Chapter 22 Chapter 22: The Bait Bites
Chapter 22 Chapter 22: The Bait Bites
The rooftop across from the tavern felt like the edge of the world. Cold wind sliced through my jacket, but Damon’s body heat beside me kept the worst of it at bay. His shoulder pressed against mine—solid, unyielding—and every few seconds his thumb resumed its slow, absent circle on my lower back. Anchor. Restraint. Promise. I didn’t know which one I needed more right now.
Twenty-three minutes had passed since Rowan slipped through the back door. Elena’s voice had confirmed it in my earpiece: “He’s in. Audio is live. We’re recording.” The words still echoed in my skull like a countdown.
Inside the tiny camera feed on Elena’s tablet (angled just enough that we could watch without glare), the scene unfolded in grainy color.
Rose stood in the center of the small room, silk robe slipping off one shoulder, playing nervous hostess to perfection. Rowan stepped through the beaded curtain, hood already down, silver hair catching the lamplight. His posture was too calm—too controlled.
Men like him only looked that relaxed when they thought they still held every card. “Show me,” he said, voice flat. Rose gestured toward the alcove. “He’s back here. And… Rowan, he can’t talk. They cut his tongue out in Ironwood.
He barely escaped. ” Rowan’s eyes narrowed. He crossed the room in three strides. The lookalike sat slumped in the single wooden chair, head bowed, shoulders rounded in defeat. Thick bandages wrapped his throat and jaw; fresh blood had already seeped through in dark patches.
His scarred hands rested palms-up on his knees—burns angry and puckered, exactly as we’d staged them to match the dead spy’s records. He lifted a folded note without raising his head and passed it to Rose.
She unfolded it, voice trembling just enough to sell the fear. “They caught me two nights ago. Tortured me. Cut out my tongue. I escaped when the guard changed. I have proof—the relic location is shifting. The alliance is cracking. You need to move now.
” Rowan stared at the bandaged throat for a long beat. Then at the scarred hands. He stepped closer, grabbed the man’s chin with two fingers, tilted his head roughly into the light. The lookalike didn’t flinch. Didn’t resist. Just let himself be examined like livestock.
“Too convenient,” Rowan muttered, almost to himself. “The burns… the scars… they match.” He released the jaw with a disgusted flick. “But if this is a trap—”Rose cut in softly, playing the concerned lover. “He’s bleeding all over my floor, Rowan. If it’s a trap, they’re doing a hell of a job making it look real.
”Rowan exhaled sharply through his nose. Studied the man another long moment. Then—almost reluctantly—he stepped back and sat on the edge of the narrow bed.
“Fine,” he said. “You want to talk business? Then listen.
”Rose took the opposite chair, notepad ready, pen poised. She passed another blank note forward as prompt. I dug my nails into my palms until I smelled copper. Damon’s thumb stilled on my back; through the bond I felt his pulse kick harder—cold fury layered over iron control.
Rowan leaned forward, elbows on knees, voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur. “Gabriel’s dead. The council is fractured. Seth is too hot-headed to lead long-term. Kira is mated to that Ironwood bastard—her loyalty is split. If I step in as interim alpha, I can stabilize the pack. Then I take the relic myself.
No more waiting for Marcus. Once I have it, I control the bonds of every wolf in three territories. I become untouchable. Even Marcus will kneel. ”He smiled then—thin, satisfied, the kind of smile that belonged on a corpse.
“Tell your friend here,” he continued, nodding toward the lookalike, “the next full moon, I move against the burial sites. Kira will be distracted by mourning rites. Seth will challenge me publicly—I’ll let him win the fight, make it look good. Then I kill him quietly. Poison. Heart failure. Tragic, but necessary. After that I claim the seat, claim the relic, and claim everything Gabriel tried to protect.
”Rose’s hand shook as she scribbled the next prompt note and slid it across. The lookalike read it, nodded once—slow, deliberate.
Rowan stood. Stretched. Rolled his shoulders like a man finishing a satisfactory negotiation. “One more thing,” he said, voice suddenly soft. Almost gentle. The silver dagger slid from his sleeve so fast the lamplight barely caught the edge. Rose’s scream was short—choked off as the blade sank into her chest
.The lookalike lunged, claws half-extended, but Rowan twisted with practiced grace. The dagger drove into the man’s throat, yanked free, then plunged again—straight through the heart.
Blood sprayed in a dark arc across the wall, Rose crumpled first, eyes wide with shock. The lookalike followed a heartbeat later, chair tipping backward with a crack, Rowan wiped the blade on Rose’s robe—slow, methodical. “Loose ends,” he muttered. “Always loose ends.
”He turned toward the door. My wolf tore free, Claws ripped through gloves. Muscles coiled. I was already rising—half-shifted, ready to drop fifteen feet into the alley and crash through that window like judgment.
Damon’s arms locked around me like iron bands, “No,” he growled low against my ear, voice rough with strain. “Kira—stop. ” I thrashed. “He just—” “I know.” His hold tightened—one arm pinning my chest, the other clamping my arms to my sides. “We have it. Everything. Full confession. We have him. “I snarled, low and feral, teeth bared. “Let me go.”
“No.” He spun me so my back hit the low parapet, his body caging mine, shielding me from the alley below. His forehead pressed hard against mine, breath hot and ragged on my face. “You go down there now; he dies fast and messy.
The elders call it vigilante. They question the recording. They question Seth. Everything collapses. “Through the bond I felt it—his rage burning as hot as mine, but locked down, weaponized. Protective fury. Fear. Not for himself. For me. “Breathe,” he ordered, quieter. “We end him the right way. In front of the council.
In front of the pack, he betrayed. You protect your brother. You protect your father’s name. You do it clean. ”My claws retracted inch by painful inch. The shift receded. I sagged against him, trembling from the inside out. He didn’t loosen his hold. Elena’s voice crackled in the earpiece. “Full recording captured. Crystal clear. Audio, video, timestamps. Blood is still pooling. He’s leaving now.
”On the feed, Rowan stepped into the alley. Hood up. Hands in pockets. No glance back. No hurry. Just another shadow swallowing another secret. I stared after him until he vanished around the corner.
Damon’s grip eased—but only just. His hand slid up to cup the back of my neck, thumb brushing the frantic pulse under my jaw.
“Tomorrow,” I whispered, throat raw, “we bury another traitor. “He nodded once. “And the day after that, Seth takes the seat. No more obstacles