---- "What are you talking about?" His expression darkened, the sarcasm vanishing from his tone. He clamped his mouth shut. I narrowed my eyes. "Fine." At my signal, my Beta approached and dropped a photograph in front of him. His son. Bound. Unharmed. But afraid. The man's face went pale. "No... please don't hurt him. He's innocent. He doesn't know anything." "Then speak," I said, my voice cold and sharp like an alpha's command. He looked between me and the photo, anguish ripping through him. "Three years ago," he began, his voice barely audible, "I was contacted by someone. Told to ram into a specific car... promised me money. Said I'd be released early." ---- My heart thudded in my chest, each beat echoing like a drum of war. "Keep talking." "T didn't know who they were. Just a man anda woman. They gave me the exact time, location, and warned me-no survivors. Not one." My fists clenched at my sides. I already knew where this was going. That crash was meant to erase me. It failed. But it took my mother. "who were they?" I demanded. He shook his head violently. "I never saw their faces. They were careful-used shadows, spoke through someone else. But I knew they were high- ranking. Organized." Aman and a woman. That narrowed it down-but not enough. ---- I turned away, steadying my breath. "You killed the wrong person," I murmured. " That woman in the car? She was my mother. The Luna of this pack." His eyes widened with horror. "I-I didn't know » "Too late," I growled. "You'll die in chains." He started to beg, but I was already walking out. His pleas echoed behind me, drowned out by the blood pounding in my ears. My PI approached as I emerged into the night. "There's a trail," he said quietly. "And I'm willing to bet it leads back to Alpha David's bloodline." "Find the end of it," I growled. Later, back at the estate, I gave a single command: "Release the boy. Send him home. He's not part of