The pack den was carved into the hillside twenty miles outside Seattle and it looked like something from another time with stone walls and torches burning in iron brackets.
Sage had never been here before. Kade had kept her away from pack business saying it would cause problems.
But today she stood at his side as 200 wolves filed into the main chamber and she felt every single eye on her.
Most of the looks weren't friendly.
Kade was pale and sweating from the treatment but he stood straight with his shoulders back. Alpha posture. No weakness showing even though Sage knew he could barely stand.
The wolves arranged themselves in a loose circle around the center of the chamber. Older wolves near the front. Younger ones in the back.
Marcus stood directly across from Kade with Vanessa beside him looking smug.
Cole and Riley and the others they had freed from the cells stood near Sage. Her small group of allies in a room full of hostility.
"I've called this meeting to present evidence of treason," Kade said. His voice echoed off the stone walls. "Evidence that proves my Beta has been working against this pack for his own gain."
"This should be good," Marcus said loud enough for everyone to hear. "More lies to cover for keeping a rogue's daughter as your mate."
Some wolves murmured agreement. Others stayed quiet waiting.
Kade pulled out the documents Sage had stolen from Marcus's office and held them up. "Bank records showing three million dollars embezzled from pack accounts over the past two years. Money transferred to offshore accounts that Marcus controls."
He passed the papers to the nearest wolf who looked at them and passed them on. They circulated through the crowd while wolves read and whispered.
"Photos of Marcus meeting with human hunters," Kade continued. "The same hunters who attacked us at the warehouse. The same hunters who have been killing our pack members with wolfsbane."
More photos passed through the crowd. Marcus with armed men. Vanessa with the same men. Clear evidence.
"And this," Kade held up the notebook. "Marcus's own handwriting detailing his plans to overthrow me and take the Alpha position. Plans that include hiring hunters to weaken the pack and turn members against me."
The notebook went into circulation. Wolves read it and their faces changed into shock, anger, confusion.
Marcus laughed. "Convenient evidence that appears right when you need it most. Forgeries all of it."
"Those are your bank accounts," Kade said. "Your handwriting. Your signature on the transfer documents."
"Fabricated." Marcus stepped forward. "You're desperate Kade. Your mate turned out to be the daughter of the rogue who killed your father and now you're scrambling to save face. So you create fake evidence against me."
"The evidence is real," Cole shouted from beside Sage. "I saw Marcus's files when he imprisoned me. I saw the hunter photos."
"You were imprisoned for insubordination," Marcus shot back. "You're hardly a reliable witness."
More wolves started talking. Arguments broke out. Some defended Marcus. Others defended Kade. The room got louder and more chaotic.
"Enough!" Kade used Alpha command. The room went quiet but Sage noticed his voice wasn't as strong as it should be.
The poison was still affecting him. "Marcus Webb, you stand accused of embezzling pack funds, hiring hunters to attack pack members, and conspiracy to commit treason. How do you answer?"
"Not guilty." Marcus smiled. "And I have my own accusations to make."
"Speak."
"You've been compromised by your bond with that," Marcus pointed at Sage. "The daughter of Thomas Monroe. The rogue who murdered your father. She's been manipulating you from the start and you're too blind to see it."
"She didn't manipulate anyone," Kade said.
"Then why did she hide what she was? Why lie about her bloodline?" Marcus addressed the whole pack now. "Because she knew Kade would never bond with her if he knew the truth. She used deception to trap him in a mate bond. And now he is so far under her spell he is turning on his own Beta to protect her."
Several wolves nodded. That version made sense to them.
"My father was innocent," Sage said. Her voice came out stronger than she felt. "He was framed."
"By who?" Marcus asked. "Who would frame a nobody wolf from Montana?"
"I don't know yet. But the evidence exists and I will find it."
"Convenient. The evidence always exists somewhere you can't quite reach." Marcus turned back to Kade. "She is making you weak. The pack sees it. Half of us don't support your leadership anymore because you've chosen a rogue's daughter over your own people."
"That's not true," Riley said.
"Isn't it?" Marcus gestured around the room. "Look at us, divided. Fighting amongst ourselves. Wolves dying from poison while our Alpha plays house with the enemy's daughter. This pack needs strong leadership. Leadership that isn't compromised by a false mate bond."
A young wolf near the back shouted agreement. Then another. Within seconds half the room was yelling.
Kade tried to use Alpha command again but his voice cracked. The poison. He was too weak.
Two wolves started fighting in the crowd. Punches thrown. Then more joined in. The meeting was falling apart.
Sage moved closer to Kade. "You need to stop this."
"I'm trying." He was sweating harder now. Barely standing.
Marcus saw it. Saw the weakness. He shifted to wolf form in the middle of the chaos and let out a howl that cut through everything.
The room went silent.
Marcus shifted back. "I formally challenge Kade Blackwood for the position of Alpha under ancient pack law. Trial by combat. Fight to the death. The winner takes the pack."
No one moved. Challenge law was sacred. Once invoked it could not be taken back.
Kade straightened despite the pain Sage knew he was in. "I accept your challenge."
"Three days," Marcus said. "At dawn. The whole pack will witness."
"Agreed."
Marcus smiled. "Three days to say goodbye to your mate, Kade. Because one way or another, this ends with her dead."
He walked out. Half the pack followed him. The other half stayed but they looked uncertain. Scared.
Kade's legs gave out. Sage caught him before he fell.
"Get him to the car," Cole said. "He needs to rest."
Riley and Beth helped Sage support Kade's weight. They got him out of the den and into the SUV. Sage drove while Kade lay in the back seat unconscious.
"Is he going to be ready in three days?" Riley asked from the passenger seat.
Sage looked at Kade in the rearview mirror. Pale. Sweating. Barely breathing.
"He has to be," she said.
Because if he wasn't, they were both dead.
The drive back to the penthouse took forty minutes. They got Kade upstairs and into bed.
Sage checked his vitals. His temperature was spiking. The treatment was forcing more poison out but the stress from the meeting had made it worse.
"What do we do now?" Riley asked.
"Now we have three days to prepare." Sage looked at the loyal wolves who followed them back. Cole, Riley, Beth, and twelve others. Fifteen total including her. "We need to convince the undecided wolves to support Kade. And we need to get him strong enough to win."
"How do we do that?"
"We show them the truth about Marcus. We visit them one by one and prove the evidence is real." She looked down at Kade. "And we pray three days is enough time."
Cole nodded. "Then we start tonight."
Sage stayed with Kade while the others left to begin campaigning. She monitored his fever and forced him to drink water and held his hand while he slept.
Three days to turn everything around.
Three days to save both their lives.
The clock was ticking.