Page 32 of Bite the Power
"That's the logical conclusion, but here's the problem." Tessa held up a water-damaged chart that had been meticulously documenting the sabotage incidents. "Whoever orchestrated this sabotage was smart enough to never leave a direct trail. It's all circumstantial."
Eli ran his nervous hands through his dark hair, leaving it disheveled. "So we know something strange has been happening, but we can't prove exactly who's behind it?"
"Exactly. And that's what makes it so insidious," Tessa replied, her voice tinged with annoyance. "They weren't tryingto cause immediate catastrophic damage. They were slowly eroding your credibility, making it look like human scientists were either incompetent or actively harmful to the shifter community."
Elora's expression darkened. "So obviously building a case for why humans should be expelled from Frosthaven entirely."
"But their subtle approach wasn't working fast enough," Tessa continued, organizing the remaining legible documents into chronological order. "Kaidan still trusted Eli and still saw the value in the research station. So I guess they escalated to attempted murder."
The weight of that realization settled over the room like a heavy blanket. Someone had been willing to kill her and Eli simply because they were human and didn't belong in shifter territory.
"The sick part is," Eli said quietly, "they probably would have succeeded if you hadn't been there."
Tessa looked down at the partial evidence spread before them—fragments of a conspiracy that had been years in the making. "We have enough to establish a pattern, but not enough to point fingers. At least not yet."
"What do you need?" Elora asked, her loyalty to her brother evident in every word.
"Time," Tessa replied, already formulating a plan. "And access to everything. If Magnus and his people have been sabotaging Eli for five years, there might be more evidence they left behind somewhere."
Outside, a low rumble rolled through the frozen cliffs, faint but undeniable. The ice was shifting again—and Tessa had the sinking feeling that the ground beneath all of them was about to give way.
FOURTEEN
KAIDAN
Kaidan sat rigid in his carved stone chair at the head of the council chamber's crescent-shaped table as he listened to the assembled leaders dismiss the attempted murder of his mate as mere human carelessness. The ancient chamber's blue walls seemed to press closer with each ignorant word that spilled from their mouths, and the ornate chandeliers cast flickering shadows that matched his darkening mood.
Elder Thor, a polar bear shifter whose weathered face spoke of decades of rigid tradition, leaned forward in his chair with obvious disdain. "Your Majesty, with all due respect, humans are notoriously clumsy. And their technology fails them constantly—we've all witnessed it. It was probably some faulty wiring that started the fire. This 'arson' theory seems far-fetched when the simplest explanation is human error."
Kaidan's jaw tightened as his bear stirred violently beneath his skin, demanding he defend his mate's honor. "Elder Thor, Dr. Monroe is a brilliant scientist who's handled equipment in far more dangerous conditions than our research station. She doesn't make careless mistakes."
Magnus shifted forward in his seat, his pale blue eyes glittering with barely concealed satisfaction. "But even brillianthumans make errors when they're out of their element, don't they, Your Majesty? Perhaps the good scientist was simply overwhelmed by our harsh environment."
The condescending tone in Magnus's voice made Kaidan's blood simmer. His primal instincts wanted him to shift and tear the smug bastard's throat out for even implying Tessa was incompetent. Instead, he forced his voice to remain level and authoritative.
"Then how do you explain the rogue shifter I encountered watching from the treeline while the station burned? He made no attempt to assist Tessa or Eli—just observed like he was waiting for something."
Magnus spread his hands in a gesture of false reasoning that made Kaidan want to punch him. "Your Majesty, rogues are cowards by nature. He was probably just some drifter passing through who panicked when he saw the flames. Fear makes people—even shifters—do foolish things."
"Fear?" Kaidan's voice dropped to a dangerous growl. "Or guilt?"
Elder Thor intervened before Magnus could respond, his tone growing increasingly irritated. "King Veyr, I understand your concern for our guests, but we cannot allow paranoia to cloud our judgment. The humans have been nothing but trouble since they arrived—equipment malfunctions, strange readings, now fires. Perhaps it's time to consider that their presence itself is the problem."
The words hit Kaidan like a slap to the face. These were supposed to be his advisors, his allies, and they were actively working against everything he'd tried to build. His bear pushed harder against his human restraint, desperate to protect what was his.
Tell them,his bear demanded.Tell them she's ours. Make them understand.
For a heartbeat, Kaidan teetered on the edge of revealing everything—that Tessa was his fated mate, that touching her had completed something fundamental in his soul, and that he'd rather burn Frosthaven to the ground than let anyone harm her. But the calculating gleam in Magnus's eyes stopped him cold.
This wasn't the time or place for that confession. Not when emotions ran high and prejudices ruled the room. Tessa deserved better than having their mate bond used as political ammunition.
Instead, Kaidan rose from his chair, his massive frame casting an imposing shadow across the table. When he spoke, his voice carried the full weight of royal authority that had kept four clans in line for seven years.
"Let me make something crystal clear to everyone in this room. I'm keeping a very close eye on the research station, and there are now increased guards patrolling both that area and my palace, where I'm personally housing Dr. Monroe and Dr. Varkov while my clan repairs the damage to the station."
His piercing blue gaze swept across each face at the table, lingering longest on Magnus. "If anyone—and I mean anyone—tries anything against either of them, they'd better be prepared for severe consequences. Because I will not tolerate shifters trying to harm guests under my protection simply because they happen to be human."
The silence that followed was thick with tension. Several council members shifted uncomfortably in their seats, while Magnus's expression remained carefully neutral—though Kaidan caught the flash of calculation behind those cold eyes.
