Chapter 36

Evelyn

The scent of old paper and dust clung to my clothes, grounding me in the fading hush of the library. My eyes burned from reading for hours under dim lantern light, but still, I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t rest.

I’d spent the evening chasing my suspicion of Emma, combing through every document I could get my hands on. It was like chasing smoke. Every time I thought I had something, it slipped through my fingers. A date that didn’t line up. A name that vanished from one report to the next. Hints, nothing more, all wrapped in shadows and implications.

But I did find one thing that made my stomach twist.

A report from two years ago. A rogue raid on a northern border pack. It had been bloody, organized, and devastating. Twenty dead. No survivors except for one patrol wolf who managed to crawl back across the border. The attackers had been unusually coordinated for rogues. Too coordinated. There’d been speculation about an insider.

And buried in a footnote of that file was a name: Emma’s name.

Not as a suspect. Not as a victim. Just... listed. She'd been stationed with the northern pack at the time, then transferred within the month. After that moment, she had achieved a clean record. No mention of the raid in her file. Nothing but glowing reviews and a string of upward promotions.

But I’d seen it: one line, quickly redacted in the official version. Unmarked in the margins like someone had forgotten to erase the truth completely.

It wasn’t evidence. But it was enough to keep me up searching for more.

The fire inside me that morning had burned bright with determination, but now, long after the sun had gone down, I was running on fumes. My limbs ached. My head was pounding. The weight of secrets—mine and everyone else's—was getting too heavy to carry.

I stood, rolling my shoulders as I pushed away from the table. Books and old ledgers were stacked around me like a fortress, but they wouldn’t protect me from exhaustion. I needed something to sleep. Just a few hours of peace. Unfortunately, I knew that I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this without a little extra help.

I found my way to the medical wing by memory and moonlight. The halls were quiet, the usual hum of pack life long since faded into a hush. When I stepped into the infirmary, the faint scent of herbs and antiseptic wrapped around me like a familiar embrace.

Chris was still there, because of course he was. He was hunched over a cot, checking a young soldier’s bandages, his tired eyes soft with focus.

He looked up when he heard me and smiled. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

I shook my head. “Didn’t even try. I was... doing research.”

He straightened, wiping his hands on his apron. “On Emma?”

My mouth twitched. “Is it that obvious?”

Chris walked over, gesturing for me to sit on one of the unoccupied beds. “Only to those of us who know you. She’s not exactly your best friend. And, well... I’ve had a suspicion or two myself.”

I sat, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees. “I found something. Not proof, but a trail. She was connected to a rogue attack two years ago. No one talks about it. It’s like her name was scrubbed out. But it was there once.”

Chris’s brow furrowed. “Why would she be protected like that?”

“I don’t know. But I can’t shake the feeling that this isn’t just about her disliking me. It’s bigger. More strategic.”

Chris nodded, silent for a moment. Then his voice softened. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you stayed, Evelyn.”

I blinked, caught off guard by the change in topic.

He shrugged. “After everything with Emma and Logan’s mother, I thought you might disappear for good. But you stayed. And I know it wasn’t for easy reasons.”

I swallowed around the sudden tightness in my throat. “I didn’t know if I could. But something kept pulling me back. Maybe it’s stupid. Maybe it’s just unfinished business. But... I couldn’t walk away.”

Chris’s expression gentled. “That’s not stupid. That’s strength.”

I folded my arms. “I couldn’t just leave everyone hanging, especially when…”

“What?” Chris asked when my question trailed off.

“Well, rumors are swirling—more so than normal. I’m assuming you heard about the rogue that died during interrogation?”

Chris gave a tired nod, brushing a hand through his disheveled hair. “I was there when they brought him in. Looked like it was fairly painless at least.”

My brow furrowed. “And then he just… dropped dead?”

Chris’s jaw tightened. “His whole body went stiff. The seizure hit fast. Blood vessels burst in his eyes. He was dead in less than thirty seconds by all accounts.”

I stared at him, feeling the chill spread through my limbs. “That’s not a normal death at all.”

“No,” Chris said softly. “I’ve only seen something like it once before. In the war. It was a poison that rogues used on their own to cover their tracks. If they thought one of their people would be captured, they’d lace a pill with it as a last resort so they couldn’t be tortured for more information. The pill has a delayed onset. Just enough to let them get caught and dragged back… then it hits. For now, that’s what I suspect happened.”

I shook my head slowly, the horror of it settling like lead in my stomach. “So someone planned for him to be captured or at least had the forethought to prepare for if he did.”

“Or someone laced him right before,” Chris said. “Either way, it means he was considered disposable. Or dangerous.”

I stepped closer, voice dropping to a whisper. “Did he say anything? Anything before he died?”

Chris hesitated. “Apparently he told Logan that the leader was someone with bright green eyes and to watch out for them.”

“You know the name?”

Christ shook his head. “No name yet.”

He studied her for a long moment, then nodded. “Be careful, Evelyn. Whatever this is… It’s not just rogue raids anymore. Someone is moving pieces. Silencing people.”

I turned toward the door, the lantern light casting long shadows across the floor. “Then I’d better start making noise.”

I let out a shaky breath. “But for now, I came for sleep syrup. If you still have any.”

Chris moved toward the cabinet. “Of course. Just give me a second.”

He was halfway through preparing the small bottle when the doors slammed open with a sharp bang, making both of us flinch.

Logan stormed in like a thundercloud, jaw tight, eyes scanning the room as if expecting a battlefield. Behind him trailed Emma, smudged eyeliner, hair a mess, the smell of whiskey clinging to her like perfume. She looked like she’d been dragged away from a wild, booze-filled night.

And from the look on Logan’s face, I realized he had dragged her.

“Evelyn,” he said, voice clipped.

Chris and I exchanged a look before I slowly stood. “Is something wrong?”

Emma’s eyes swept the room and landed on Chris, then me. Her lips curled into something like a smirk, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Working late again?” she purred, her words slurring at the edges. “How dedicated of you.”