Page 71 of Heart of the Rebel Mate

"Without proof?" The first man laughs bitterly. "We have a damn spy among us, and you want to sit around and wait until they feed the Council our throats on a platter?"

More voices rise. More accusations. The foundation beneath us crumbles.

I step forward, voice cutting through the chaos. "Enough."

Silence.

I take a breath, steady myself. "I understand the fear. The anger. The frustration. But tearing each other apart is exactly what they want. The Council doesn't need to infiltrate us if we do the work for them."

A few nods. Some hesitation.

"We will find out who betrayed us," I continue. "But we will do it smartly. No baseless accusations, no reckless actions. We do this right, or we lose everything before we've even begun."

It's not a promise. It's a gamble.

But it's all I have.

One by one, people step back, the argument dissolving.

Zara moves to my side as the tension settles into an uneasy quiet. She leans in just enough for me to hear. "You handled that well."

I sigh sharply. "For now."

She studies me, something like pride in her gaze. "You're learning."

Maybe. But at what cost?

Back at the safehouse, I cannot stop pacing the length of the main room. My fingers tap against my arm as my mind works through the variables. Every decision is a risk. Every move could break us. But if I hesitate, if I let fear paralyze me, we'll never make it out of this war alive.

The Council is ahead of us. They always are. But this time, we have something—an opening, a lead. If we can retrieve the files from their facility, we might have proof that they've been manipulating mate bonds, using them as leverage to control the strongest among us. To bend wolves to their will.

I can't ignore it.

I won't.

I call Zara, Ethan, and the others into a huddle. Their faces are sharp with tension, but no one hesitates.

"We're going in," I say.

The decision feels like a line being drawn in the sand.

The argument with Adrian starts the moment I step away from the group. He's been at the door, listening to everything. For a moment, I thought he could be the mole, and then killed that idea. He would never. He had proven himself.

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm letting you do this alone."

I turn to face him. "I'm not alone."

"You might as well be." His voice is a low growl.

I cross my arms, my body wound too tight for this fight, but unwilling to back down. "Adrian, you don't get to let me do anything. I'm leading this mission."

His jaw flexes. "This isn't about leadership. It's about survival. You think the Council is just going to let you waltz into their facility and take what you want? This is a suicide mission."

"You don't trust me to pull this off?"

"I don't trust the Council not to tear you apart the second you step inside their walls."

A muscle jumps in my throat.

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