The first attack hit before Mira Stone could decide whether Alpha Theo Ash was protector or captor. Claws tore through the sealed door. Alpha Theo Ash shifted between her and the attacker, taking a silver blade across his ribs while he forced a path into the old service tunnels.
They escaped with the sealed record but not the evidence that proved who had signed it. Inside a guarded room, Alpha Theo Ash traced its payments and erased seals. Every path led back to someone Mira Stone had defended for years.
Alpha Theo Ash placed a contract beside the evidence. For thirty days they would appear united, share information, and never move without security. In return, he would give her access to the one archive capable of proving Theo's memories were sealed by Mira's own Luna to conceal who truly started the war. The final clause was strangely specific: neither of them could pretend the attraction between them was part of the agreement.
She laughed once, without humor. “You wrote a rule against falling for you?”
“I wrote a rule against lying about it.”
Their first move together became another ambush. A messenger slipped Mira Stone a key engraved with the date of her greatest loss. It opened a private box containing photographs of Alpha Theo Ash meeting the person who had arranged a wounded rogue whispered Mira's private mating vow before collapsing on her examination table.
She pressed the photographs against his chest. “Tell me why I should not leave.”
He did not deny the meeting. He stepped close enough that anger became heat and covered her hand with his over the evidence. The bond between them flared, forcing his forehead against hers while both their wolves recognized the same hidden mark.
“I went there to stop what happened to you,” he said. “I failed. I will not fail twice.”
The lights died before she could decide whether to believe him. A black mirror filled with the face of the person Mira Stone trusted most.
“You have until midnight,” the caller said. “Theo's memories were sealed by Mira's own Luna to conceal who truly started the war. Ask Alpha Theo Ash what else he is hiding. Then decide which one of you I kill first.”