Chapter 46 THE SPY AMONG THEM
LOGAN’S POV
The gathering in Ray's office feels more like an interrogation than a strategy meeting.
All five of us are here. Alicia sits in the center, one hand protectively on her stomach. Ray stands by the window, Alpha authority radiating off him in waves. Monty leans against the desk, casual but tense. Kai guards the door, ice blue eyes missing nothing.
And I'm about to accuse one of them of treason.
"There's a spy." I say it plainly. No preamble. No gentle lead-in. "Someone in this room has been feeding information to The Veritas. And I have proof."
The room went cold immediately.
"That's a serious accusation." Ray's voice is dangerously calm. "You better have actual evidence, not just paranoid theories."
"I have patterns, timeline analysis, communication records." I pull out my laptop and open the files I've been compiling for the last hour. "Every major attack on Alicia has been perfectly timed. Like someone told The Veritas exactly where she'd be and when."
"Or they've just been watching closely." Monty's voice is flat. "The Veritas has resources. They don't need an inside source to track a True Luna rising power."
"Really? Then explain how Jake knew about the emergency exit in the safe room. A route that only pack members would know about." I point to a map on my screen. "Explain how Vincent's forces hit our weakest defensive points simultaneously. Points that aren't obvious from external observation."
"Vincent used to be Beta here. He knows our layouts." Ray counters, but his eyes are narrowed. He is considering what I have said.
“Defensive positions have changed. Weak points shift. Someone gave him updated intelligence." I look at each of them. "Someone who's been here recently. Someone who has access to current security information."
Kai shifts his weight. "You're saying one of us is the traitor."
"Yes."
Everybody went silence.
"This is ridiculous." Monty straightens. “The mate bonds make betrayal nearly impossible. The pain alone would be unbearable."
"Nearly impossible but not completely impossible." I click to another file. "I've been researching mate bonds for ten years. There are ways to suppress the negative feedback. Drugs and rituals are strong enough motivation."
"What motivation could possibly be worth betraying your mate?" Alicia's voice shakes. "What could be worth endangering your own child?"
"Power, protection of family, blackmail." I meet her eyes. "The Veritas specializes in finding pressure points. They've had decades to identify what matters to each of us."
Ray moves from the window, closing the distance. "If you're accusing one of us, name them. Stop dancing around it."
"I can't. Not yet. The evidence points to all of you in different ways." I pull up a timeline. "Let me walk through it."
I display dates and events, color coded by which mate was present.
"Two weeks ago, Alicia went to the border to negotiate. Jake's forces were waiting. Only four of us knew exactly when she was going.”
"That proves nothing." Monty's jaw clenches. "Any of us could have been followed. Could have been overheard."
“Maybe but combined with other incidents?" I click through more events. "The attack on the cabin where Ray and Alicia used to meet. No one knew about that location except Ray. Yet Jake found her there."
" Monty knows about the cabin." Ray's voice is tight. "We always go there whenever we are planning patrol routes."
"See? More connections." I highlight Monty's name on multiple incidents. "Monty knew about the cabin. Monty was present when we discussed moving Alicia to the safe room. Monty volunteered to take her to Blood Moon territory, where she was nearly captured."
"I was trying to negotiate!" Monty's voice rises. "I was trying to prevent war!"
"Or you were delivering her exactly where The Veritas wanted her." I don't back down. "Your timing was perfect. It was right after she completed the claiming with you. Right when her guard was down."
"You're reaching." But Monty's voice lacks conviction. "This is circumstantial at best."
"Then explain your communication patterns." I pull up phone records. "You've been receiving calls from an unknown number at regular intervals and it's always when you're alone."
Monty goes pale. "Those are personal calls. Nothing to do with The Veritas."
"Personal calls from a blocked number? That you delete immediately after?" I let that hang in the air. "What are you hiding, Monty?"
"Nothing that concerns anyone here." His hands clench. "Everyone has private matters. That doesn't make me a traitor."
"Maybe not. But it makes you suspicious." I turn to Kai. "And you. The lone wolf who appeared at exactly the right moment to save Alicia. Who just happened to be in the area when she was dying."
Kai's expression doesn't change. “Those people killed my pack, remember?."
"You’ve been working for them for years." I pull up more files. "Your movements before meeting Alicia are convenient. Always in the right place. Always with the right skills, like someone was positioning you."
"I'm not Veritas." Kai's voice is cold steel. "They murdered my family. I would never work with them."
"Wouldn't you? If they threatened someone you cared about? If they offered you revenge on Pascal?" I lean forward. "You disappeared for six hours yesterday. Where did you go?"
"I was scouting. Like I said."
"You went alone. I meet his eyes. "Convenient timing."
"This is absurd." Ray's voice cuts through. "You're accusing all of us. If everyone's suspicious, no one is. That's not proof. That's paranoia."
"Is it?" I turn to him. "Then explain your Veritas connection. The ten years of resources they provided. The leverage they still have over you."
"I already explained that. I was forced into accepting their help. I'm not actively working with them."
"Aren't you? You knew about the pregnancy before anyone else. Smelled it on Alicia. Told us about it." I pull up yet another timeline. "Within an hour of that announcement, Pascal sends a message from prison. A message that requires outside contact. Who arranged that contact, Ray?"
"I don't know. Pascal has his own networks.
"Or you facilitated it. Kept your Veritas contacts active while claiming you'd cut ties." I close the laptop. "Every one of you has motive and uspicious behavior. And I can't prove which one is actually guilty."
"So what's your point?" Monty demands. "Accuse us all and destroy what little trust we have left?"
"My point is that one of you is lying. One of you is feeding The Veritas information that's endangering Alicia and her baby." I look at each of them. "And until we figure out who, none of you should be trusted."
Alicia stands suddenly. "Stop. All of you, just stop." Her voice is shaking. "I can't do this. Can't sit here while you tear each other apart with accusations."
"Alicia…" Ray starts.
"No. Logan's right that something is wrong. The timing has been too perfect. The attacks too coordinated." She presses both hands to her stomach. "But accusing everyone accomplishes nothing except making me doubt all of you."
"That's the point." I keep my voice gentle. "We need to doubt. We need to ask question until we know for certain who the traitor is."
"Then find proof." She meets my eyes. "Real proof, not just timelines and suspicions. Find actual evidence that points to one person specifically."
Before I can respond, Ray moves. Fast. Crosses the room to where Monty's jacket hangs on a chair.
"What are you doing?" Monty asks, alarm in his voice.
Ray doesn't answer. He just searches the pockets methodically. Pulls out keys, wallet and phone.
Then he brought out something else.
A small electronic black device with a blinking red light.
"What is that?" Alicia whispers.
Ray holds it up to the light. "An encrypted communication device. Veritas issue." His voice is hollow. "I've seen them before. In my father's things. This is how they stay in contact with assets."
All eyes turn to Monty. I heard what he said about finding such a device in his father’s things, even though he has never mentioned that his father is a part of The Veritas, but there is no time to push it further
"That's not mine." His voice is too loud and defensive. "I've never seen that before. Ray, you have to believe me."
"It was in your jacket pocket." Ray's voice is dead calm. The kind of calm that comes before violence. "Your jacket that you've been wearing all day."
"Someone must have planted it. To frame me. To make you think…" Monty backs toward the door but Kai's already there, blocking his exit.
"Were you going to finish that sentence?" I ask quietly. "To make us think what? That you're the spy?"
"I'm not! I swear I'm not!" Monty's eyes are wild now. Desperate. "Yes, I've been getting calls and yes, I've been secretive. But not about The Veritas."
"Then what about?" Alicia's voice breaks. "What have you been hiding, Monty?"
He looks at each of us as if he’s trapped. Finally, his shoulders slump.
"My mother." The words come out broken. "She's dying. The calls were from her care facility. I've been sending money. Visiting when I could. I didn't tell anyone because she disowned me when I became Ray's Beta. I chose you over family. I was ashamed."
The confession hangs in the air.
"So you kept secrets." I keep my voice level. "You've been making secret calls, secret visits and money transfers."
"Yes. But not to The Veritas. Never to them." His voice is desperate. "I love Alicia. I love our bond. Why would I betray that?"
"Because The Veritas found out about your mother." Ray's voice is grim understanding now. "And they threatened her. They used her as leverage against you."
Monty doesn't answer. But the look on his face confirms everything.
"Oh Monty." Alicia's voice is heartbroken. "Why didn't you tell us? We could have protected her. Hidden her better."
"I tried to handle it myself. Tried to give them useless information. Things that wouldn't really hurt anyone." He slumps against the wall. "But they kept demanding more. And I couldn't let them kill her. She's my mother. She's all I have left."
"So you gave them what they wanted." Kai's voice is flat. "You compromised pack security and endangered Alicia. All for one person."
"For my mother!" Monty's voice cracks. "What would you have done? If it was your family? Your sister who survived?"
The question hangs heavy. Because we all know the answer. We'd all do terrible things to protect the people we love.
"Where is she now?" Ray asks. "Your mother. Where is The Veritas keeping her?"
"I don't know. They move her constantly. They send proof of life but never locations." Monty slides down the wall to sit on the floor. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never meant for it to go this far."
Alicia moves toward him. I grab her arm.
"Don't. Not until we're sure this is the whole truth."
She pulls free. Kneels beside Monty anyway. "Is there anything else? Any other secrets? Any other ways they're controlling you?"
He looks up at her with eyes full of guilt and love and desperate hope for forgiveness.
"Just one more thing." His voice drops to barely a whisper. "The device Ray found. I was supposed to activate it tonight. During the transformation ritual with Ray. It's a tracker. They wanted your exact location when you were most vulnerable."
"You were going to lead them right to us." Ray's voice is deadly quiet. "Right to Alicia. Right to our child."
"I wasn't going to activate it! I was trying to figure out how to destroy it without them knowing!" Monty's voice rises with desperation. "That's why I didn't say anything. I was trying to protect all of you!"
"By keeping secrets. By lying. By carrying a Veritas tracker into our home." Ray's already moving. "Guards!"
Two wolves enter immediately.
"Take him to the cells. Use silver chains on him. He's not to speak with anyone." Ray's Alpha command is final. "And search him thoroughly. Make sure there are no other devices."
"Ray, please!" Monty struggles as the guards grab him. "Don't do this! I was trying to help!"
"You were helping The Veritas. Intentionally or not, you gave them everything they needed to destroy us." Ray turns away. "Get him out of my sight before I kill him myself."
They drag Monty out. His protests echo down the hallway until a door slams.
Silence fills the office.
Silent tears run down Alicia’s face. One of her bonds just shattered. One of her mates just revealed himself as compromised at best.
"Is it really him?" She asks quietly. "Is Monty really the only spy?"
I study the device Ray's still holding. I turn it over and examine it carefully.
Then I notice something.
A manufacturing date on the back. Two weeks old.
But Monty said The Veritas has been threatening him for months. Said they've been demanding information for a while.
Which means either he's lying about the timeline.
Or there's another device we haven't found yet.
Another spy we haven't caught.
I look at Ray and Kai. One of them is still hiding something. One of them is still compromised.
And we've just removed the only mate who might have known which one.