Chapter 136 Is she faking it
Jolie pov
"See?" I show them. "She's willing to meet in neutral territory. That's not trap behavior."
"It absolutely is." Luna shakes her head. "Crossroads is a perfect ambush location. Multiple exit routes, lots of civilian cover, easy to have backup hiding nearby."
"Then we have backup hiding nearby too." I'm already planning. "Knox and Cass can position themselves with sniper coverage. Phoenix can monitor communications. Luna can coordinate from here. If it's a trap, we spring it. If it's genuine, we get intelligence."
"And if it's somewhere in between?" Gio asks. "If she's partially genuine but also partially still following Council orders?"
"Then we read her." I touch my chest where my empathy gift lives. "I'll know the moment I'm close enough. Whether she's really scared or just performing it."
"Too dangerous." Ryder's voice is alpha command. "You're not going."
"Yes, I am." I meet his eyes steadily. "Because if there's even a chance that Celeste knows something about Council plans, about where captive divine wolves are held, about how their blessed silver modification works—we need that information."
"Not at the cost of losing you."
"You won't lose me." I move closer, taking his hands. "I'll have backup, I'll be careful, and I'll abort the moment something feels wrong. But I have to try. If Celeste is reaching out, if her conditioning is cracking, I might be the only person who can help her break through."
"Or she'll drag you down with her." He squeezes my hands. "Use your empathy against you again."
"Maybe." I don't deny it. "But I'd rather risk being used than leave someone trapped in conditioning when I could have helped them."
"Even someone who humiliated you this morning?" Luna asks. "Who performed vulnerability just to prove she could resist your empathy?"
"Even her." I say firmly. "Because if the conditioning is cracking, if she's feeling things she wasn't supposed to feel, she's probably terrified. And no one deserves to be trapped between being a weapon and being a person."
Silence falls over the room. Everyone looking at each other, communicating without words.
Finally Ryder sighs. "Full tactical support. Knox and Cass provide overwatch. Phoenix monitors all communications. Luna coordinates from here with rapid response team ready. And if anything—and I mean anything—feels wrong, you abort immediately."
"Deal." I kiss him quickly. "Thank you for trusting me."
"I don't trust her." He corrects. "I trust you and I trust our pack to keep you safe."
"Dawn is in three hours." Cass checks his watch. "We need to move now if we're setting up proper coverage."
"Go." Luna waves us toward the door. "I'll coordinate from here and have extraction ready if needed."
We gear up quickly. I trade my hoodie for tactical clothing, strap on weapons even though I'm hoping not to use them. Knox and Cass load sniper rifles onto their bikes as Phoenix sets up mobile communication equipment.
Within twenty minutes, we're riding toward the Crossroads. The truck stop appears in the pre-dawn darkness—exactly what it sounds like. Three highways intersecting, a massive parking lot, a 24-hour diner, and a gas station that's seen better decades.
Neutral territory by treaty. No pack can claim it, no alpha can enforce laws here. It's where rogues meet, where illegal deals go down, where wolves come when they need to be anonymous. Perfect for a secret meeting or a perfect ambush.
Knox and Cass split off, taking positions on nearby hills with clear sightlines to the parking lot. Phoenix parks at the diner, setting up equipment that looks like he's just another traveler working on his laptop.
Ryder and I park near the gas station, engines idling, ready to run if necessary.
"She's got fifteen minutes." He checks his watch. "Then we abort."
"Agreed." I scan the parking lot, using my empathy gift to sense emotions in the area.
Truckers sleeping in their cabs—exhaustion and loneliness. Diner workers starting morning prep—boredom and anticipation of tips. Gas station attendant watching security cameras—suspicion and alertness. But no Celeste. Not yet.
"You know this might be nothing." Ryder says quietly. "She might not show. Might have sent those messages just to mess with your head."
"I know." I keep scanning. "But I have to try."
Five minutes pass, then ten.
"Jolie" Ryder starts.
"Wait." I sense something shifting. "Someone's coming."
A car pulls into the lot. An expensive sedan with tinted windows, driving slowly like the occupant is nervous. It parks three spaces away from us.
Celeste steps out wearing jeans and a sweatshirt—complete opposite of her usual polished appearance. No makeup, hair in a messy ponytail, dark circles under her eyes. And when she looks at me, I feel it through my empathy. Raw, terrified panic.
"She's actually scared." I breathe. "This isn't a performance. She's genuinely terrified."
"Could still be a trap." But Ryder's voice has lost some certainty.
Celeste moves closer, hands visible, walking like someone who might bolt at any moment. She stops ten feet away. Close enough to talk, far enough to run.
"Thank you for coming." Her voice shakes. "I wasn't sure you would."
"What happened?" I ask. "What changed between the video and now?"
"Dominic." She wraps her arms around herself. "After the wedding, after we" She swallows hard. "He told me about Phase Three."
"Phase Three?" My blood chills.
"The Council's endgame." Her eyes are haunted. "They didn't just want to capture you and breed you. They wanted to create a bloodline, use your children as breeding stock for subsequent generations. Create an entire line of divine wolves under their control."
"We already knew that." Ryder says flatly.
"But you didn't know about me." She looks at me directly. "I'm not just a demonstration project. I'm a backup plan. If they can't capture you, they're going to forcibly mate me to a divine wolf and study our offspring instead."
"But you're conditioned." I move closer despite Ryder's warning hand. "You don't have empathic abilities."
"They think they can breed it back in." Tears streamed down her face. "Force me to bear children, raise those children with emotional access, then study them to understand how conditioning can be reversed. Use me as a broodmare to create more test subjects."
"That's why you're scared." Understanding floods through me. "You thought you negotiated freedom. Thought conditioning makes you immune to being used like that but they've decided to use you anyway."