Page 49 of Wolf Bound

A blush stains my cheeks as I murmur my appreciation. The others file into the house in front of us, teasing and taunting one another over some game they want to beat each other at.

We walk into the house behind them and head straight for the living room where Wes is typing away on what looks like three different laptops. His hair is pulled back into a super messy bun that has stray hairs scattered around his face.

“Woah, Wes. You okay, man?” Penn asks as we enter the room. “What's going on?”

Drayton steps away from me and claps his hands to get everyone's attention. “This is why we called you guys back here. Wes has uncovered information about the attack on the packlands. They had help from the inside.”

“What?!” I shout, my voice mixed in with similar sentiments from Forrester and Penn.

“Let’s have a seat,” Drayton motions to the couches with one hand. “Wes is pulling up the proof he found and his sources right now just in case there’s any questions.”

Drayton and Alaric both glance at Forrester with that and I follow their gaze. Forrester looks on edge, but he doesn’t lookangry or ready to fight which is good. Whoever the inside help is, Forrester is not going to like it.

Surprising all of us, Forrester speaks up before anyone else can. “It’s Marcus, isn’t it?”

Drayton confirms with a simple nod, then turns to Wes with a solemn face. “Do you want to explain what you found?”

Wes holds up one finger as he puts one laptop off to the side and continues typing on the other two. I watch him work, fascinated with how quickly he seems to read and type on these things. He’s been teaching me to use a laptop and phone recently, but I don’t think I’ll ever hit the level of mastery that he has on these things. Technology is amazing, but so overwhelming at the same time.

“Okay,” Wes says after a few silent and tense minutes. “Drayton, Alaric, myself, and Alaric’s team have all been trying to track down how the Croises were able to not only find us, but take us by surprise the way they did. We had a hunch that they were working off of insider information because they hit when our guards were changing shifts. The schedule changes weekly to try and prevent this exact thing from happening.”

“How would Marcus have gotten a hold of that schedule? Isn't it kept under lock and key unless you are on the schedule or need to know it for another reason?” Penn looks around the room as he asks, his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

“That's what we had Wes looking into. We knew someone had used the schedule changes against us, but we couldn't figure out if the mole was deeper than we thought or if they were obtaining this information through a leak in our systems,” Drayton explains, rubbing a hand through his short, dark beard.

“Marcus used a login we didn't know existed to get into the system and take the schedule among other things,” Wes chimes in, his voice colder than I've ever heard it before. “It seems when we did our sweep and cleared out all prior accounts, we missedone of his alias accounts that he set up with the previous alpha. He's been using it periodically to learn confidential information and pass it on to our enemies. It’s most likely how the Croises knew how to block against our extra powers when they kidnapped Penn.”

“He’s been working with them for that long?” I ask in a panic.

Forrester tucks me in closer to his body as Wes answers. “Yeah, it seems that way. We knew they had to have information on what we could do, but this is so much fucking worse than we anticipated. Now that I know the credentials, I can see exactly where he's been and what information he’s most likely passed on.Fuck, how could I have missed this?

“Don’t beat yourself up, man,” Alaric grumbles with a shake of his head. “I went over it after you and I missed it as well. They hid it in plain sight.”

“How did they do that?” Forr asks the question we’re all thinking.

“He used a variation of your name that we assumed was for you,” Drayton answers. “I refused to have your access revoked in the system. It was a risk, but I thought the risk was worth it. It seems when they set up the access ID they knew I wouldn’t shun you out so they used that to their advantage.”

Forrester’s face falls into a cold, hard mask that makes my heart beat faster with anxiety. The room stands still as we all wait to see how he’s going to react. A week ago, I would have thought he would fly off the handle at Drayton over this accusation. Today, I’d like to think his anger is directed at his Uncle and Father and not his brother any longer.

“Those fuckers,” he explodes in anger, jumping from his perch on the arm of the couch and starts pacing the room. “They knew exactly what they were doing using me. Every fucking step of the way, they’ve been using me. How the fuck didn’t I see this?”

“Abuse has a way of warping the mind,” I speak quietly, moving towards my mate in a slow and calm manner. “They abused you in a much more subtle way than they abused Drayton. Both types leave wounds and scars, but yours are hidden, even from you.”

Forrester stops pacing when I get close to him. He grabs my outstretched hand and pulls me into his arms, crushing me against his chest. I can feel his body shaking in anger. The vibrations from it draw on my magic, pulling it to the surface to soothe the pain behind the anger.

“Tomorrow morning I want to try healing you,” I whisper into his chest. “These wounds are causing you so much pain. I want to try taking them away.”

Before Forrester can answer, there’s a loud crash at the front door. Drayton, Penn, and Alaric immediately move to check it out, but Marcus walks in before they can even move out of the living room.

“Well, well,” Marcus mocks with a laugh. “Doesn’t this just look cozy as can be. Just one big, happy family. For now.”

Drayton walks a few feet away from him, growling out a warning. “What are you doing here, Marcus?”

Marcus just laughs and crosses his arms. “You know exactly why I’m here. I’m here to take what’s mine and bring this pack back out of the shit you dragged it into.” He turns to look at Forrester with a sneer. “I had thought you would stand at my side as my beta, but it seems like they brainwashed you with that slut. What a fucking let down you became Forrester. It just took one look at this fucking bitch and you folded like a lawn chair in a hurricane.”

Marcus makes a tsk tsk sound and I feel every hair on my neck stand on end with the palpable anger in the room.

Forrester growls loudly, the rest of my mates echoing the sound. “I’ll fucking kill you for speaking about my mate that way.”

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