Ronan curled his hands into fists. "Brynn has been nothing but an asset since her arrival. One poor decision does not warrant her being kicked from the territory." He raised his chin up at the elders across from him. "Those people raised her to be a weapon and then abandoned her. They have not been her people since the moment they left her on the shore in the Western Territory."

"Don't minimize the issue by saying it's, "just one poor decision"," Eoran fired back. "That decision led our enemies right to our doorstep." Eoran slammed his open palm on the table in front of him. "When will you realize this is a matter of safety and security for our people?"

A growl built and built in Ronan's chest. The leopard was ready to tear the people in front of him to pieces for even thinking of throwing his mate out.

Ronan grit his teeth. "That woman is working right now to help us secure our borders further so that people like those from the Northern Isles don't infiltrate us again."

Tense silence swallowed the council room whole. In the back of his mind, Ronan recognized these people did not know Brynn like he did. They were operating off of fear for themselves and those they loved. In any other instance, Ronan would have been on their side. But not when they were trying to kick his mate from the territory.

"Ronan, you have to see the issue here," Fay said. "This woman crossed us. What's to stop her from doing it again? Until we can know for sure, it's best we minimize any damage she may cause. This is not a choice on what to have for lunch. It's a verdict that could affect lives."

Rage still heated his cheeks. "I have watched that woman decide to kill her own brother just to keep us safe. That alone should be enough, but you're determined to make her prove herself again and again. And for what? When will it be enough for you?"

"Ronan—" Henri started.

But Ronan was done. "If Brynn is forced to leave, you will be down a lieutenant as well."

He only stayed long enough to watch Eoran's face drop at the threat.

Then he left the Council Room, all but slamming the door behind him.

***

Brynn stood on her tiptoes, reaching up, up, up to put the sensor on the mount above the inside front entry of the inner home.

"It's like watching a cubling reach for the counter," Finn teased behind her.

Without looking, Brynn used her free hand to flip off the wolf shifter. "Not my fault your entry door is so tall. The other doors were all a normal height."

"You try fitting a bear through a normal doorway."

Brynn snorted. She'd spent all of this morning outfitting the inner home with added sensors which would allow them to monitor and track who entered and left the inner home. Besides motion sensor cameras, she'd also installed heat sensing cameras so that Gavriel and the lieutenants could distinguish anyone who came in or left. It was a last effort security measure—one she hoped never had to be used. If they needed to use these sensors and cameras, then that meant someone had already gotten past the security measures in place at the borders.

Finn, one of Gavriel's lieutenants, was her "guard" for the day. Usually Ronan served as her guard—per the head elders orders she wasn't to be by herself—but her mate had a few errands he'd had to run today, and she wanted to finish up her work on the security for the inner home.

As far as guards went, Brynn actually liked Finn. He'd been an easy companion as she worked.

She strained again, trying to put the sensor on the newly installed mount. Ronan had installed all the mounts yesterday according to her directions, but damn, she forgot how tall her mate was.

"Alright. Time for the adult to try." Finn gently scooted her out of the way.

Cheeky wolf shifters.

Brynn gave him the sensor, then crossed her arms over her chest as he easily installed both the sensor and camera. She watched him double check everything was secure.

"I'm an adult," she told Finn.

When Finn turned around, he was grinning. "Ronan wouldn't be with anyone underage. He may be a leopard, but he's not shameless."

Brynn stopped. Heat flooded her cheeks. They'd been very careful to keep their relationship a secret—Brynn didn't want these people thinking she was using Ronan to get closer to them. So how did Finn know?

"How?" She asked through a suddenly scratchy throat.

Finn tapped the side of his nose. His grin widened. "I've spent all morning with you, darling. You don't think I can distinguish between the scent of two people hanging out versus hanging out?"

Oh, but she wanted to punch the wolf in the shoulder. Brynn narrowed her eyes at Finn. "I can see why wolf shifters get into more fights."

"Don't hit me." Finn lifted his palms up in surrender. "Getting clawed up by Ronan is not on my to-do list today."

Bryn snorted and shook her head. Then, sobering, she gazed at Finn. "Please don't tell anyone... I don't know if your people are ready to hear it yet."

Finn waggled his eyebrows. Then, said, "Darling, we don't gossip about relationships around here... it's much more fun to be the wolf that caught the rabbit. Especially while the rest of the wolves run headfirst into trees."

Brynn shook her head, opening up the tablet and booting up the security program.

"Odd. You're usually the one running into trees around here." A voice said behind her.

A spark, then a flame, lit in Brynn's stomach. She'd never not recognize that voice. Not for as long as she lived.

Brynn grinned at her mate over her shoulder. "Done with your errands?"

Ronan's jaw was tight as he nodded.

Brynn frowned. "You alright?" Why did he look so... angry?

Ronan's arms wrapped around Brynn, tablet and all. His hold was tighter than normal. Brynn curled one hand in Ronan's shirt.

"Guys, I'm right here," Finn chirped.

Brynn flipped him off.

***

"We have already checked the property associated with the janitor service for the facility." Gavriel crossed his arms over his chest.

Arietta couldn't stop her eyes from tracing over his exposed forearms. Elphyr help her. Her mate had the best arms—

Focus, Arietta.

Across from her, Gavriel's eyes flashed yellow green, then back. The leopard noticed her gaze. Her attention.

She would never get used to the way the leopard and Gavriel were both so in-tune to everything about her, all the way down to her focus and her own mannerisms.

Arietta cleared her throat. "What about a cleanup or waste removal?"

Across the wooden table in Cael's kitchen, Sophie shook her head. "Too risky. Reison trusted no one outside of his own soldiers."

Something in Arietta dropped. She knew that. Knew Reison enough to understand how he thought. And yet, still, she hoped.

All she'd done for the last month was hope. And yet, with every day that passed, locating her mother only became harder.

"If Reison thought the test subjects were dead, he'd have his soldiers dispose of them, right?" Brynn tapped at her lip as she thought aloud. She had a laptop on her lap, both her and Ronan sitting tight together on Cael's little sofa.

"Where would the soldiers have taken them?" Ronan asked.

Sophie shook her head, glancing at Arietta with sympathy in her eyes before telling Ronan and Brynn. "He wouldn't. He had another crew come in for any bodies and had them taken to another location for more testing." Sophie paused, her gaze flicking once more to Arietta before mumbling, "Reison thought even a dead body had information to tell."

A dead body had information to tell.

Arietta's mind ran away with the image, sending her visions of her mother's lifeless eyes, her body hard as stone as she laid on a table, instruments lined up next to her, ready to be used.

A month. She'd had a month of these conversations, and still she couldn't block out the images. The possibilities were endless—was her mother alive? Was her mother dead? The idea of it all tightened her chest into knots until each breath felt like breathing through water.

Her throat ached. "Back... Back at the facility, you told me my mother was alive." Arietta directed at Sophie. "Was that not true?"

She tried to keep the accusation from her tone, but it was right there, front and center. Had Sophie lied to her?

"It's true." Sophie confirmed. "There was an incident at the facility months back. One of the shifter subjects got too close to your mother and, in all the confusion, lashed out." Sophie said. They talked about this before. Back when they started their search, but Arietta needed to hear it again. There was something they were missing, and with only the limited information, it was difficult to figure out their next steps.

"Go through it again." Gavriel ordered Sophie.

Sophie blew out a breath. "I was on the floor working with one of Reison's test subjects, checking vitals and there was a commotion down the hallway—" Sophie cut herself off. The way her gaze went distant told Arietta enough: the doctor was remembering that day. And all the bloody details. "Your mother was hurt. Badly. Reison was at another facility, but he had all hands on deck as he shouted orders down the phone. I was able to stabilize her, but she'd been severely wounded, and—" Sophie shook her head slowly. "She couldn't take more. She didn't deserve to be at that facility—no one did. Your mother had done the unthinkable and stabilized. It was our only chance to get her out. So I ordered the guards to get more supplies. When they were gone, I told your mom to play dead, and I disconnected the heart monitor, pretending she'd crashed again. They thought she'd died on the table."

"The soldiers take any failed experiments to the back and hide them in a cart until someone comes to pick them up," Sophie continued. "I'm not sure where they go at that point—I was never allowed to know. But I knew where the cart was, and I told your mom to hold on. That I would come find her and get her out."

"And then?" Ronan prompted when Sophie paused. His gaze was narrowed on the doctor. He didn't trust her. And much as Arietta wanted to believe Sophie, something about the whole situation rubbed Arietta wrong as well.

Except the emotion Sophie had on her face was all too real. "Arietta, I tried. I promise I did. But when I got out there, the cart was gone. I asked around, but no one would tell me anything. And I couldn't risk asking too many questions, not without risking my—"

Not without risking herself.

Arietta looked at the ceiling and blinked once. Twice. Three times. Her vision blurred.

Deep breath, Arietta.

"Based on her condition, how long could she have survived?" Brynn asked with a frown.

"I'm not sure. I packed and wrapped the wounds as best I could, but if someone found her and administered treatment. Recovery was absolutely possible." Sophie said.

Silence filled the aerie as they absorbed everything Sophie said.

"Thank you," Arietta sent a wobbly smile Sophie's way. "Thank you for doing your best to get her out."

"I had never heard of a magic wielder before," Sophie said. "I didn't know your type of wielding was possible, let alone that there were more people like you."

From the sofa, Brynn made a sound.

All attention shot to her.

"Brynn." Only her name—a demand from Gavriel.

Brynn ran a hand over her hair, her palm catching on the bun sitting on her head.

"What?" Arietta asked. "Did you think of something?"

"No. I mean, yes, but—"

Ronan's arm settled around Brynn's shoulder. "It's okay, Brynn."

Ronan's words seemed to bolster the woman. Brynn only hesitated for a moment, before finally, she said. "I didn't want to say anything. I thought maybe we'd find leads, and I'd be proven wrong. I thought maybe—"

"Brynn."

Brynn's eyebrows came together. "My people have stories about controllers, about people like you, Arietta, who can control magic."

A pause. "From what we've always been taught, there can only be one living magic wielder in a blood line at a time."