<h4>Chapter 68: Chapter 68 Shadows in the Dark</h4>


    Author’s pov


    Back in the quiet mountain vige, Esther and her mother sat in silence, the weight of unspoken worries weighing down on them.


    "Our Cecilia was bullied so badly, and we could do nothing," Esther murmured, her fingers tightening around the fish she was gutting.


    Her eyes flickered with sudden desperation. "Mom, what if... what if we go to Colorado Springs and tell the Locke Family about Cecilia’s existence? If we can’t protect her, they certainly could."


    The older woman’s grip hardened around the dried fish in her hands. Her eyes, clouded with both age and caution, shed with rm.


    "Absolutely not," she said firmly. "When the old madam entrusted Cecilia to me, she begged for only one thing—that the child live safely. Not rich, not powerful. Safe."


    "But she’s not safe now!" Esther’s eyes reddened, her voice cracking. "I hate the thought as much as you do. She’s my life. But look at her marriage, look at how they’ve bullied her! We have no connections, no influence. If they knew she carried Locke blood, would they dare treat her this way?"


    The grandmother shook her head, her voice soft but unyielding. "The Locke family is a nest of vipers. Right now, she suffers hardship, yes. But if she returns to them, she might lose her life."


    Her gaze hardened as she leveled it on Esther. "Do not mention this again. Especially not to Cecilia. Not a single word."


    Esther nodded, but her heart rebelled. To her, Cecilia was brilliant, kind, deserving of so much more than humiliation and abuse. Why should her daughter live in the shadows?


    The two women fell into heavy silence, secrets pressing on their chests—truths powerful enough to change everything, or destroy the very person they sought to protect.


    Far from the vige, Cecilia sat in her car, feigning sleep beneath her mask.


    A man across the lot had returned to his vehicle after a phone call, his presence prickling at her instincts. Could it truly be coincidence that for three days in a row, he’d left Denver when she did, only to return at the exact same schedule?


    Half an hour ticked by. Neither of them moved. The confirmation was enough.


    Her mind raced. Calling the police? Pointless. By the time they arrived, he would vanish. All she had was a pattern—no hard evidence.


    In pack politics surveince was often used before striking. If he hadn’t harmed her yet, perhaps he was only watching.


    Decision made, she started her car. His followed. Professional distance, sometimes vanishingpletely before reappearing minutester. Subtle. Deliberate. If she hadn’t been looking, she might never have noticed.


    Her palms grew slick as the Denver skyline came into view. Only then did she allow herself to exhale.


    At the final intersection before her building, she made her move—elerating hard, ignoring the red light. Her gamble paid off: the gate barrier stopped his car long enough for her to dart inside.


    Safe. For now.


    In the underground garage, her hands still trembled as she gathered her bags. She dialed Harper.


    "I think someone’s been tracking me since I left the vige," she whispered. "Same man, same car, three sightings in a row."


    Harper’s voice rose in rm. "Are you serious? Did you get a license te? What did he look like?"


    "Average height, tanned skin. Nothing distinct except—"


    Movement. A shadow flickered in her peripheral vision.


    A figure in a ck hat, face hidden, closing in with the silence of a predator.


    Before Cecilia could react, pain exploded at the base of her skull. Darkness swallowed her vision. Her body crumpled, phone slipping from her grasp as consciousness abandoned her.


    On the other end of the line, Harper’s heart lurched.


    "Cecilia? Hello? Can you hear me?"


    Only silence. Then the call disconnected.


    She tried again. The line rang, but there was no answer.


    Panic swept over her. Cecilia had just said she was in her garage. Even if she’d dropped the call, she would have picked up again. Something was wrong.


    Grabbing her keys, Harper dialed another number—the one she’d boldly secured at the ramen shop. Alpha Sebastian ck. He lived in the same building.


    The line rang ten seconds before he answered, voice smooth, steady.


    "Hello."


    No time for pleasantries. "Alpha Sebastian, Cecilia just entered the garage. Our call cut off, and now she’s not answering. Could you check on her?"


    "I’ll look into it immediately," he said, ending the call before Harper could thank him.


    Miles away, in the Silver Peak Pack’s grand house, Sebastian had been dutifully scrolling through photos of unmated she-wolves on a sleek tablet when Harper’s call came.


    The images blurred to nothing the instant he saw her name sh on the screen.


    He rose the moment the call ended, smoothing his jacket with precise, controlled movements. His voice, cool and formal, carried to his parents:


    "I need to leave. As for the mate candidates, I have no objections. Handle the arrangements."


    He didn’t wait for their replies. His mother’s curious voice followed, teasing.


    "Was that a female caller?"


    His father’s dry amusement joined hers. "Don’t get excited. Did that look like the face of a wolf thinking about a mate?"


    But they weren’t watching closely enough. They missed the taut line of Sebastian’s jaw, the fist clenched so tightly at his side his knuckles whitened.


    Outside, Liam hurried up. "Alpha Sebastian? Leaving early—did something happen?"


    Sebastian silenced him with a sharp nce and strode to his car.


    Two swift calls left his lips, his tone clipped.


    First—to building security.


    "Pull garage footage from thest fifteen minutes. Now."


    Next—to Tang, the enforcer assigned to shadow Cecilia.


    "She disconnected in the garage," Sebastian said coldly. "Check immediately."


    "I’m on it," Tang replied, engine roaring in the background. "I saw her car enter ten minutes ago. I kept my distance so she wouldn’t notice. But she was being tailed—a sloppy amateur. He didn’t follow her inside, though."


    Sebastian said nothing. His grip tightened around the phone, a chill settling in his chest.


    "Find her," he ordered, voice like steel. "Now."


    He ended the call and slid into the waiting car. Liam took the driver’s seat, sensing his Alpha’s urgency but daring a question anyway.


    "How could anyone reach her inside our building? Security should’ve kept her safe."


    "The system keeps outsiders out," Sebastian replied, eyes cold as the night. "It doesn’t ount for those already inside."


    Liam hesitated. "You mean... a resident?"


    Sebastian’s reply cut like a de. "Alpha Xavier owns a unit there. He bought it for proximity. ess can be forged if someone is determined enough."


    His gaze shifted to the window, where his own reflection stared back—eyes dark with a fear he refused to name.


    He had sworn to protect her.


    If she had been taken under his watch... he would never forgive himself.


    In the garage, Tang’s car screeched into the lot just as a sleek ck sports car shot past him, speeding toward the exit.