Chapter 76 The Trap Is Set
Simone Pov
I met Jace in the abandoned equipment shed behind the athletics building. It was late. Past midnight. The whole campus was asleep. Nobody would see us here. Nobody would know about our final meeting before tomorrow's event.
The shed was dark and dusty. Old equipment was piled in corners. Broken hurdles. Deflated balls. Things that hadn't been used in years. It smelled like rust and mildew.
Jace was already there when I arrived. He had blueprints spread out on an old table. The obstacle course layout. Every section. Every obstacle. Every detail.
"You're late," Jace said without looking up. He was studying the blueprints carefully. Making notes. Planning.
"I had to wait until my roommate fell asleep," I said. I walked over to the table and looked at the plans. "Show me what you've got."
"Here," Jace said. He pointed to a section marked as the rope climb. "This is where the first trap triggers. The ropes will snap when she's halfway up. She'll fall hard. Fast."
"And then?" I asked.
"Then she has two choices," Jace explained. He moved his finger to the next section. "Use her wolf strength to catch herself. Or hit the ground and get seriously injured."
"Either way we win," I said. "Either she exposes herself or she gets hurt badly enough to be out of commission."
"Exactly," Jace agreed. "But it gets better. Look here."
He pointed to another section of the course. The balance beam area. "These beams have been oiled. Made slippery. She won't be able to cross them at human speed. She'll have to use supernatural balance."
"And everyone will see," I said. Excitement was building in my chest. "Everyone will notice that she's moving too fast. Too gracefully. Too impossibly."
"That's the idea," Jace said. "Multiple points of exposure. Multiple chances for her to slip up. By the end of the course everyone will know something is off about her."
"What about this section?" I asked. I pointed to the climbing wall.
"Spikes," Jace said simply. He had a dark smile on his face. "Hidden spikes at the bottom. If she falls she'll land on them. She'll have to shift to heal the damage. Or she'll bleed out before the medics can help."
"Isn't that too far?" I asked. "We want to expose her not kill her."
"The spikes won't kill her," Jace said. "They'll just force her hand. Force her to reveal what she is to save herself. It's perfect."
I studied the blueprints more carefully. Every section had something. Every obstacle had been modified. The whole course was one giant trap designed to make Maddie expose herself.
"Your father did all this?" I asked. "He rigged the entire course?"
"With some help," Jace said. "My teammates were happy to assist. Especially after I told them Maddie had been lying about being wolfless. They don't like liars."
"Good," I said. "The more people who think she deserves this the better."
"So we're set?" Jace asked. "Everything is in place?"
"Everything is perfect," I confirmed. "Tomorrow morning the course will look normal. Nobody will notice the modifications until it's too late. Until Maddie is already running it."
"And Calix?" Jace asked. "What about him? He's team captain. Won't he check the course?"
"He'll be too busy with opening ceremonies," I said. "My father made sure of that. Calix will have responsibilities that keep him away from the course until right before the event starts."
"What if he notices something is wrong?" Jace pressed.
"By then it will be too late," I said. "Maddie will already be running. Already exposed. Already finished."
Jace nodded slowly. He looked satisfied. Pleased with himself. Proud of what we had accomplished.
"Tomorrow she shows the world what she is," he said. "Tomorrow everyone sees the white fur. Tomorrow she loses everything."
"Her secret," I added. "Her safety. Her new life here at Keane. All of it gone in one event."
"And she'll have nobody to blame but herself," Jace said. "If she had just stayed with me this never would have happened. If she had just been honest about what she was none of this would be necessary."
"You really believe that?" I asked. "That this is somehow her fault?"
"Of course," Jace said. He looked at me like I was stupid for questioning it. "She's the one who lied. She's the one who hid. She's the one who ran away instead of facing her problems."
I didn't agree with his logic but I didn't argue. I needed Jace focused. I needed him committed to the plan. His motivations didn't matter as long as he played his part.
"What happens after?" I asked. "After she's exposed. What then?"
"Then she becomes everyone's problem," Jace said. "Every pack will want her. Want to use her. Want to control her. She'll never have peace again."
"And Calix?" I asked. "What about him?"
"Calix will realize she's too much trouble," Jace said confidently. "He'll realize that being with her means dealing with constant political nightmares. Constant threats. Constant chaos. He'll choose stability over passion."
"He'll choose me," I said. "Because I'm the safe option. The logical option. The one who won't bring danger and complications."
"Exactly," Jace agreed. "Everyone wins. Except Maddie of course. But she brought this on herself."
I rolled up the blueprints carefully. "We should destroy these. We can't risk anyone finding them."
"Already planned to," Jace said. He pulled out a lighter. "Once you leave I'm burning everything. No evidence. No trail back to us."
"Good," I said. "We need to be careful. One mistake and this whole thing falls apart."
"There won't be any mistakes," Jace promised. "I've thought of everything. Covered every angle. Tomorrow will go exactly as planned."
I looked at him and felt a moment of doubt. Was this really the right thing to do? Was exposing Maddie worth all this planning and scheming and manipulation?
Then I thought about Calix. About how he looked at Maddie. About how he saved her. About how the mate bond pulled them together no matter how hard he tried to resist.
Yes. This was worth it. This was necessary. This was the only way to get what I wanted. What I deserved.