CHAPTER 4: THE MAN WHO KNEW MY NAME

Damon's POV The moment I read the message, Vespera reached for her knife instead of panicking. "Nobody leaves this room." I ordered. "Excellent. I've always wanted to die in a room full of computers." She said as she glanced at me. "Try being serious for once." I said. "I am. Your computers are hideous." She said. Callum, who had returned midway through our exchange, looked as though he regretted his career choices. "Disconnect it from the network and preserve the message. Find out who accessed the file and when." I ordered as I pointed towards the terminal. The operator immediately began working and Vespera approached the screen, but I stepped into her path. "Don't." I said. "Stop standing in front of things I want." She said as her amber eyes flashed. "Stop trying to access classified systems." I said. "Perhaps your systems should stop containing information about my family." She said. That silenced me briefly. She had a point, which was irritating because I preferred arguments where I was unquestionably right. "Callum, bring Maren here. I want everyone with access to the western cameras investigated." I ordered. "And her?" Callum asked as he nodded, then glanced at Vespera. "The woman has a name." Vespera smiled. "I know your name." He replied cautiously. "Excellent. We're making progress." She said. "She stays with me." I said. "Absolutely not." She demanded as her smile vanished. "Someone has ordered your death and the elimination of anyone connected to your survival. Until I know how deeply they've infiltrated my territory, you're safer here." I said. "Sounds like your problem." She said. "It became my problem when armed hunters attacked my estate." I said. "And whose fault is that?" She asked. "You broke into my office, stole a confidential envelope, and arrived on the same night my pack was attacked. Forgive me for not trusting you." I said as I stepped closer and her expression hardened. "I never asked you to trust me, Alpha. I asked you to stop pretending you know me." She said. She turned away before I could answer, leaving me with the uncomfortable suspicion that she was right. "Where are you going?" I called. "Somewhere without your voice." She said. "Vespera." I yelled. "Follow me, and I'll steal your car." She said as she paused at the door. "You don't know where I keep the keys." I smiled. She held up the key fob she'd stolen from my desk and Callum suddenly found the floor fascinating. Callum stared at her while I briefly closed my eyes. When I opened them, she was smiling. "Try to keep up, Your Highness." She said as she slipped through the door. "Callum, get my keys back." I said. "Would you prefer I retrieve them, or wait until she returns with the car?" He asked as he glanced towards the empty doorway. I looked at him, and he immediately left. I had never wanted to throw someone out of a window more than I did then. Twenty minutes later, I found Vespera in the rear courtyard, sitting on a stone wall and eating a sandwich she'd acquired from the kitchens. She looked remarkably comfortable for someone being hunted by an organisation that had just threatened to kill her. "Enjoying your imprisonment?" I asked. "The food is better than the company." She said as she took another bite. "You could try saying thank you." I said. "For what?" She asked. "Allowing you to remain alive on my property." I said. "That might be the most arrogant thing anyone has ever said to me, and I've met some spectacularly arrogant people." She said as she looked at me with disbelief. "I'll take that as a compliment." I said. "Please don't." She said. I leaned against the wall beside her, leaving enough space to avoid another argument about personal boundaries. Beyond the courtyard, security teams checked doors and repaired the damaged perimeter fence. A generator hummed in the distance as the estate settled into an uneasy silence. It was the first quiet moment we'd shared since the attack, and I found myself studying her. Without the constant movement and sharp remarks, she looked exhausted. A bruise darkened her jaw, and dried blood stained her jacket cuff. She had fought beside me and helped my wounded guards, yet seemed more concerned about losing her freedom than the fact that someone wanted her dead. "How long have you been running?" I asked. "That's personal for someone who couldn't even persuade me to give him my surname." She said as her fingers tightened around the sandwich. "You gave it to the computer." I said. "The computer has better manners." She said. "Vespera." I said. "Seven years." She sighed and set the sandwich aside. The answer lacked her usual sarcasm. "Since your father's murder?" I asked. "Don't." She warned as her expression hardened. I stopped, surprised when she seemed equally surprised that I'd listened. Perhaps she was accustomed to people pushing until she either fought back or fled. I understood the instinct, but there was a difference between protecting someone and forcing them to surrender every piece of themselves. Vespera would probably rather bleed than surrender. "Who helped you escape?" I asked. "What?" She asked as she turned sharply. "Someone must have helped you leave Ashbourne. Your pack collapsed, your father was dead, and you were young. You couldn't have disappeared without assistance." I said and she studied me before standing. "Congratulations, Damon. You've managed to ruin the only peaceful moment we've had tonight." She said. She picked up her sandwich and headed for the courtyard doors. I watched her leave, resisting the urge to follow. Ragnar stirred beneath my skin. She's hurt. I've noticed. Protect her. You have an irritating habit of stating the obvious. Ragnar growled, and I rubbed my jaw. Something about Vespera unsettled him beyond the usual instinct to protect someone under our roof. Whenever she came close, he grew restless, his attention fixed on her as though he recognised something I couldn't. I had no intention of investigating that tonight. I had enough problems already. Maren arrived at the security room shortly after one, carrying a tablet. "The western camera wasn't simply disabled. Someone altered the recording schedule three days ago using a senior security credential." She reported. "Whose?" Callum asked as he folded his arms. Maren turned the tablet towards us. "Edric Voss." Maren said. I stared at the name. The senior elder had served my father before I inherited the Alpha position, advising me through council disputes and territorial negotiations. He also had access to information most pack members would never see. "Have you confirmed he made the change?" I asked. "No. His credentials were used, but that doesn't prove he accessed the system himself." Maren said. "Could someone have stolen them?" I asked. "Possibly. We're checking the logs." Maren said. "Find Edric discreetly. I want to speak with him before anyone tells him what we've discovered." I ordered as I turned to Callum. Callum nodded and left while Maren swiped to another screen. "There's more. The attackers headed straight for the private offices, and several carried specialised restraints." Maren said. "Designed for shifters?" I asked. "They suppress shifting and immobilise the target without killing them." She nodded. I remembered the photograph and its message. SUBJECT MUST BE RECOVERED. "They came for Vespera." I said. "That's what it looks like. Someone either followed her here or told them she'd arrived." Maren said. My jaw tightened. A security breach, a possible traitor, and a woman carrying a stolen envelope while refusing to explain why an organisation wanted her alive. The night was becoming increasingly unpleasant. "Where is she?" I asked. "Guest accommodation. One of the guards saw her heading upstairs." Maren said. "Who authorised that?" I asked. "Nobody. She told him she was going to bed, and he decided arguing wasn't worth the trouble." Maren said. "Apparently, she was holding a knife." Maren shrugged. Of course she was. I left the security room, determined to establish a few basic rules before Vespera decided to steal something else. When I reached the guest corridor, Vespera's door stood open. I knocked once before pushing it wider, only to find the room empty. Her equipment bag remained on the bed, but her jacket and the stolen envelope were gone. A chair stood beneath the open window, its curtains stirring in the breeze. She had escaped. Something on the pillow caught my attention, a small black metal disc engraved with the Grey Division's symbol. Beneath it were seven words. ASK HER WHAT HAPPENED TO SERAPHINE VALE. I froze. Seraphine Vale was Vespera's mother, who had disappeared before Ashbourne Pack collapsed. I turned the disc over. SHE KNOWS WHY YOUR FATHER DIED. Someone was deliberately connecting our families and their deaths, and whoever had left the message knew things about my family that I'd never shared outside the pack. My radio crackled. "Damon, we've got a problem. Edric's credentials were used to disable the western cameras, but there's another entry we can't explain." Callum said. "Whose credentials?" I asked and a pause followed. "Yours." He said. I stared at the open window, the disc in my hand, and the empty room. Someone had used my authority to help the hunters enter my estate, while Vespera had disappeared before I could question her. "Lock down every exit. Nobody enters or leaves without my authorisation." I ordered. "Understood." He said. I studied the message again, wondering whether Vespera was the person I needed to protect or the only person who could help me uncover the threat against my pack. Perhaps she was both. Either way, I intended to find her, and our next conversation would cover stolen envelopes, missing mothers, and why someone believed my father's death had anything to do with hers.