Rei's gaze bore into me as we drove, the silence between us heavier than usual. I could feel her tension simmering beneath the surface, and finally, she broke the quiet.

"What happened while I was gone?" she asked, her voice even but probing.

I didn't want to dive into every detail of my conversation with Francis, not yet. "He told me about the alpha meeting happening this weekend," I said, keeping my tone neutral. "If I can get Alpha Marcus to let me sit in, I might be able to find out more about the rogue attacks. The quicker I figure this out, the quicker we can go home."

Rei gave a brief nod, but something in her expression told me she wasn't satisfied with the half-answer. After a moment, she added, "There's something else I need to tell you."

I frowned, waiting.

"I have to head back to the council," Rei said, her tone flat.

My stomach dropped. "What? No, you can't leave me here alone! What the hell is Herald thinking, sending me into a den of wolves with no backup?"

"I don't have a choice," she replied calmly, though I could sense a sliver of guilt beneath her composed exterior. "Orders are orders. I have to go."

I clenched my fists, feeling frustration bubble up inside me. Of all the times for the council to pull her back, it had to be now—just when things were getting complicated. "And I'm supposed to just wander into this meeting with a bunch of alphas by myself?"

Rei didn't answer immediately, her eyes focused on the road ahead. Finally, she said, "You'll manage. You always do."

That wasn't the reassurance I needed, but there wasn't much point in arguing. By the time we reached Alpha Marcus's territory, my head was spinning with plans and contingency options. And as the car pulled up to the pack house, Marcus himself was already waiting outside.

He looked younger than I'd expected—jet black hair, well-built, and carrying an air of playful confidence. He greeted me with a grin, his arms crossed casually over his chest. "Naomi, right?" he said, his voice relaxed. "Welcome to my humble abode."

I glanced over at Rei, who was already preparing to leave. "You're not staying?" I asked, a last-ditch effort to keep her here.

Rei shook her head, her eyes softening for a brief moment. "I'll be back soon. Stay safe."

With that, she got back into the car and drove off, leaving me standing next to Marcus, feeling more exposed than I liked. He motioned for me to follow him, his demeanor still lighthearted.

"So," he said as we walked toward the pack house, "mind telling me why a vampire is interested in attending a meeting of alphas? You know that's like asking to get mauled, right?"

I shot him a sharp look. "I'm not here to make trouble. I want to help figure out what's going on with the rogues."

Marcus chuckled, the sound deep and amused. "Right. Sure. Because wolves always love a vampire sticking her fangs where they don't belong."

I gritted my teeth. "I'm serious. I'm here to find out more about the rogue attacks. I can help—"

He cut me off with another laugh, this one more incredulous. "You really think you can just waltz into a room full of wolves, especially alphas, and no one's going to see you as a threat? That's suicide, sweetheart."

I stopped walking, my patience fraying. "I don't have a choice. I need answers, and I know there's more going on here than you or anyone else is willing to admit."

Marcus's playful grin faltered, and his eyes darkened as he studied me more carefully. "What exactly are you looking for?"

I hesitated, knowing this was a gamble. But there was no point in dancing around it any longer. "I need to know more about Acyn."

At the mention of the name, Marcus's entire demeanor shifted. His playfulness vanished, replaced by something much more serious. He turned to face me fully, his eyes narrowing. "Why?" he asked, his voice low, almost dangerous.

"He might be connected to the rogue situation," I said carefully. "I need to know if that's true."

Marcus shook his head, his jaw tightening. "Acyn isn't involved in this."

I stepped closer, my voice firm. "How do you know? You seemed pretty sure just a moment ago that I was crazy for even being here. What makes you so certain about Acyn?"

He paused, his eyes flickering with something unreadable before he finally answered. "Because Acyn is my cousin."

The revelation hit me like a punch to the gut. My thoughts scattered, unable to grasp the full weight of what Marcus had just said. Cousins? I tried to ground myself, but my legs felt unsteady. The room seemed to tilt as I stared at him, my mind spinning with the implications. Acyn—the elusive, dangerous figure I'd been chasing in the shadows—was family to the man standing right in front of me. That same Acyn whose mere presence had left me breathless, the one whose absence had haunted me since the night at the club.

"Your... cousin?" The words tumbled out of my mouth, barely a whisper. Saying them aloud felt like it would solidify the truth, making it impossible to ignore or deny. My voice wavered, and I hated how vulnerable I sounded, but there was no denying the shock that rattled through me.

Marcus's playful demeanor slipped away, his face softening with a kind of quiet resignation.

"Yeah," he confirmed, his voice quieter now, more serious. "We're related, but that doesn't mean I know what he's up to. Acyn does his own thing, and trust me when I say, I don't keep tabs on him. He's... different."

Different. The word echoed in my mind, as if it were some kind of explanation that could encompass the enigmatic presence Acyn had already cast over my life. Different. I latched onto the word, but it felt hollow. It didn't satisfy the gnawing questions in my chest or the prickling unease that made the room feel suddenly smaller.

The gap between who I thought Acyn was and what I was hearing widened, and it unsettled me. Different didn't explain the burning intensity of his gaze or the palpable connection I had felt in those fleeting moments. It didn't account for the way he lingered in my thoughts, like a shadow I couldn't shake.

I cleared my throat, forcing myself to ask the next question even though I wasn't sure I wanted the answer. "Does that mean you're...?"

Marcus, to his credit, took the question in stride, shaking his head with a small, knowing smile. "A lycan? No, just your regular alpha wolf. Acyn's the odd one out."

I blinked, staring at him, trying to absorb this new information. Acyn, the odd one out. It seemed too simple, too neat of an answer for someone so... elusive. There had to be more to it.

"And you're sure he's not involved with the rogues?" I asked, my voice sharper now, my instincts refusing to let go of the suspicion that something wasn't adding up.

Marcus exhaled deeply, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes locked onto mine, unwavering and steady. "I don't know what Acyn's up to these days," he said slowly, as though carefully weighing each word. "He keeps to himself. But I can tell you this—if he was involved, you'd know. There'd be more chaos than you're seeing now."

His certainty should have put me at ease, but it didn't. If anything, it unsettled me more. Acyn—this mysterious, powerful figure—was connected to all of this in ways that Marcus either didn't see or refused to acknowledge. The image of Helios, his intense green eyes burning into mine, clashed violently with Marcus's calm assurances. A ghost lurking in the shadows, stirring chaos without being caught in the act? Or something more deliberate, more dangerous?

My mind spun, the pieces not fitting together in any way that made sense. Marcus spoke as if Acyn were some distant, harmless figure, but my gut told me otherwise. There was something larger at play, something Marcus either didn't want to admit or couldn't see. The wolf outside my room, the strange feeling of being watched—it all pointed back to Acyn. I just didn't know how yet.

As I stood there, the weight of Marcus's revelations pressed down on me like a boulder, threatening to suffocate me under the gravity of everything I didn't know. Acyn is his cousin. The thought alone sent ripples of unease through me, distorting everything I thought I understood about this situation.

The air in the room felt thick, oppressive, my chest tightening as I tried to process the layers of secrecy and complexity I had just walked into. Acyn being Marcus's cousin was a complication I hadn't anticipated, and it left me feeling exposed, vulnerable, like I had walked into a game where I didn't know the rules.

I forced a tight smile, my lips stiff as I thanked Marcus, though the words tasted bitter. There was no point in pushing further—not now, not with the tangled mess in my head. My feet felt heavy as I followed him to my quarters, each step a reminder of how little I still knew, how far from the truth I actually was.

The silence between us stretched, thick with unspoken questions that I knew Marcus wasn't going to answer. I replayed the conversation in my mind over and over, searching for anything I might have missed—some slip, some crack in his calm exterior that might give me more to go on. But there was nothing.

Tomorrow would bring more answers—or more lies. Either way, I wasn't leaving until I found out what Acyn was really hiding.

---

The morning sun filtered through the windows as I made my way downstairs for breakfast. The smell of freshly brewed coffee greeted me before I even entered the dining area. Marcus was already seated at the head of the table, a plate of food in front of him, and beside him sat two other figures—one a tall, lean man with sharp features, and the other, a woman with an athletic build, her dark hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail.

"Good morning," Marcus greeted me with a warm smile. "I want you to meet my Beta, Kyle, and my Gamma, Serene."

Kyle nodded at me, his expression neutral, while Serene offered a small, friendly smile as she gestured for me to sit.

"Nice to meet you both," I said, settling into a chair. The table was laid out with an assortment of breakfast foods—eggs, toast, fruits—but my appetite was muted by the thoughts still swirling in my mind from yesterday.

"So, Naomi," Serene began after a few moments of casual conversation. "What's it like where you're from?"

I hesitated, not sure how much to divulge. "It's... mundane, honestly," I said after a beat. "Most of my time is spent on diplomatic missions, trying to keep peace between different vampire factions. I rarely visit home, especially after my brother's disappearance. It's... complicated."

There was a brief silence as my words hung in the air, the mention of my brother pulling me back into memories I wasn't keen to revisit. I took a breath, shifting my focus back to the present.

"Sounds like a lot of responsibility," Kyle commented, his tone thoughtful. "Do you ever get tired of it?"

I shrugged. "It's all I've known, really. But sometimes, yeah, it feels like the weight of it is never-ending."

Serene was about to respond when the door swung open, and a petite woman with short blonde hair bounded in, her energy light and infectious. She immediately leaned over Serene's shoulder and kissed her cheek, making Serene smile.

"Elle," Serene introduced her with a soft laugh. "This is my mate."

I blinked at the term, curiosity piqued. Mate? It wasn't a word we used in the vampire community, at least not like this. "Mates?" I echoed, looking between Serene and Elle. "What exactly does that mean?"

Marcus chuckled, setting his fork down with a soft clink. "Mates are chosen by the Moon Goddess. It's a bond, like soulmates, but deeper. It's not just an emotional connection; it's spiritual, almost primal. When you find your mate, you just know. The bond pulls you together, and it's... well, it's unbreakable."

I glanced over at Serene and Elle, the easy way they moved around each other, the shared looks, the way their hands brushed as if it were second nature. There was something deeper there, a kind of intimacy that didn't require words. The kind of bond that felt impossible to explain. It made me wonder—could someone like me, a vampire hardened by centuries, ever experience something like that? Something so pure, so unshakable? The idea gnawed at me, a small, unacknowledged ache I hadn't realized was there until now.

Serene leaned over, giving Elle a quick kiss before they stood to leave for training. The simplicity of the gesture struck me, as if the world faded away whenever they were near each other. It made me feel... restless. Kyle followed after them, leaving Marcus and me alone again at the table.

The silence settled between us, not uncomfortable, but heavy with unspoken thoughts. I swirled the remnants of my drink in my glass, watching the liquid catch the light. I couldn't stop the question that had been simmering in the back of my mind from slipping out.

"Does Acyn have a mate?"

Marcus choked on his milk, coughing as he quickly set his glass down, his face a mix of surprise and something else—something guarded. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, taking an extra moment to compose himself.

"That's... a very direct question," he said, his tone half-amused, half-uncomfortable.

I didn't back down. "Is it really that strange to ask? You said mates are destined, right? So... does he have one?" My gaze stayed fixed on him, watching every subtle twitch of his expression.

Marcus shifted in his seat, swirling the contents of his glass as if it could somehow distract him from the question. His eyes flickered away, avoiding mine as he took a measured breath.

"Acyn's... complicated," he began, his voice more careful now. "If he did have a mate, it's not something he's ever shared with anyone. Not even me."

His evasiveness was obvious, a deflection wrapped in half-truths. I narrowed my eyes, suspicion curling in my chest. There was more here—more that Marcus wasn't saying.

"So, what? You think his mate—"

"That's enough about Acyn," Marcus cut in quickly, forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He leaned back in his chair, his entire posture shifting as if to signal the conversation was over. "Let's focus on the meeting this weekend, yeah?"

I bit back my frustration, but the curiosity gnawed at me, relentless. There was something off about the way Marcus dodged the question. The tension in his voice, the way he avoided my gaze—it all felt like more than just protecting Acyn's privacy.

And then, like a whisper at the edge of my mind, the thought hit me. Maybe his mate died. Maybe that's why Marcus was so reluctant to talk about it. Acyn could be coping with an unbearable loss, isolating himself from the world, shutting down emotionally. It would explain so much—his distance, his mystery, the way he seemed untethered.

But something in Marcus's response made me doubt that was the whole story. The way he'd cut me off, his smile too strained to be genuine—it felt like he was hiding something much bigger than grief. I didn't know what it was yet, but I was sure of one thing: Acyn's mate, or lack thereof, was a key part of whatever puzzle I had stumbled into.

As Marcus shifted the conversation back to the upcoming meeting, I let him talk, nodding at the appropriate moments, but my mind was elsewhere. There were too many questions, too many missing pieces about Acyn. I needed to know what he was hiding—and I wasn't going to stop until I did.