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I hope this is you.

Well, that was a weird thing to say if this was a spam text.

Kade was staring at the phone when it lit up again.It’s Seth.

The blood drained from his face, and he relaxed his grip on the controls.

“Hey, hey, hey!” King roared, and Kade jerked the arm of the excavator into place again. He glanced at the text once, twice, three times before the screen faded to black.

Seth.

Fuck.

Seth?

How did he get this number? How had he found him?

Kade’s mind was bombarded with a thousand memories from his old life, all meshing together.

He’d killed Seth’s brother, Tanner. At least, that’s how the story went.

“Okay, we’re good!” Wreck called out.

Kade lowered the arm by a few feet to loosen the slack of the chain so the guys could unhook it, and then he cut the engine. He grabbed his phone and shoved the door open, hopped out of the excavator, and strode for his cabin.

“Where are you going?” King called.

“I need to take care of something,” he called without turning around. Kade lifted his phone and opened the text thread as he walked.

Someone said you got out. I hope this is you. It’s Seth.

Kade’s heart had never pounded so hard as it was doing right now. Short of breath, he took his porch stairs two at a time and bolted for the safety of his cabin. He slammed the door behind and deadbolted it, didn’t bother turning on the light, just went straight for the couch and sat down on the edge of it. He read the texts from his old friend again. They weren’t friends anymore. He’d testified against him. He was part of the reason Kade had been locked up.

A part of him understood though. A small part.

Kade began to respond but deleted it and just stared at the words on the screen.

It’s you, Seth texted. Maybe he’d seen the dots saying Kade had been typing. Maybe he was a freaking mind-reader. Who knew with Seth?

A video came through, and Kade held that phone in his shaking hand, while his heart hammered so hard inside of his chest cavity, it felt like it was chipping away at his sternum.

He’d worked so hard to forget his past. He’d done so much work to anchor himself to the present, and now his personal ghost had come calling.

He pushed the play button and tensed immediately.

Jess sat in Derek’s meeting hall. That was Jess, right? She’d dyed her hair darker and cut it shorter. He could only see her profile. Her face was downturned, and her eyes were unblinking, trained on the table. Derek was talking down to her, standing with his arms locked against the table. Beside him was his Second, and on his other side was a guy who had been working his way up the ranks when Kade had been hauled off to Alaska. From his position on the left of the Alpha, he was the new Third. He must’ve been Kade’s replacement. A couple seats away, staring straight at Jess was someone Kade hadn’t thought about in a long time. Connor Edge. He had his hands locked in front of his mouth, elbows on the table, eyes glowing blue, a hungry look directed right at Jess.

He couldn’t hear what Derek was saying. Kade turned the volume up on his phone but there wasn’t any sound at all.

The Alpha looked angry, but what else was new? Derek had always been a stick of dynamite with a short fuse. What had Jess done wrong?

She looked good. Her scars were fewer. She looked up at Derek, and then over at whoever was taking the video—Seth probably. The video shook and cut to black, but Kade had seen it. He’d seen it there in her eyes.

He found the exact moment she’d locked eyes on the camera and paused it. Her eyes were glowing gold. Jess never got worked up.

What the fuck was happening?

She’s used your Promise all these years, but your contract is up. She’s up for grabs. Connor wants her. She doesn’t have a choice.