Chapter 80 Plan B

Chapter 80 Plan B
Jace Pov

I watched from the Silverthorn side as Calix helped Maddie off the obstacle course like some kind of hero. The whole scene made me sick to my stomach. She was supposed to fall. She was supposed to be forced to shift. She was supposed to be exposed in front of everyone.

But instead Calix had intervened. He had ruined everything.

"This is bullshit," Derek said next to me. He was the one who had tripped Maddie during the relay race. "The whole plan was perfect. How did Hawthorne know the course was rigged?"

"I don't know," I said through gritted teeth. "But it doesn't matter. He saved her this time. He won't be able to save her from what comes next."

"What comes next?" Derek asked. "The obstacle course was our best shot. That was supposed to force her to reveal what she is."

"Plan A failed," I said. I pulled out my phone and started typing. "So we move to Plan B."

I watched Calix help Maddie toward the medical tent. He had his arm around her. She was leaning on him. They looked like a couple. Like mates. Like everything I had lost when she left me.

Jealousy twisted in my chest. Hot and violent and all consuming. That should be me helping her. That should be me she was leaning on. That should be my arm around her waist.

But she had thrown all of that away. She had chosen to leave. She had chosen to end what we had. She had chosen Calix over me without even giving me a chance to fight for her.

"What's Plan B?" Derek asked. He was looking over my shoulder at my phone. "What are you planning?"

"Something more direct," I said. "Something that doesn't rely on accidents or obstacle courses. Something that will expose her without any chance of failure."

I finished typing my message to Simone and hit send. "Plan A failed. Time for Plan B. We expose her white fur at the victory party tomorrow. Publicly."

Simone's response came back almost immediately. "How?"

I smiled slowly. "I have photos. Old ones from when we were dating. Photos of Maddie in her white wolf form. We make sure everyone at the party sees them."

"Perfect," Simone texted back. "Meet me after the event ends. We'll plan the details."

I put my phone away and looked back at the field. Officials were inspecting the obstacle course now. Examining the broken rope. Testing the balance beams. Looking for evidence of sabotage.

They would find it. Of course they would find it. The modifications were too obvious. Too deliberate. Someone would connect the dots. Someone would start asking questions.

But they wouldn't be able to trace it back to me. I had been careful. I hadn't touched anything personally. I had used intermediaries. People who owed me favors. People who wouldn't talk even if questioned.

"We should probably leave," Derek said nervously. "Before they start interviewing witnesses. Before they ask who had access to the course last night."

"Relax," I said. "We're fine. Nobody saw us. Nobody knows we were involved."

"Simone's father cleared the course this morning," Derek pointed out. "What if they question him? What if he cracks under pressure?"

"He won't crack," I said confidently. "He has too much to lose. He sabotaged a college sports event. He put students in danger. If he talks he goes down with us."

Derek nodded but he still looked nervous. "I just want this whole thing to be over. I want Maddie exposed and gone so we can all move on with our lives."

"Tomorrow," I promised. "Tomorrow night at the victory party. In front of the whole school. In front of both teams. In front of everyone who matters. Maddie Vale's secret will be revealed."

The event was officially canceled after another thirty minutes of inspection. The announcer declared that due to equipment failure the obstacle course competition would be rescheduled. Everyone was dismissed. Told to return to their dorms or the dining hall.

I walked back toward where the Silverthorn team was gathering. My teammates were talking excitedly about the sabotage. About how crazy it was. About how someone could have died.

"Did you see Hawthorne run onto the course?" one of them said. "He moved so fast. Like he knew exactly where to go."

"Probably tipped off," another teammate suggested. "Maybe he's the one who sabotaged it in the first place. Trying to make himself look like a hero."

"That doesn't make sense," someone else argued. "Why would he sabotage his own school's event?"

I listened to them speculate and didn't say anything. Let them think whatever they wanted. Let them come up with their own theories. As long as nobody suspected the truth it didn't matter what stories they told themselves.

My phone buzzed with another text from Simone. "Meeting at the equipment shed in one hour. Bring the photos."

"Acknowledged," I texted back.

I had an hour to kill. I spent it back at the temporary dorm where Silverthorn students were staying. I went to my room and pulled out the box I kept hidden under my bed.

Inside were photos of Maddie. Dozens of them. Some from when we were dating. Some from before. Some I had taken without her knowledge.

But the most important ones were at the bottom of the box. Photos of Maddie in her white wolf form. Beautiful. Powerful. Rare. Everything that made her special. Everything that made her a target.

I had taken these photos on a camping trip we went on together. Maddie had shifted to run through the forest. She thought we were alone. She thought nobody would see. She thought she was safe.

But I had followed her. I had brought my camera. I had captured proof of what she really was.

At the time I told myself it was because I loved her. Because I wanted to remember her in all her forms. Because the white wolf was part of who she was.

But now I knew the truth. I had taken these photos as insurance. As leverage. As something to hold over her if she ever tried to leave me.

And now I was going to use them exactly as I had always planned.