Page 77 of Jace's Mate

“I’m not going back,” James said firmly.“Not ever.”

Boyd nodded.“Me either.”

They stepped out into the cold, hunched in their jackets, hands shoved deep into their pockets.The night air bit at their cheeks as they walked through the quiet streets toward the barracks.

Ten minutes later, they pushed through the door of the pack’s main building.Inside, men were scrubbing down the kitchen or folding laundry in the common space.The three teens turned left without a word, their steps deliberate as they headed for the security office.

“What’s going on, boys?”Ragnor asked, stepping away from one of the maps.His tone was calm, but his gaze sharpened.“Everything okay?”

James stepped forward, shoulders stiff, his head bowed low.“We need to speak with the Alpha, if that’s possible,” he said, voice cracking under the weight of guilt.

Ragnor looked from James to Stephan and Boyd, reading their expressions like a veteran reading signs on a battlefield.“What’s going on?”

James opened his mouth, but no words came—only a strangled sound as the knot in his throat tightened.

Stephan stepped in, his voice quiet.“We…we need to confess.”

Ragnor’s eyes narrowed slightly, but there was no anger there—just quiet understanding.“Confession’s good for the soul,” he said after a beat.“Why don’t we step into the conference room and you can tell me what’s on your minds?”

Stephan hesitated.“We should probably tell the Alpha,” he whispered.

Ragnor rested a hand on Stephan’s shoulder, steady and reassuring.“Whatever it is, you’ll be heard.Let me listen first—then I’ll talk to Jace.”

The boys exchanged a look.Then, as one, they nodded.

Inside the conference room, silence settled over them like a thick blanket.Ragnor didn’t push—he waited, giving them space.

Boyd cracked first.“We were sent here to spy,” he blurted out.

The other two sighed, ashamed, and lowered their eyes.

“Spies, huh?”Ragnor repeated softly.“Spies for who?”

Boyd looked up, startled.“You’re not mad?”

Ragnor tilted his head.“That depends.What kind of spying are we talking about?Did you pass along any information?”

“No!”Stephan jumped in.“We didn’t tell anyone anything.”His voice dropped.“Not yet.”

“But youwereasked to,” Ragnor clarified.

The boys nodded.“We were told to track the Alpha’s schedule,” James admitted.“Where he goes.What he does.Every day.”

“And who asked you to do this?”

The three of them shifted uncomfortably.

“We don’t know her name,” Stephan said.“She’s just… someone we met a while ago after we were kicked out of our pack.”He lowered his head in shame.“She paid us.Said it was easy money.”

James added, “We didn’t know it was about Jace.Not at first.”

There was another long silence.Then Boyd muttered, “We betrayed the pack.Betrayed the Alpha.”

But Ragnor leaned forward.“Did you?”he asked.“Or did you just tell me everything instead of going through with it?”

“We haven’t told anyone anything,” James said quickly.“And wewon’t!”

“Not ever,” Stephan echoed, his voice fierce now.“We’d leave first.Run, disappear—so she can’t find us and we don’t have to tell her we failed.”