computer screen, running the probability algorithm for the seventh time in three hours. Same variables. Same data. Same conclusion that makes absolutely no sense.
Variable 1: One wolfless Omega female, low genetic value.
Variable 2: Five Alpha males, highest genetic ranking in territory.
Variable 3: Initial hostility from all Alphas toward Omega.
Variable 4: Sudden protective behavior emerging within 48 hours.
Probability of natural mate bond forming: 0.000001%
Probability of ALL FIVE forming bonds simultaneously: Statistically impossible.
Yet it happened.
I delete the algorithm and start over. There has to be an error in my data.
"Still working?" Korrin leans against my office doorway. "It's three in the morning."
"The data doesn't make sense," I tell him without looking up. "Our behavior toward her violates every logical pattern."
"Maybe logic doesn't apply to mates."
"Everything applies to logic." I pull up the mate bond research. "The mate bond requires wolf recognition. She doesn't HAVE a wolf. Therefore, bond formation is impossible. Yet..." I touch my wrist where her mark appeared hours ago. It's still glowing faintly. "This is real."
Korrin walks over and looks at my screen. "What if your initial data was wrong? What if she's not actually wolfless?"
"Her medical records clearly state—" I stop. Medical records can be falsified. "I need to dig deeper."
After Korrin leaves, I hack into the hospital database where Seren was born. It takes me forty-seven minutes to break through their security.
What I find makes my blood run cold.
Her original birth records show a genetic anomaly flagged for further testing. But the follow-up tests? They were never completed. Someone marked her file as "wolfless" and sealed it.
Manually. By an administrator with high-level clearance.
Someone WANTED her labeled as defective.
But why?
I dig further. Find her school records, employment history, medical visits over the years.
The pattern that emerges makes me sick.
Age 6: Broken arm. Cause listed as "fell down stairs."
Age 8: Concussion. Cause: "Playground accident."
Age 10: Three cracked ribs. Cause: "Fell off bike."
Age 12: Severe bruising. Cause: "Clumsy child."
The list goes on. And on. Injuries every few months for thirteen years.
No child is THAT accident-prone.
Someone was hurting her. Regularly. And no one stopped it.
My wolf snarls. MATE WAS HURT. FIND WHO DID IT. KILL THEM.
I push the wolf's rage down and keep reading.
Her employment records show she started working at fourteen. Three jobs simultaneously by sixteen. Her school records show straight-A grades despite working sixty hours a week.
She's brilliant. Hardworking. Determined to survive despite everything working against her.
And we told her she was nothing.
The guilt hits me like a physical blow.
I pull up the mansion's security footage, looking for her current location. The cameras show her room is dark. She should be sleeping.
But when I check the library camera, there she is.
Sitting at a desk at 3 AM, surrounded by textbooks. Her silver-white hair falls over her face as she writes notes. She's wearing an old sweatshirt that's too big for her, and she keeps rubbing her eyes like she's fighting exhaustion.
But she doesn't stop studying.
I watch her for several minutes, and something uncomfortable tightens in my chest.
She's alone. She's always alone.
Even now, living in a house full of people, she isolates herself because we made her feel unwanted.
My wolf whimpers. MATE IS SAD. MATE IS LONELY. GO TO HER. COMFORT HER.
"She's not our mate," I say out loud. "The data says it's impossible."
But even as I say it, I know I'm lying to myself.
I pull up the Lunar Omega research I found yesterday. Read through the ancient texts again, looking for something I missed.
Then I see it.
A passage I skipped before because it seemed irrelevant:
"The Lunar Omega's wolf sleeps until awakened by her true mates. Five Alphas, chosen by fate, whose bonds will unlock her power. But beware—those who seek to control such power will stop at nothing to possess or destroy her. The Lunar Omega must be protected at all costs, for her death means the death of balance itself."
Protect or destroy.
Someone sealed Seren's wolf. Someone hid her true nature. Someone abused her for years, keeping her weak and broken.
Why?
I cross-reference the names on her medical records with pack databases. Most are random doctors and nurses. But one name appears multiple times across different hospitals, different incidents:
Dr. Helena Vex.
I search for her. Find a photo.
She's a respected wolf researcher. Published papers on genetic manipulation. Sits on the Council of Wolf Medicine.
And according to her employment history, she worked at the hospital where Seren was born.
She was there the day Seren's file was sealed.
My hands start shaking.
Did this doctor seal Seren's wolf on purpose? And if so, why?
I'm hacking into Dr. Vex's personal files when my computer screen goes black.
Then red text appears:
STOP DIGGING, JOVE VOSS. SOME SECRETS ARE BETTER LEFT BURIED.
Someone's watching me. Someone knew I was investigating.
I try to trace the source of the message, but whoever sent it is good. Really good. They've covered their tracks completely.
The message deletes itself, and my computer reboots.
When it comes back online, all my research on Dr. Vex is gone. Deleted. Like it never existed.
But I have a photographic memory. I remember everything I read.
I grab my phone and text my brothers in our group chat:
"Emergency meeting. NOW. Someone's been hiding Seren's true identity. And they just threatened me to stop investigating."
Thirty seconds later, all four brothers burst into my office.
"What happened?" Daxion demands.
I tell them everything. The sealed medical records. The suspicious injuries. Dr. Vex. The threatening message.
When I finish, Korrin's eyes are glowing amber with rage. "Someone's been hurting our mate for YEARS?"
"And covering it up," I confirm. "Someone with power. Resources. Access to medical records and computer systems."
Thayer runs his hand through his hair. "Why seal a Lunar Omega's wolf? What's the endgame?"
"Control," Lysander says quietly. We all look at him. "If you convince a powerful being they're worthless, they never realize their power. Never fight back. Never become a threat."
The room goes silent as we absorb that.
Someone wanted Seren weak. Broken. Controllable.
But they failed. Because we awakened her wolf.
And now she's powerful. Protected. OURS.
"We need to tell her," I say. "She deserves to know someone's been manipulating her life."
"Not yet," Daxion decides. "She's already overwhelmed. We tell her about this, she'll panic."
"So what do we do?" Korrin asks.
"We investigate quietly," Daxion says. "Find out who's behind this. Then we eliminate the threat before it reaches her."
We're discussing strategy when my computer screen flickers again.
New message. Different sender.
"You're too late, brothers. The game is already in motion. And your precious Omega? She's been marked for death since the day she was born. Tick tock. - A Friend"
Below the message is a photo.
It's Seren. In the library. RIGHT NOW.
But there's a red crosshair over her head.
Like a sniper scope.
"GO!" Daxion roars.
We run.
Down the hallway, through the mansion, toward the library.
Please let us be in time. Please let her be safe.
We burst through the library doors.
Seren's still at the desk, headphones in, completely unaware of danger.
Korrin reaches her first, grabs her, pulls her to the ground just as—
CRASH.
The window behind her explodes.
A bullet hole appears in the wall exactly where her head was three seconds ago.
Someone just tried to kill our mate.
And they're still out there.
Watching.
Waiting for another shot.