I shake myself, a deep sadness settling into my bones.Â
My father never loved me, and Cassian didn’t love me either. HeÂ
wouldn’t love our children if we ever had any.Â
I steel myself and realize this negative result really is for the best. I refuse to bring a child into the world who would have to sufferÂ
the same fate at the hands of her father that I did at the hands ofÂ
mine.Â
Even more, I refuse to repeat the fate of my mother, who lost everything because of love for a husband who chose his mistressÂ
over her.Â
Who let his mistress poison her…of only I could prove it.Â
In my case, for that mistress to be my half–sister made it especially twisted.Â
Hearing my word, Zina sags in relief, then high–fives me, and weÂ
both decide to go to bed.Â
My upset stomach is because of stress, just like I thought. That’sÂ
all.Â
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To my surprise, I sleep well the rest of that night. My only dreams are restless ones of running under a full moon in the forest. Even though I have no wolf, I have those all the time.Â
Even though I try not to think about what I miss out on since being born wolfless–which is rare, but it does happen, even in full–blooded wolf families–sometimes I can’t help it.Â
It’s just one more way I don’t belong.Â
I wake up early the next day. The ghostly sounds of dream howls still whisper in my ears as I get straight to work.Â
It’s time to start the security job for Nautilus and Adrian Blackwell, Cassian’s young, hot uncle and greatest rival.Â
If Cassian was never born, or if he’d died in the bloody mafia turf war that killed his parents, Adrian would be the acting Alpha of theÂ
Blackwells.Â
Instead, Adrian has to bow in submission to his own nephew.Â
I grew up around male wolves, and I know there is nothing that rankles the powerful ones more than submission.Â
My fingers tap the keys, and I scan the code. It becomes clear to me in minutes what’s going on and why Zina has failed to discoverÂ
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the breach in the firewall before now.Â
9 min lefÂ
Excited, I get dressed and go knock on the door to Zina’s room. She answers a full minute later, her bright pink hair standing out around her head like a crazy cloud. “Bitch do you know what time it is?”Â
“It’s eight,” I say, unimpressed. “It’s not that early.”Â
Zina cusses a few more times and starts to close the door on me, but I block it with my hand.Â
“Wait,” I say. “I know why you can’t find the breach in the NautilusÂ
firewall.”Â
That gets her attention. Her brown eyes widen, and she turns back toward me. “Why?”Â
“Because,” I say, proud that I’ve still got my skills after three long years away, “It’s an inside job. There’s a mole at Nautilus.Â
Someone planted inside the company who’s using their own system against them.”Â
Zina gasps and grabs my shoulders. “Oh, my goddess! Of course! Moonlight, you’re a genius.”Â
Then her eyes narrow and turn speculative.Â
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“Do you think Cassian planted them? The packs are tight–lipped about their inner conflicts, but everyone knows how much he andÂ
Adrian hate each other.”Â
I pause.Â
I’ve only met Adrian twice at big annual pack gatherings.Â
Cassian has always kept me out of his business dealings. Like my father, he thinks that I’m useless. He thinks he’s doing me a favorÂ
letting me take inventory of knock off designer bags in an oldÂ
warehouse.Â
Except for the fact that I wormed my way into marrying him,Â
Cassian assumes I’ve never done a single interesting thing in myÂ
life.Â
How he decided I’m both dull and a master manipulator has neverÂ
made sense to me, but I have a feeling it has to do with Reyna.Â
“I don’t know,” I say. “But if it was Cassian, then helping Adrian get rid of his mole is going to be even more of a pleasure.”Â
I grin at Zina. “Let’s go. I need to access the internal network onÂ
the Nautilus campus to fix this.”Â
Zina nods, then rummages through her closet and pulls out aÂ
quirky panda mask and some sunglasses.Â
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9 min leftÂ
Chapter 10Â
“Come on, Moonlight. It won’t do for anyone to find out yourÂ
secret Identity.”Â
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