Chapter 17 RED BREACH

Chapter 17 RED BREACH

Xavier

The screen flickered. Then again. I narrowed my eyes at the feed replaying from the hallway camera outside Serena’s room. Nothing. Just the faint hum of light and stillness. No movement. No shadow. No damn intruder.

But the mark had been there. Burned into the floor like a scar from the past refusing to fade.

Three heads. One wolf.

My jaw clenched.

Moonstone bastards.

I turned from the screen, sweeping my hand over the control pad. Data bloomed around me—maps, heat scans, movement trackers. Everything glowed with a cold, electric blue. A few small pulses blinked on the outer border. Too small to be a full breach. But enough to bother me.

“Kansas,” I said.

My beta’s voice crackled through the comms. “Already scanning the western ridge. Two teams on foot, one drone. Nothing yet.”

“Double patrols. Expand the perimeter to Sector C. Get eyes on every access point. I want full sweeps every ten minutes.”

“Copy that,” Kansas said, voice tight. “You think they’re already here?”

“They left a message,” I said. “Outside Serena’s door.”

There was silence on the other end.

“Shit,” he muttered. “You want me to move her?”

“No. That’s exactly what they’d want. She stays. I’ll handle it.”

\---

I reached her door less than five minutes later. It was late, but the glow of the corridor lights made everything look sterile and artificial—like the moment would disappear if I blinked.

I didn’t knock. I pressed my hand to the panel and walked in when the door slid open.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed, wrapped in the soft blanket Mira had given her. Her eyes were red. She’d been crying.

The mark was still faint on her chest, glowing through her shirt. Her fingers kept drifting toward it, like she couldn’t decide if she wanted to cover it or tear it off.

“You saw it?” I asked.

Her voice was low. “The symbol? Yes.”

I nodded, stepping closer. “Camera glitched. No footage.”

Her eyes widened. “So they were really here?”

I gave a sharp nod. “Someone breached the corridor. Burned it into the floor. No trace. Not even a heat signature.”

She swallowed. “Then they’re already inside.”

“No,” I said firmly. “They left a message. If they were inside, they’d have done more.”

“Like what?”

“Taken you.”

Her breath hitched.

I sat across from her, close but not touching. I didn’t want to scare her. Not again.

“Talk to me, Serena,” I said. “Start from the beginning.”

She looked down, voice shaking. “I was banished.”

“I know.”

“Because of them.”

I stayed silent.

“The triplets. Rhys, Callum, and Dominic. They said I was chosen as their mate, as their Luna. That night they marked me… three of them. It was romantic, I feel loved and I agreed because I was happy even though we decided to keep our relationship secret because they were my stepbrothers even though we're mates.” sge explained wiping her tear.

My jaw tensed.

“But the next day I found out I was pregnant. And my mother find out. She send me away not to anger Marcus." She sobbed.

"I decided to tell my mates, but the deny it." She added.

"Fxcking bastards!" I yelled.

"Somehow the elders are suspicious of me, having rogue bloodline, I tried explaining everything but they said I was accursing the heirs. Maring the Alpha marcus Banish me .”

“What of your mother,” I asked.

“She didn’t spare me a glance,” Serena whispered. “She already told me it was for my own good—that I’d bring ruin if I stayed.”

I didn’t speak. My hands curled into fists.

Her voice broke then, her body shaking. “She never loved me after father died. She hated him for leaving us with loans. She wasnt even there on this 10th funeral to sent him off. And I—I couldn’t do it on time.” she break down.

Something inside me cracked. Not loudly. Quietly. Like a bone splintering under too much pressure.

“Now that I’m pregnant and its growing fast” she whispered next. “in three months time I'llgive birth. Mira said the baby’s growing fast because of the bloodlines.”

I already knew. I’d read the scans.

But hearing her say it made it real.

“You’re still marked,” I said, quieter now.

“I know,” she replied. “I tried everything. Burning it, cutting it, screaming until my voice broke. But it won’t fade.”

I studied her. Not her body, not her wolf, not even her bloodline.

Her eyes.

The grief. The rage. The guilt. She carried it like armor and chains all at once.

“I’ll protect you,” I said, voice low.

She blinked.

“You. Your child. I’ll keep you safe, even if it kills me.”

“Why?” she asked, voice hoarse. “Why would you do that?”

I stood slowly.

“Because no one protected me,” I said. “And I swore I’d never let it happen to anyone else.”

I didn’t wait for her response.

Because I meant every word.

And there was more to do.

\---

Back in the command center, Kansas was waiting. His long black coat swayed behind him as he stalked toward me. His right hand clutched a glowing tablet.

“You’re not going to like this,” he muttered.

I took the tablet and scanned the report.

“Three trackers. Confirmed Moonstone design. Low-frequency cloak. Slipped through the southern quadrant an hour ago.”

“How far in?”

“They hit Zone Red. Then vanished.”

That was less than two miles from the Reaper Dome.

“They were testing us,” I said.

“Or mapping us.”

I turned to the side panel and tapped a button. The wall lit up with a 3D projection of the compound, pulse points blinking across the map.

“Send two teams after them. Ghost formation. No contact unless confirmed threat.”

“Already dispatched,” Kansas said. “But, Xavier, this is escalating. They never send trackers unless they’re planning an extraction.”

“I know,” I said.

Kansas stepped closer. “You think they’re coming for her?”

“She’s marked by all three. She’s carrying a child that belongs to Alphas. And Marcus? He doesn’t leave loose ends.”

“Then we go on lockdown.”

“No. That’s what they want.”

“Then what’s the plan?”

I turned to him.

“We prepare for war.”

\---

Outside the command room, I walked through the training corridor. Warriors stood at attention when they saw me. Others bowed their heads, silent acknowledgment. Phantom Reapers didn’t salute. We bled together, that was enough.

Ashira, the white-haired girl from earlier, stepped forward. “Orders?”

“Drills doubled. All shifts armed. No rest cycles until we have visual confirmation the trackers are gone.”

She nodded. “And the girl?”

“She’s under my protection. Any attempt to move her without my order is treason.”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly, but she didn’t question me.

Good.

“Dismissed.”

She turned and disappeared into the shadows.

\---

Back in my quarters, the holo-screen flickered again. This time, a red alert blinked across the top.

ZONE RED BREACH — 3 MOVING TARGETS CONFIRMED

I stared.

They weren’t gone.

They were here.

I reached for my comms.

“Kansas.”

“On it,” he answered before I could speak.

“Bring her to the core,” I ordered. “Now.”

Because I knew something they didn’t.

This wasn’t just a scouting mission.

It was a message.

And the next time they came—they wouldn’t leave a mark.

They’d leave a body.