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Chapter four

Sam

F ive weeks earlier

“This is a suicide mission,” Gideon announced, sprawling in a chair across from Talia’s pristine desk.

He’d propped his boots on the edge, a deliberate provocation that, so far, Talia had ignored.

“I’m just stating that for the record. When Shaw here gets his memories obliterated and his throat ripped out, I want everyone to remember I called it. ”

“Your objection is noted,” Talia replied without looking up from the file in front of her. She scanned the pages, a small crease appearing between her eyes, though her scent remained unchanged—cool and controlled, like freshly laundered linen. No hint of doubt or concern.

Typical.

I dropped into the chair beside Gideon, muscles coiled tight despite my attempt to appear casual. “If we’re voting on whether this mission is likely to get me killed, put me down for ‘yes’ as well.”

Talia’s eyes finally flicked up to my face as she studied me.

Talia Johnson had been the one who’d brought me into the Wolf Council after Mai nominated me for the Three Rivers seat.

She’d trained me, taught me everything I needed to know about surviving in the political hotbed that was the Council, with its different factions, infighting, and backstabbing that had only gotten worse since Annabella’s team started kidnapping anyone connected to the Council.

And that was before Victor Kane and the shitshow that had been our lives since he’d maneuvered his way onto the Council.

“You visited Martin Reynolds yesterday,” Talia said suddenly.

Not a question.

“Yes.” The word scraped my throat like gravel. “Still no change.”

Talia nodded once, the barest dip of her chin. From her, it was practically a hug. “That’s why this mission is critical. Five Council members in the past year—each one stripped of decades of knowledge and experience. Our enemies are escalating.”

She slid a photo across her desk. “Annabella McGrath. Twenty-two years old. Half werewolf, half witch.”

I picked up the photo, studying the woman with striking hazelnut eyes who stared back at me, defiance written in every line of her face.

A distinctive silver streak cut through her dark hair.

Something about her expression—the stubborn set of her jaw, the fierce intelligence in her eyes—made my wolf bristle and made me determined to take her down.

“She leads the group targeting Council members,” Talia continued. “According to our intel, her team is small but effective. We believe she’s responsible for the memory wipes, though we suspect she’s working with someone more powerful. The precision of these wipes suggests master-level magic.”

“Webster?” I asked, the name hanging in the air like a curse.

“We think it might be a possibility.” Talia’s lips thinned, the only sign of the rage I knew she felt.

She had been there after the Webster Incident, when he’d tried to cast a spell that would have put all werewolves under his direct control.

She had been one of the Council members who’d voted to banish witches in the north after that.

Webster had escaped, and I knew she felt personally responsible for him getting away.

“We have a photo of them together, but we have no confirmation he’s involved. However, the timing of these attacks coinciding with increased ripple distribution can’t be coincidence.”

“You think Webster is implementing multiple lines of attack?”

“His goal is to weak us, distract us from dealing effectively with him and the ripple situation.” Talia’s heartbeat remained steady, but I caught the subtle change in her scent—a hint of metal, like blood.

Fear, carefully controlled. “We have evidence that Webster is one of the main operatives behind ripple. His coven is responsible for the spells laced into ripple that make werewolves see their Pack bonds as impure and drive them to sever these connections. It is the main contributing factor to Shifters addicted to ripple, with no Pack to keep them in line, running amok and attacking humans. His strategy is working. We’re spread thin, and on the precipice of a war with the humans.

Accepting Victor Kane onto the Council has placated the human governments for now, but I doubt it will last long.

Not with Kane stirring things up and reporting back how feral and untrustworthy all Shifters are. ”

“Kane’s a problem for another day,” I growled. My focus narrowed, zeroing in on the mission at hand. “So, you want me to infiltrate McGrath’s group?”

“Yes.” She activated a screen on the wall, displaying surveillance photos of McGrath’s team. My eyes tracked each face, memorizing details. “We’ve been tracking their movements for the last few weeks, but they’re careful. They use burner phones, vary their patterns.”

Gideon tossed a file toward me, the folder sliding across the polished desk.

“Felix Masters,” he said, dropping the sarcastic tone for once.

“Your new identity. Orphaned when his Pack disbanded after the Webster incident. Bounced between Packs, got kicked out of each for being ‘difficult.’ Made a living as a security contractor with shady supernatural clients. Developed a nice, healthy resentment toward Council ‘elitism’ and ‘hypocrisy.’”

“We’ve established digital breadcrumbs; enough of a history to pass deep checks,” Talia added.

“As with all members when they join the Council, your actual online presence was wiped. You’re still a newbie here, and haven’t been to any high-profile meetings where your photos might have gotten into the press.

I have been assured by our tech department that there are no photos of Sam Shaw anywhere on the internet, no social media history, nothing that could connect you to Felix Masters. ”

My jaw tightened. “They found Reynolds easily enough. And Myana. And Thompson.” I ticked off the names of Council members who’d been targeted. “Standard procedure didn’t protect them.”

“Annabella and her team have obviously found a way around our security protocols,” Talia acknowledged. “We are tightening them and can only hope they haven’t gotten around to you yet, given you’re our newest member.”

Can only hope? That was what my life was going to be resting on? Fucking fantastic.

“What’s my way in?”

Talia leaned back in her chair and interlaced her fingers in front of her stomach.

“We have a source. A witch who runs a store in a conclave city and occasionally supplies information to the Council when it serves her interests. She’s based in the Midwest—Missouri—where McGrath’s group has been operating. ”

“And this witch knows Annabella?”

Talia inclined her head. “She moves in circles that intersect with McGrath’s operations. Our source says word is out in certain circles that they might be looking for another fighter to join their ranks.”

Bingo. “And your source can what? Put in a good word for me?”

“She can arrange an introduction,” Talia confirmed. “But that’s it. You’d be on your own convincing Annabella McGrath that you’re the right person for the job. That your skills are worth the risk of bringing in someone new. That your hatred for the Council is genuine.”

I rolled my shoulders, already mentally preparing for the role. “We might have a problem. Annabella is related to Sofia and Jase Miller. I grew up with Sofia and Jase.”

“I am aware. Have you spoken with Sofia and Jase Miller about Annabella McGrath?”

“Not in depth,” I admitted. “They only met her once or twice when they were kids. Annabella lived with her mom out west. To my knowledge, they never visited Three Rivers. Sofia and Jase’s parents left Three Rivers about three years ago, supposedly to help Annabella’s mother pull Annabella back from her guerrilla activities.

” My lip curled. “Instead of stopping her, they joined her cause. This will be a problem for us. Sofia’s parents know me.

They know my scent. As soon as they see Felix Masters, the game will be up. ”

“We do not believe that will be an issue. Our research indicates that their parents have not been seen in the last six months. We suspect they are on a long-term mission.”

“That’s some assumption,” Gideon said. “If you’re wrong, our boy here is monumentally fucked.”

Talia flashed her teeth. She hated it when either one of us swore. “I have full confidence in Sam Shaw’s abilities to extradite himself from that situation if it should arise. But I believe we are running out of time, and it is worth the risk. Do you concur, Sam Shaw?”

I knew Mai disliked Talia because Talia believed the end justified any means.

She would risk anyone, do anything if she thought it would get her the results she wanted.

But then the image of Reynolds flashed into my mind—his vacant eyes, the hospital gown hanging loose on his frame, the tremor in his hands when the nurse came too close.

The smell of his fear when I’d entered the room.

“I concur.”

Talia’s face didn’t change, but there was a hint of relief in her scent, quickly masked.

“Good. Our source says she can set up an introduction for next week,” Talia said. “A location in Kansas City. You’ll need to be ready by then.”

“That’s not much time.”

“It’s all we have.” Talia’s voice hardened.

“And once I’ve made contact with McGrath’s group?”

“Gain her trust. Become indispensable. Find out who exactly she’s working with, who’s behind the memory wipes, who is bankrolling their operation, what they’re planning next.

” Talia tapped one finger on the desk. “The key is locating where the mind-wipes are being done. Our sources suggest that if we can find the location, we can use witches we have on retainer to work out if there is a way to reverse it. To get the memories back. But they need to see if, and how, they are using witch circles for the spell, and find any notes we can on it.”

“And what if they’re planning another attack?”

“Prevent it if possible, without blowing your cover. If not, get us the information we need to stop them ourselves.”

I nodded. I would have to walk a fine line trying to disrupt their plans without giving myself away. I would not let anyone else get their minds wiped.

“One more thing,” Talia said. “This mission is classified Level Black. Only the three of us know about it.”

My stomach tightened, the wolf in me growling at the implication. Level Black meant no extraction plan. No backup. No safety net.

“Fan-fucking-tastic,” I muttered. “Just keeps getting better.”

At the door, I paused. “When this is over, I want to be the one to tell Reynolds we got them. Even if he doesn’t remember me.”

Talia’s expression softened. “That can be arranged.”

I walked out, Gideon on my heels.

“Alright, let’s cut the crap,” he said, grabbing my arm to stop me. I could have broken his hold easily, but I let him turn me around. “This mission is insane, even by our standards.”

“I’m aware.”

“Are you? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re volunteering for another suicide run.” Gideon’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t about Reynolds, Sam. This is about you punishing yourself for Milton.”

I slammed Gideon against the wall before I could stop myself, forearm pressed against his throat. The scent of the Milton Pack filled my nostrils: blood and fear and death, so much death.

“Don’t,” I growled, the word barely human.

“I’ve read the reports. Everyone has. The teenage boy, son of the Alphas. A ripper, out of control on the drug. You took pity on him, had him locked up in their containment facility instead of…” He trailed off.

“Instead of putting him down like I should have,” I finished, releasing him and stepping back.

The memory crashed over me in vivid detail: the desperate call from the boy’s sister hours later, the frantic drive back to the Pack territory, the copper tang of blood filling the air before I’d even reached the main house.

The bodies sprawled across blood-soaked grass.

Men, women, children. The Alpha pair, their daughter, throats ripped out by their own son and brother.

The boy, covered in blood, lost to the frenzy, no longer human, no longer wolf, just a ripple-crazed monster that took three enforcers plus me to put him down.

“You did what any of us would have done,” Gideon said quietly. “You tried to save a kid.”

I shook my head, forcing the memories back into their box. “And got an entire Pack killed for my arrogance. I thought I knew better. I thought we could control it, that we would find a cure soon.”

“It wasn’t arrogance; it was hope. Look around, it’s a quality in fucking short supply these days.

” Gideon put his hand on my shoulder. “Look, I get it. I’ve been there.

We all make calls in the field. Sometimes they’re the wrong ones.

But you can’t keep agreeing to every suicide mission that comes along. ”

I kept my face calm, devoid of emotion.

“I hear Ryan and Mai had their twins, so you’re an uncle now. Don’t make them miss out on the only uncle who’s going to teach them how to hot-wire cars and flirt their way out of traffic tickets.”

I sighed. “Who else do you want to send? The Council’s stretched thin. Half the members we can’t trust anymore, and the other half don’t have the field experience.”

Frustration flashed across his face. “Unlike you, I still give a shit whether you live or die. We didn’t become friends just so I could watch you get yourself killed.”

“Friends?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is that what we are?”

The ghost of his usual smirk returned. “Don’t tell Talia. She’d have me reassigned for being emotionally compromised.”