Chapter 232 232

Chapter 232 232
Nova's POV

The silence between us was comfortable. We stayed where we were, shoulders pressed together, both of us staring out the window.
I didn't mean to fall asleep. One minute I was thinking about Lucas and burner phones and what we'd do if the numbers led nowhere, and the next I was being pulled out of a heavy sleep by the sound of boots on wood.
I blinked, disoriented, and became aware of several things at once.
My head was on Caden's shoulder. My entire upper body was leaning into his, actually, with him bearing most of my weight like he'd been doing it for a while and hadn't bothered to move. His arm was hooked around my waist, fingers resting just above my hip, keeping me anchored against him.
The urge to jerk away was immediate and strong. I forced it down and lifted my head slowly instead, still half asleep, as Caden's voice rumbled through his chest.
"Did you find it?"
"Yes, Alpha." Jake's voice. I straightened up carefully, not looking at Caden, feeling his hand slip from my waist as I moved. The absence of warmth was immediate. "It was exactly where he said it was."
I stood and crossed to the table where Jake and two other men I didn't recognize had laid out a small plastic phone. Generic, brandless, the kind you could buy at any convenience store for twenty dollars and toss when you were done with it.
I picked it up, turning it over in my hands. Caden came up beside me, close enough that I could feel the heat from his arm near mine, and I was suddenly way too aware of him. Of how I'd just been asleep against him. Of how his hand had felt on my waist.
I focused on the phone and unlocked it with a swipe. The call history showed three numbers, no names attached to any of them.
I tapped the last number. ”This one looks different from the others.”
Jake leaned in to look, then pulled out his own phone and started typing. He paused after a moment, his expression shifting.
“You're right, ma’am.” He replied with a nod. " Looks like it's from a registered line.”
"You're sure?" Caden demanded. "That means we can trace it.”
"Yeah. Whoever sent that text made a mistake. I can have a name and location within the hour," Jake said.
"Do it."
Jake nodded and stepped away, already on his phone.
I opened the messages next. There was only one text, sent the day of the accident from the same number. I read it aloud. "Silver Range Rover leaving Shadowcrest territory by two p.m. That's your target. Make it look like an accident."
The room was quiet for a beat.
"Someone inside the pack is feeding information to Lucas," I said slowly.
"Yeah, I already figured that out yesterday." Caden's jaw was tight, his eyes still on the phone in my hand.
"Do you think it's someone the driver knows?”
"Maybe." He turned to the men by the door. "Bring Matt back in."
They left and returned a minute later with Matt between them, hands still zip tied, looking significantly more nervous than before.
"Anything else you want to tell us?" Caden asked.
Matt shook his head quickly. "I've told you everything I know. I swear."
"The person who hired you. Did they ever mention anyone else? Another contact, another name?"
"No. It was just the one voice on the phone. That's it."
Caden studied him for a long moment. Matt shifted his weight from foot to foot, sweat visible on his forehead despite the cool air.
"You said you'd let me go," Matt said, his voice climbing higher. "You promised."
Caden looked at him like he was deciding something. "I did."
Matt's shoulders sagged.
"But you hurt someone I care about," Caden continued in that same calm tone. "So my men are going to rough you up a little first. Nothing permanent. Just enough that you don't forget."
Matt's eyes went wide. "No, wait, please."
"Count yourself lucky it's just them doing it and not me," Caden said, and walked toward the door.
I followed him out, my face carefully blank even though my chest had tightened at his words. Someone I care about. I told myself not to read into it. I needed to stay objective about this. About him.
Matt's protests faded behind us as we crossed through the house. The front door opened to cold air and a sky that had gone from black to deep blue, streaks of pink and orange bleeding across the horizon.
Dawn.
We'd been up all night.
I breathed in the sharp morning air and tried to organize my thoughts.
"When Jake gets that name," I said as we started walking back toward the main house, "what are you going to do?"
Caden's expression was unreadable in the growing light. "Find out why they did it. Then decide what happens next."
I didn't push. We walked in silence as the sky continued to lighten around us, both of us thinking about who it might be and what it would mean when we found out.
By the time we reached the house, the sun was starting to edge above the treeline, turning everything gold. I was exhausted and thinking about checking in on Hudson first then getting reacquainted with my bed.
We stepped inside and I turned toward the stairs.
"Good morning, by the way." I said over my shoulder, aiming for casualness and probably missing.
I made it two steps before fingers wrapped around my wrist.
Caden pulled me back and around, not rough but firm enough that I stumbled slightly and ended up flush against his chest. My hands came up automatically to brace myself, palms flat against the solid warmth of him.
His eyes had gone a dark, stormy gray and the look on his face tied my stomach in knots. My body responded before my brain could catch up, heat pooling low in my belly at the hunger in his gaze.
"What are you doing?" My voice came out breathier than I wanted.
He caught my chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting my face up so I had no choice but to meet his eyes. The intensity there made my breath catch.
"What I've been wanting to do all night," he said, and then his mouth was on mine.
The kiss was hot and urgent, nothing gentle about it. His hand slid to the back of my neck, fingers threading into my hair, and I melted into him without meaning to. My hands fisted in his shirt and I kissed him back just as hard. He made a low sound in his throat that sent heat racing through my veins to pool between my thighs.
Then he pulled back.
Too soon. Way too soon.
I blinked up at him, dazed, my lips still tingling. That hungry look was still there in his eyes, darker now, and I could feel the tension in his body like he was holding himself back from something.
He stepped away, putting space between us that felt wrong after the heat of a moment ago.
"Get some sleep," he said, his voice rough.
Then he turned and walked out the door before I could get a single word out.
I stood there in the hallway, heart pounding, my fingers still curved like they were holding onto his shirt. Staring at the closed door and trying to remember how to breathe normally.
What the hell just happened?