POV: Silas

Gideon Rusk smelled like winter stone and old blood.

Silas had met powerful Alphas who filled rooms by raising their voices. Gideon did it by lowering his. Every person near him leaned closer, mistaking the effort to hear for obedience freely given.

Evelyn did not lean.

She stood beside Silas in green silk, her corrected name on her badge and her own work beneath it. Her scent carried fear, but her chin remained level.

Grant watched her from Gideon's right side.

Silas's wolf struck once against his bones.

The cardboard detector inside Evelyn's evening bag gave a small electronic-free rattle.

She touched the bag and looked at him.

Big feelings.

Silas breathed.

“Alpha Blackwood,” Gideon said. “You bring motorcycles to my front door and allegations into my reception. Is this how your pack practices diplomacy?”

“You put my mate's number in a purchase ledger. The motorcycles were restraint.”

Several guests stepped back.

Evelyn's fingers brushed his sleeve.

Not correction. Contact.

Gideon looked at her. “Your mate? The invitation identified a married human woman.”

“The invitation identified me incorrectly,” Evelyn said. “My relationship with Silas is mine to define. My marriage is being dissolved. Neither changes your financial records.”

Grant moved closer. “She's violating a court order by being here.”

Miriam appeared behind them in a charcoal suit. “Name the order.”

Grant's jaw tightened.

“She is a witness in an active investigation.”

“Witnesses are allowed to attend catered receptions,” Miriam said. “Defendants awaiting trial should be more cautious about contacting protected spouses.”

Grant looked around. Too many cameras. Too many donors. He stepped back.

Gideon lifted one hand, ending the exchange as if it belonged to him.

“Red Cedar conducts lawful genetic research,” he said. “North County supplied voluntary participants under approved medical protocols. If local criminals corrupted that process, I share your concern.”

“Participants,” Evelyn repeated.

“Yes.”

“Kara Wells was locked underground for fourteen months.”

“I do not discuss patient cases publicly.”

“You discussed her publicly when your company labeled her research material on a wire transfer.”

The donor Evelyn had confronted moved closer.

So did two reporters from a medical-trade publication.

Gideon's smile thinned. “Accounting language can sound cold outside its technical context.”

“Good,” Evelyn said. “Give us the context.”

She opened her bag.

Grant stepped forward. “No materials enter without security review.”

Evelyn removed the cardboard wolf detector.

Its paper antenna bent against her wrist.

Ronan made a strangled sound behind Silas.

“This is the only device I brought,” she said. “Would you like to inspect it?”

Grant recognized Sophie's handwriting.

His face changed before he recovered.

“You are using our daughter to mock me.”

“Our daughter made a tool for identifying big feelings. It appears functional.”

A reporter laughed.

Grant's hand closed at his side.

Silas did not move between them. Evelyn had the floor. He would not steal it because his claws itched.

She returned the detector to her bag and took out no documents.

“The relevant records were filed with the state and supplied to affected donors this afternoon,” she said. “I don't need to carry evidence into a room where the people who funded it already have copies.”

Around the ballroom, phones began to vibrate.

One donor checked hers. Then another.

Miriam had timed the disclosures for nine o'clock.

Evelyn had let Gideon call the women voluntary participants thirty seconds before his donors read the restraint invoices.

Silas felt pride through the bond, fierce enough to rival bloodlust.

Gideon understood the trap. His eyes cooled.

“Clever,” he said.

“Accurate,” Evelyn replied.

The ballroom director announced the keynote before the conversation could widen. Gideon invited everyone to take their seats.

“Stay,” he told Evelyn. “You may learn something about the importance of our work.”

“I intend to.”

They sat at a table near the stage. Evelyn chose the chair with a clear exit. Silas took the one beside her. Briar and Ronan sat opposite. Miriam remained near the press table.

Grant stood against the wall wearing an earpiece.

“He looks like a man pretending he wasn't just defeated by cardboard,” Ronan whispered.

Briar lifted her water glass. “You were defeated by a coffee cup last week.”

“It contained police coffee. That was chemical warfare.”

The lights dimmed.

Gideon stood beneath a screen displaying smiling families and silver DNA strands. He spoke about declining wolf fertility, dormant bloodlines, and the responsibility of old houses to preserve their people.

He never said abduct.

He said identify.

He never said imprison.

He said stabilize.

He never said women.

He said carriers.

Silas felt Evelyn's breathing change.