Chapter 7 Seven
CHAPTER SEVEN
Sara’s POV
The words on the note burned in my mind long after Xenon crumpled it in his fist.
She does not belong to you.
The handwriting was jagged. Precise. A message meant not just for Xenon, but for me. A declaration. A claim.
A threat.
Xenon handed the crushed note to Ryker without looking at him. His eyes were locked on mine, sharp and unreadable, tension vibrating through every line of his body.
“They know where I sleep,” I whispered.
“They will not reach you again,” Xenon said.
“How can you be so sure?”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Because I will not allow it.”
There was a sharpness in his tone that sent a shiver down my spine. His protectiveness grew heavier with every moment, but so did my fear.
Not of him.
Of the rogues.
Of what they wanted.
Of what they thought I was.
Ryker cleared his throat. “Alpha. We need to increase security.”
Xenon didn’t look away from me. “Double the guards around this wing. No one enters without my approval.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
Ryker sprinted off before the air had time to settle.
Xenon reached for the door to his quarters, pushing it open. “Inside.”
I didn’t move. My feet were rooted in the stone, my heart pounding painfully.
He paused when he noticed I hadn’t followed.
“Sara,” he said quietly. “Come inside.”
Something broke inside me then. The fear I held down since the attack. The exhaustion. The weight of the notes. The uncertainty. It all rose at once.
“What if this does not stop?” I whispered. “What if they keep coming? What if this has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me?”
Xenon stepped toward me slowly, almost cautiously.
“They are coming because they think you are unprotected,” he said. “Because they think this pack is vulnerable. Because they think they can touch what fate tied to me.”
I swallowed hard. “But you rejected me.”
His jaw tightened. “That does not change what is mine to safeguard.”
My breath caught, but his expression did not soften. It hardened. He reached forward and gently took my wrist again, his touch warm, grounding, deliberate.
“You are not alone in this,” he said. “Understand that.”
I didn’t know if he meant it as reassurance or a warning. With Xenon it was hard to tell.
He guided me inside, closed the door behind us, and locked it. His shoulders stayed rigid, his jaw tight, his breathing controlled like he was holding back a storm.
He wasn’t angry with me.
He was angry with them.
“Sit,” he said, gesturing to the couch.
His voice was quiet but firm. Not harsh. Containing something heavier. Something that sounded like fear buried beneath steel.
I sat slowly.
Xenon ran a hand through his hair and paced once across the room before stopping in front of me. His eyes held something raw for a moment. Then he schooled his expression back into the cold, unreadable mask I was becoming familiar with.
“We need to talk,” he said.
A chill crawled through me. “About what?”
“About why they are after you.”
I looked away. “I told you. I do not know.”
“You know something,” Xenon said. “Even if you do not realize it.”
My pulse raced. “My father’s last words do not mean I am carrying some ancient secret.”
“Perhaps not.” Xenon crouched in front of me, bringing us eye level. “But his warning matters. And the rogues know something we do not.”
I shook my head. “I do not have anything of value.”
His eyes held mine. “Then they believe you do.”
Silence stretched between us.
Xenon’s hand lifted slightly like he meant to reach for mine. He hesitated. Then lowered it. His wolf, however, wasn’t so restrained. I felt the tug inside me, the faint pulse of the bond he had tried to sever.
“Tell me everything you remember about your father,” he said.
I took a shaky breath. “Why?”
“Because we are running out of places to look.”
I swallowed hard. The memories were sharp and painful. My father’s tired eyes. His rough voice. The scent of smoke on the last night I saw him alive.
“He was a guard,” I whispered. “Not high ranking. Not important. But he… he was strict. Careful. He would always tell me that some things should never be spoken out loud.”
“What things?” Xenon asked.
“I do not know,” I said. “He never told me details. He only said that our family had enemies. But I thought it was fear. Or paranoia. Or grief after my mother died.”
Xenon’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Your father believed someone was after him?”
I nodded slowly. “Yes. But I never saw anything.”
“Someone did,” Xenon murmured.
I looked away. “When he was killed… I did not see who did it. Everything happened too fast. But he said something before he died.”
Xenon leaned in. “What did he say?”
“He said they would come for me once they realized he was gone.”
Xenon’s breath stilled.
“And he said to trust no one,” I whispered. “Not even the packs that claimed to protect us.”
Xenon’s voice dropped low. “He was warning you of the Shadow Creed.”
My heart pounded. “How do you know?”
“Because they eliminate obstacles. They follow bloodlines. They use fear to isolate their targets.”
“And you think I am one of those targets.”
Xenon didn’t answer. His silence was louder than any words.
He stood abruptly, tension radiating from him. “We cannot stay here.”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“We are moving you to the safe wing. No one except myself and Ryker knows where it is.”
I stood quickly. “Xenon, I cannot hide. I need to work. I need—”
He turned to me sharply. Not angry. Intense. “You need to live.”
My breath faltered.
He stepped closer again. Slow. Controlled. Like approaching something fragile that he did not want to break.
“You do not see it,” he whispered. “But they do. And I will not lose someone because I failed to act.”
My chest tightened painfully. Luna stirred inside me, drawn to his voice.
“You do not even want me,” I whispered.
He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, something unguarded shone through.
“That is not true.”
My breath caught.
He reached out like he wanted to take my hand again, then curled his fingers into a fist instead.
“The problem,” he said quietly, “is that I want you more than I should.”
The words struck deep.
Too deep.
Before I could speak, Ryker burst into the room without waiting.
“Alpha. We have a problem.”
Xenon didn’t flinch. “What is it?”
Ryker’s expression was grim. “The rogues left another message.”
Xenon stiffened. “Where?”
Ryker swallowed. “At the entrance of the healer wing.”
Xenon’s jaw tightened. “What does it say?”
Ryker stepped forward and handed him a second folded note.
Xenon unfolded it.
His expression darkened in a way that made fear coil inside me.
He turned it slowly so I could see.
Three words.
Return what is ours.
My breath shattered.
Xenon crushed the paper in his hand. His voice dropped to something deadly.
“They will regret this.”
Ryker nodded. “Alpha, orders?”
Xenon looked at me.
Not like a nuisance.
Not like a problem.
Not like a rejected mate.
But like something he could not afford to lose.
His answer was final.
“We hunt.”