Page 14 of Conall (The Sunburst Pack #3)

Pack cubs. Young shifters. He was protecting them somehow. Even after his exile from Sunburst, he was still working to keep young wolves safe from something.

Conall nodded, drawn into her narrative despite himself. From Chimera.

Maybe. Or from whoever’s behind the current operations. She leaned forward, urgency bleeding into her voice. Dad died trying to expose this network. He found something, learned something that made him a target.

And you think we killed him for it.

I found where he died, she whispered, the memory still fresh enough to make her nauseous. Blood everywhere. Signs of a struggle. Tracks leading back toward Sunburst territory.

But you never saw us there.

No, I never saw you. Just the tracks. Just the evidence that pointed to your pack.

What if the tracks were planted? Conall’s voice carried his growing conviction. What if someone wanted you to believe we were responsible?

But why? she asked, her voice barely audible. Why frame your pack? Why target me?

Because we’re all thorns in someone’s side. Conall’s certainty grew stronger. Your father was investigating corruption. You’re continuing his work. My pack is actively hunting Chimera assets and building alliances to counter their operations.

He knew his logic was sound. Terrifying but sound.

We’re all threats to the same organization, she said.

And now we’re trapped together, being forced to cooperate. Conall’s eyes met hers directly. Convenient, isn’t it?

Their mate bond flared with shared understanding. They were being manipulated. Played against each other, then forced into cooperation when that strategy failed.

Your pack, she said suddenly. The asset recovery mission. Tell me everything.

For a moment, Conall thought about refusing.

Pack loyalty warred with the idea of cooperation with someone he barely knew, someone who’d accused him of murder.

But then something shifted in his chest, and he made his decision.

Etta was the first asset we identified, he began. Neural interface implanted by Chimera, memory suppression, the works. Dr. Weiss—he’s from the Moonstone Pack—was able to remove the device, but the recovery process was brutal. That’s when we realized there were others.

How many others?

We’ve identified assets in at least four other packs. Stardust, Ironwood, Blackthorn, Cross Timbers. His voice darkened. The same packs you said have gone dark—or are about to.

The pattern was undeniable. Through the mate bond, he felt her realization: Chimera plants assets in packs, then those packs are targeted for elimination or subordination . It was systematic. Coordinated.

They’re not just gathering intelligence, she said. They’re positioning themselves to rule or destroy entire shifter communities.

And anyone who gets too close to the truth becomes a target. Conall shifted closer. Like your father. Like us.

The air between them crackled with a physical awareness, electric and unwanted.

But the mate bond didn’t care about timing or appropriateness. It pulsed stronger as Conall leaned forward.

We need to work together, he said quietly. Combine our intelligence. Your external surveillance with my pack’s internal knowledge of Chimera operations.

And then what? Hope our captors let us go if we’re cooperative?

No. Then we escape. And we take this fight to whoever’s really behind all of this.

The word we hung between them, loaded with implications he wasn’t truly ready to examine. Partnership. Alliance.

Something that felt dangerously close to trust.

You realize this changes nothing between us personally, she said. Just because we’re working together doesn’t mean—

I know.

The bond between them thrummed with every shared breath, every glance, every moment of proximity. When he shifted position, he caught her gaze tracking the subtle play of muscle beneath his shirt.

Tell me about the Epsilon Protocol, she said.

Conall blinked, caught off guard by the subject change. How do you know about that?

Dad mentioned it in his final communications. Said Chimera was planning something called the Epsilon Protocol, something that would ‘activate all assets simultaneously.’ She wrapped her arms around her knees again, using the position to create distance.

No—the Epsilon Protocol is a kill switch. They can use it to kill their assets from a distance. He paused for a moment, deciding whether to share what he and his pack had discovered.

If we’re going to work together, I need her to know the stakes , he finally decided—even though he knew his pack would disapprove. It sounds like Gregory got it mixed up with the Omicron Protocol. That’s the one that activates them all at once.

Okay. Nadine nodded slowly. What does your pack know about the Omicron Protocol?

Not enough. His frustration echoed through his voice. Anders and Dr. Weiss mentioned it during Etta’s recovery. Some kind of trigger protocol that would activate all the neural interfaces at once. Mass mind control of embedded assets.

The implications were staggering, of course. Chimera agents embedded in packs across the country, all activated simultaneously. Pack leadership compromised. Internal structures destroyed from within.

They could take down the entire shifter community in a single coordinated strike, she breathed.

Which is why we have to stop them. Conall’s determination bled through the mate bond, mixing with her own resolve. All of them. Chimera, whoever’s behind the pack disappearances, whoever killed your father.

Through the mate bond, he felt her wolf’s insistence: He’s not the enemy. I’ve been trying to tell you that from the beginning .

Whatever was happening between them personally, whatever complicated emotions the mate bond was stirring up, they were aligned on this mission.

Okay, she said quietly. Alliance. Temporary, strategic cooperation.

Alliance, he agreed, and the mate bond fluttered with satisfaction.

She held out her hand—a formal gesture, professional despite the circumstances. He took it without hesitation.

The contact sent electricity straight through both their nervous systems. The mate bond flared so bright it was almost painful, and Conall had to bite back a groan at the intensity of the sensation.

Just a handshake. Nothing more .

But the way her thumb brushed across his knuckles suggested otherwise. The way her breathing changed, became more deliberate. The way her scent seemed to intensify.

He should pull away. Should maintain professional distance.

Instead, Conall found himself cataloging details he had no business noticing. The calluses on her palm from weapons training. The strength in her grip, precise and disciplined. The way her pulse jumped at her wrist, matching the rhythm of his own accelerated heartbeat.

Through the bond, he felt her thought: Dangerous. This is dangerous .

She pulled her hand back, unwilling to allow the mate bond to fully settle in.

We should— she started to say, then stopped as footsteps echoed in the corridor again.

Their hour was up.

Without a word, Conall and Nadine stood again, this time facing the doorway shoulder to shoulder.

Alliance. Partnership.

Definitely not anything more .

But as the door opened and their captors returned, Conall couldn’t ignore the way his wolf settled contentedly at Nadine’s proximity. Couldn’t deny the sense of rightness that flooded through him despite every logical reason to resist.

The mate bond—even a partial one that hadn’t been completely accepted yet, like theirs—didn’t lie. And right now, it was telling him that Nadine Torrance might be the key to everything—solving her father’s murder, stopping Chimera’s plans, saving the shifter community.

Whether or not she wanted to believe it.