Page 36 of Broken Forced Mate
Matriarch Lydia approaches before Sera can answer. Up close, the Llewelyn leader looks older than usual, with stress lines around her eyes that weren’t there last week.
“Mrs. Lemay,” she says formally, inclining her head in acknowledgment of my new marital status. “Thank you for seeing us.”
“Of course. Though I have to admit, I’m confused about why you’re here.”
“Because Llewelyn University has been harboring a terrorist for months, and we didn’t know it.”
I gasp and ask, “What?”
“Three more students besides your former fiancé have disappeared in the past twenty-four hours,” Professor Holeman explains, joining our conversation. “All of them were exchange students from smaller packs, and they all had backgrounds that don’t withstand scrutiny.”
Dora steps forward, clutching a laptop bag against her chest. “I brought all of Bastian’s research files that we cleared from his room. There’s a lot about Grayhide pack politics in here.”
“He was using me for intelligence,” I realize.
The full scope of the deception hits me like a wave. Not just the engagement, not just the fake identity, but months of careful manipulation designed to extract information about my family and territory.
“There’s more,” Sera tells me with a frown. “Show her the communications log.”
Dora opens her laptop and turns the screen toward me. Email threads, encrypted chat logs, phone records—all documenting Bastian’s contact with outside handlers.
“He was reporting everything,” she explains. “Your class schedule, your friends, your habits. When you ate, when you studied, when you went to bed. They knew your entire routine.”
I read over the communications, and my stomach sinks more with each entry. Dates, times, locations—a complete surveillance record of my life at Llewelyn.
“This goes back months,” I breathe.
“Six months,” Matriarch Lydia confirms. “Beginning as soon as he arrived on campus.”
My eyes burn with tears that I’m desperately fighting to hold back. “I’m going to be sick,” I mutter.
Wyn’s hand touches my shoulder, steadying me. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have known. I should have seen the signs.”
“He was trained for this,” Professor Holeman assures me. You were dealing with a professional operative. There’s no way you could’ve known.”
Matriarch Lydia clears her throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “We’re here to help however we can. Llewelyn failed to protect one of our own, and we take that responsibility seriously. Whatever you need to counter this threat and to ensure that Raegan receives the support she needs during this transition.”
“Transition?”
“To her new abilities. Bloodline magic awakened by trauma requires careful guidance. We have specialists who can help.”
“I don’t need specialists. I need to understand what we’re dealing with so I can help stop it.”
“Child,” Lydia begins, “you can’t help anyone if you don’t first help yourself.”
She gestures to the women who came with her. “We’re here to stay until this threat is resolved. We’ll get ourselves checked into a hotel, but we will remain just a phone call away.”
I’m at a loss for words. The reserved, aloof Llewelyn Matriarch has brought an entire support team to Grayhide territory. To support me.
“Why?” I ask. “Why this level of involvement?”
“If Thornridge succeeds in destabilizing this region, every territory is at risk. What they’re planning here is just the beginning.”
We stand in Wyn’s driveway surrounded by evidence of a conspiracy that extends far beyond what any of us imagined. My forced marriage to escape one threat has revealed connections to something much more dangerous.
But at least I won’t face it alone.
