Chapter 56: OUR DISCOVERY

(Luca's POV)

The knock came just before sunrise, sharp and impatient.

“Come in,” I called, already awake, but tired.

The door opened, and Garrison stepped in carrying a stack of old records. His shoulders were slightly hunched, but his eyes were alert, focused in a way that told me this wasn’t just routine digging.

“You asked about Marcus’s reign,” he said as he dropped the files on my desk. “I found something.”

I straightened immediately, pushing the fatigue aside. “Show me.”

Garrison pulled out a single sheet and slid it across the desk. “Start with this.”

I leaned forward, scanning the page. It was a list—names, dates, causes of death. Seventeen entries in total.

I frowned. “Those dead seventeen wolves we checked out last time. What am I missing?”

“Look at the details,” Garrison said, folding his arms.

I scanned again, slower this time. Rogue attack. Illness. Training accident. It looked random at first, but the more I read, the more something felt off.

Then I saw it.

The dates.

My jaw tightened. “These deaths… they’re all close together.”

“Two weeks,” Garrison said. “Give or take.”

I looked up at him. “Two weeks from what?”

“From when they became a problem,” he replied.

That snapped everything into place. I leaned back slowly, eyes returning to the list as the pattern sharpened. “You’re saying every one of them challenged Marcus… and then died within two weeks?”

Garrison nodded. “Complaints. Disputes. Questions about leadership. Every single one of them spoke up. None of them lasted long after.”

I exhaled through my nose, tension building fast. “That’s not coincidence.”

“No,” he said. “It’s a pattern.”

I leaned forward again, scanning the names more carefully now. My eyes moved down the list, faster, sharper—until they stopped.

My stomach dropped.

“Theodore and Mira Winters,” I read, my voice going tight.

Garrison didn’t say anything, just watched me.

I stared at the entry.

I dropped the paper onto the desk like it burned. “Marcus signed the report.”

“He controlled the investigation,” Garrison added.

“And the outcome,” I finished.

Silence settled over the room, heavy and suffocating. I stared at the list again, but this time it didn’t look like random deaths. It looked like a ledger.

A clean-up list.

“This bastard,” I muttered, pushing back from the desk and standing. “He’s been eliminating anyone who gets close to the truth.”

“For fifteen years,” Garrison said.

I started pacing, the tension in my chest building with every step. “And no one stopped him.”

“They tried,” Garrison replied. “You’re looking at what happened to them.”

That shut me up.

I dragged a hand over my face, then turned back to him. “He didn’t do this alone.”

“No,” Garrison agreed, already reaching for another document. “He didn’t.”

He slid the page toward me. “Look at the names attached to these cases.”

I scanned quickly. Witnesses. Investigators. Internal reviewers.

My eyes narrowed. “Thorne.”

“Three times,” Garrison confirmed. “Elder Thorne appears in multiple cases tied to these deaths.”

I let out a slow breath, the pieces locking into place. “Marcus handles the threat. Thorne handles the cover.”

“Or helps create it,” Garrison said.

“They’re working together,” I concluded.

Garrison nodded. “That’s the most likely scenario.”

I stared at the list again, my thoughts shifting fast. “And now Aria’s here.”

“And asking questions,” Garrison added.

My stomach tightened. “She’s already digging. I can feel it.”

“And if she finds what you’re looking at right now…”

“They’ll kill her,” I finished.

The words hung in the air.

Simple. Brutal. True.

I didn’t waste another second. I grabbed my phone from the desk, already typing.

“We need to increase her security,” I said. “Quietly.”

Garrison watched me. “You think Marcus hasn’t already marked her?”

“I know he has,” I snapped. “That’s why we move first.”

I typed quickly:

Increase security on Aria. Discreetly.

I hit send without hesitation.

“Done,” I said, exhaling.

But Garrison didn’t respond.

I looked up.

He was staring at the list again, his face pale in a way I hadn’t seen before.

“Luca,” he said slowly.

Something in his tone made my stomach drop.

“What?”

“Look at the last name.”

I stepped closer, frowning. “What are you talking about?”

He pointed.

I followed his finger.

And froze.

Sarah Thorne.

My chest tightened.

“What the hell…” I muttered.

Cause of death: suicide.

Date: three months ago.

I stared at it, my mind trying to catch up. “That doesn’t fit the pattern.”

“No,” Garrison said quietly. “It doesn’t.”

“She didn’t file a complaint,” I said. “She’s not a threat.”

“No,” he agreed. “But she’s connected.”

I looked at him. “She’s his daughter.”

“Yes.”

Silence stretched as I processed that.

Then something clicked.

My stomach dropped harder this time.

“Timing,” I muttered. “This is recent.”

“Three months,” Garrison confirmed.

I ran a hand through my hair, pacing again. “Something changed.”

“That’s what I think,” he said.

I stopped and looked at him. “You think her death… affected him?”

“I think it broke him,” Garrison replied.

My jaw tightened. “Thorne’s always been controlled.”

“And now?” Garrison asked.

I didn’t answer immediately.

Because I knew where this was going.

“If he’s unstable,” I said slowly, “he’s not just covering things anymore.”

“He could act on his own,” Garrison finished.

That made everything worse.

Marcus was dangerous because he was calculated.

Thorne… might not be.

“Grief makes people reckless,” Garrison added.

“Or violent,” I muttered.

Silence fell again, heavier this time.

I looked back at the list.

Seventeen names.

Seventeen deaths.

And now Aria was walking straight into the same pattern.

“She’s in more danger than we thought,” I said.

Garrison didn’t argue.

“And if she’s already digging into her parents’ deaths…”

“She’s already on the list,” he said quietly.

That hit hard.

I grabbed my jacket without another word.

“We don’t have time,” I said.

Garrison frowned. “Where are you going?”

“To find her.”

“And then?”

“Make sure she is alright,” I replied.

He shook his head slightly. “You think that’s enough?”

“No,” I said honestly. “But it’s better than doing nothing.”

I moved toward the door, then paused.

“If Marcus and Thorne are both involved,” I said, glancing back, “they’ll cover each other.”

“And if one slips?”

“The other fixes it,” I finished.

Garrison nodded slowly. “This isn’t just corruption.”

“It’s a system,” I said.

“And systems like this don’t fall easily.”

I gave a short, humorless laugh. “Good thing I don’t plan on asking it to.”

I opened the door and stepped out.