"There was another wolf on that road," Jamo repeated.
The warehouse felt colder.
Vivian's heartbeat thudded once, heavy and controlled. She refused to let it spiral.
"Who?" she asked.
Jamo didn't answer immediately.
He walked past her instead close enough that the air shifted with his movement. His scent brushed against her senses. Smoke. Cedar. Something darker underneath.
Power.
Vivian stiffened but didn't move away.
Control yourself.
He stopped near the overturned table, nudging it upright with one hand like it weighed nothing.
"The fire report was altered," he said. "Pack investigators claimed your brother lost control of the vehicle during a border dispute."
Vivian's jaw tightened. "That's what I was told."
"And you believed them."
It wasn't mocking.
That made it worse.
"I believed the evidence," she shot back.
"You believed what they allowed you to see."
Silence snapped between them.
Vivian hated how calm he sounded. Hated that the doubt she'd buried for two years was clawing its way back up her spine.
She'd never found a body.
The remains were "too damaged."
The territory was "unstable."
The pack council had advised her to stay away.
She'd stayed away because—
Because she hadn't belonged there anyway.
Her throat tightened.
Don't go there.
"Stop circling," she said sharply. "Who was the other wolf?"
Jamo met her eyes.
"Me."
The word hit harder than any blow.
For a second, Vivian didn't understand it.
Then she did.
And everything inside her snapped.
She moved without thinking.
Blade flashing, fury exploding through her veins—
Jamo caught her wrist mid-strike.
Fast.
Too fast.
Their bodies collided in a violent clash of momentum. Her back hit the metal shelving with a hard clang. His grip tightened around her wrist, firm but not crushing.
The blade hovered inches from his throat.
Too close.
Not close enough.
"You were there?" she breathed, rage slicing through every syllable. "You were there and you said nothing?"
His face was inches from hers now.
No fear.
No apology.
Only controlled intensity.
"I said there was another wolf," he replied evenly. "I didn't say I caused the fire."
Her free hand slammed against his chest, shoving him back.
He barely moved.
"Don't twist words," she snapped. "You were there. That makes you involved."
His jaw tightened.
"It makes me a witness."
Vivian's chest heaved.
Her wolf stirred under her skin—not fully shifting, but close enough that heat crept into her bones.
"You expect me to believe you just happened to be driving through disputed territory the same night my brother died?"
Jamo didn't blink.
"No."
The honesty threw her.
"Then explain."
His grip on her wrist loosened slowly—but he didn't step back.
Didn't give her distance.
Which meant he wasn't afraid of her attacking again.
Infuriating.
"There was a meeting scheduled," he said. "Your brother reached out to me first."
The world tilted.
Vivian's thoughts scrambled.
"That's a lie."
"It isn't."
"He hated pack alliances."
"He hated pack control," Jamo corrected. "That's different."
Her stomach dropped.
Because that sounded like him.
Too much like him.
"No," she said again but softer now.
Jamo's voice lowered.
"He was trying to move people out."
Vivian froze.
"…Move who?"
"Lorewolves," Jamo answered.
The word landed heavy between them.
Vivian's breath caught.
Lorewolves didn't belong to packs. They were born outside hierarchy, outside rules. Feared. Unpredictable. Unclaimed.
Like her.
"He wanted them out of contested territory before a crackdown," Jamo continued. "Before certain alphas decided to make examples."
Her chest felt tight.
"You're saying he was negotiating safe passage."
"Yes."
"With you."
"Yes."
Silence swallowed the warehouse.
Vivian's mind reeled.
Her brother had always been protective. Reckless. Stubborn.
But strategic.
If he believed war was coming…
He would've acted first.
Her voice came out raw despite her effort to steady it.
"Then why did his car burn?"
Jamo's gaze hardened.
"Because we were ambushed."
The word echoed in her skull.
Ambushed.
Her pulse thundered.
"By who?"
"I don't know."
She searched his face for hesitation.
Found none.
"You expect me to believe you survived an ambush and he didn't?"
Something sharp flickered in his eyes.
"I expect you to consider the possibility," he said quietly, "that he did."
The air left her lungs.
Her vision blurred for half a second before she forced it back into focus.
Alive.
The word was dangerous.
Hope was worse.
"If he survived," she said slowly, "why hasn't he come back?"
Jamo's expression darkened.
"Because whoever orchestrated that attack wanted him gone."
Her heart pounded painfully.
"And you?" she demanded. "Why didn't you look for him?"
A beat.
A fraction of one.
"I did."
The answer was low.
Serious.
Something in it rang true.
Vivian hated that.
She pulled her wrist free from his grasp.
This time he let her.
She stepped away, needing space to think.
Needing air.
The warehouse felt too small for the magnitude of what he'd just said.
"If you were there," she said, forcing logic back into her tone, "then you're the last person who saw him alive."
"Yes."
"And you kept that from me."
"Yes."
Rage flared again.
"Why?"
The silence stretched.
Long.
Tense.
Finally
"Because at the time," Jamo said carefully, "you were aligned with people I didn't trust."
Vivian laughed bitterly.
"I've never been aligned with a pack."
"You were working inside their territories."
"That's not the same thing."
"No," he agreed. "It isn't."
His eyes softened just slightly.
"But perception matters."
She stared at him.
"You made a choice for me."
"Yes."
The calm acceptance of that made her want to hit him.
"You don't get to decide what I can handle."
His voice dropped.
"I wasn't deciding what you could handle."
He stepped closer again.
Not threatening.
But deliberate.
"I was deciding whether telling you would start a war I wasn't ready to win."
The words settled heavy.
Vivian's anger faltered just slightly.
Because that sounded like strategy.
Not cruelty.
Which somehow made it worse.
Her voice went quieter.
"If my brother's alive," she said, "and someone wanted him removed…"
Her eyes sharpened.
"Then this pack war isn't random."
"No," Jamo said. "It isn't."
Silence.
The pieces were starting to align.
Traffickers.
Territory fractures.
Lorewolves being moved.
An ambush two years ago.
This wasn't chaos.
It was design.
Vivian's gaze lifted slowly to meet his.
"You think whoever attacked you that night is pushing this war."
"Yes."
"And you think my brother is connected."
"Yes."
Her pulse steadied.
Focused now.
Controlled.
"If he's alive," she said, "he's not hiding."
Jamo's eyes held hers.
"No."
The certainty in that single word sent a chill down her spine.
Which meant
He's being kept.
The realization hit like ice water.
Vivian's stomach twisted.
"Then we're not stopping a pack war," she said quietly.
Her gaze hardened.
"We're dismantling whoever's behind it."
For the first time since she'd met him
Something fierce and approving sparked in Jamo's expression.
"Exactly."
Their eyes locked.
Not enemies.
Not allies.
Something far more dangerous.
Equal predators with a shared target.
The tension between them shifted.
Less combative.
More electric.
And infinitely more complicated.
Vivian exhaled slowly.
"Fine," she said. "We do this your way."
A pause.
"But understand something, Jamo."
Her voice dropped, lethal and steady.
"If I find out you're lying to me about any part of that night"
She stepped close enough that only inches separated them.
"I won't just burn your empire."
Her eyes held his.
"I'll enjoy it."
A beat of silence.
Then
Jamo leaned in just slightly.
Close enough that his breath brushed her cheek.
"I would expect nothing less," he murmured.
Her pulse jumped.
Dangerous.
Too dangerous.
And then
A phone vibrated in his pocket.
The sharp sound sliced through the tension.
Jamo stepped back, expression hardening as he answered.
He didn't speak.
Just listened.
Vivian watched his face change.
Controlled.
Then cold.
Then
Deadly.
He ended the call.
"What?" she demanded.
His eyes met hers.
"One of the smaller packs just retaliated."
A pause.
"And they're blaming you."
Silence crashed down.
Vivian's blood ran cold.
"That's impossible."
Jamo's voice was calm.
Too calm.
"They found one of my traffickers you interrogated."
Her stomach dropped.
"They're saying you're destabilizing territory under my protection."
The trap snapped into place in her mind.
Someone was moving faster now.
Escalating.
Framing.
And if packs believed she was aligned with Jamo
War wouldn't just start.
It would explode.
Vivian's pulse steadied into something sharp and lethal.
"Well," she said quietly, "looks like your temporary alliance just became public."
Jamo's gaze darkened.
"Yes."
Outside, sirens wailed in the distance.
Not police.
Pack.
Vivian's senses flared.
They were coming.
For her.
For him.
Or both.
Jamo's voice dropped.
"Welcome to the war, Vivian Black."
And for the first time
She realized walking away was no longer an option.