Chapter 182

Sarah POV

I sat there with my cup of medium roast and felt stupid for four reasons.

First, Zane wasn’t happy. I had explained to him more than once how valuable this meeting with Scott might be, but he actually seemed jealous in his response, which I had said was ridiculous, which didn’t go well.

Second, the girls weren’t happy. I didn’t plan for them to know I was meeting Scott for coffee, but those alpha ears had picked up on it, and they had demanded an explanation. My saying I was trying to get information hadn’t satisfied them, even though it was the truth.

Third, yes, I was intrigued. Not for a minute did I think Scott was some sort of ally, let alone a potential husband, but his dozens of emails had convinced me he had an agenda we needed to know about. The fact that no one on my team agreed with me irritated me quite a bit, and yet when I expressed my irritation, that just seemed to mean I was “weakening” somehow.

Fourth, I didn’t completely know what I was there. I just wanted to hear Scott out for whatever motives I had.

He showed up right on time, saw me, smiled, and then got his own coffee before he sat at my table, not even sparing a glance for Danielle, who was standing against the wall with a “don’t fuck with me” glare. His outfit was oddly preppy, as though he were trying to be as inoffensive as possible with his chinos and blue shirt and off-white sweater tied over his shoulders.

“Thank you so much for this, Sarah,” Scott said.

“Please call me ‘Miss Sarah,’ and I have to warn you that a major reason for this meeting is to tell you to stop sending me emails.”

He looked wounded. “Don’t you like them?”

“No, and in future I will be blocking you. But you said there was something you wanted Zane to know. So, I’m listening.”

“Thank you. Now, before I get into details, I want to tell you something wolves don’t like to discuss because, well, I suppose it’s too personal. It is a sign of fated mates that they share dreams.”

Ah, that explains Zane’s reaction. I said, “I see.”

“So, you’ll understand why I wanted to ask you what it means that I must walk with you so the moon may reveal herself.”

Shit.

“I beg your pardon?” I asked, but my voice was all wrong, and he smiled.

“You know what I’m talking about. I don’t understand what you mean by that, or what I am to make of the horses.”

“The horses?”

“Yes, the dead horses in the graveyard.”

“I’m not dreaming about dead horses.”

“But you speak to the statue of Zane.”

I shook my head, feeling a bit more in touch with the world as I knew it.

“I haven’t dreamt of a statue of Zane either.”

“So, I’m getting some of the details wrong, but the important thing is that we’re sharing a dreamscape.” He leaned forward. “Surely you can see the importance of this.”

“So, Zane is in these dreams of yours?”

“Sometimes.”

“So, doesn’t that make him your fated mate?”

He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t quite hit the playful tone he was going for. “Zane and I are deeply connected through our father and our history. People share dreams for such connections as well.”

“So, perhaps that’s what you sense about me. After all, you’re connected to Zane, and I’m a member of his household.”

“But surely you see, us both dreaming about the moon—”

“Ninety percent of wolf culture deals with the moon. We’re not fated mates, Scott, and if this is all you’ve brought me here to say, this conversation is over.”

Scott looked somewhat dejected, but he shook his head. “No, I wasn’t lying. I need to show you something I’d like Zane to know about.”

“All right.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, which he activated. “I’ve been following you on social media.”

“You and a million other people.”

He laughed. “That’s not even an exaggeration. And I realize you and Zane probably think I’m this person called S.”

“It has crossed our minds.”

“Well, I’m not.” He set his phone down and turned it toward me. I could see his Insta username was ScottCavendish, and he had a few postings that were about the news and the weather, nothing about me.”

“Now, I spotted S some time ago, and I’ve been tracking them. Pretty soon, I was able to spot some accounts that are always active when S is active, and I believe whoever controls the S account also controls JaneDayviellers, Allisstoopid, and MyHelperz.”

He swiped across the screen and brought up a specific thread. “Now, I found this yesterday.” There was a photo of the burned poppy garden and several posts underneath it. As I read, my heart went cold.

Allisstoopid: What a waste of a pretty garden. How awful. Mavis must be so sad.

MyHelperz: You think anyone got high off the smoke? Too bad no body was hurt.

ShowerSinger453: What’s that?

JaneDayviellers: I saw a sketch of the piece Chloe is making for the new garden. It has flames and flowers in it.

“Someone has access,” I said. Was it one of the emergency workers? One of the housemaids? Mavis? “Someone on the inside.”

“Yes. You see why I needed to get this information to Zane. And I wanted to use my phone in case they can track their viewers, keep them from knowing I’ve told you about them.”

I nodded, staring at the photo. The plants were charred, and there was smoke. Someone had stood next to me and taken this photo intending to share it online. Who could be such a traitor to Zane?

“Sarah,” Scott said gently. “Sarah, please, look at me.”

I tore my gaze away from the screen and looked up.

“If you don’t want to believe we’re fated, I can’t force you. I don’t want to force you to do anything, but surely you can see we’re in this together. We’re both orphans, both members of Zane’s household but removed. I am on your side here.”

I looked back down to the photo.

“Keep the phone. Give it to whoever Zane’s got for your online security. I’ve got other phones.”

“Thank you.” I blinked, then closed my eyes just for a moment, seeing the dead poppy garden behind my eyelids.

“I need to go,” I said and put his phone in my purse.

“One more thing, please.” He reached into another pocket and drew out a slip of paper. “Please, give this to Zane.”

I looked at the paper. He smiled and unfolded it so I could read: Autopsy Report #49398XVB.

“What is this?” I took the paper.

Scott shook his head. “Zane will know.”