I Refuse to Be Your Luna

Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 309 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 309

Chapter 309 A Dead Wolf’s Scent

Alpha Damian

I refused to believe it.

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Finished

I stood over the paw print with Ragnar beside me, staring at the mark in the damp soil. The scent was faint and partly covered by whatever had been used to mask it, but I knew it.

“Ragnar, confirm his name.”

He looked at the track. “Beta Corvin Hale.”

My jaw tightened. Corvin had served under me for years. He had been one of my senior warriors and had led border patrols until he died in a raid three years ago. I had stood at his burial.

“He was buried in Dartwood,” I said.

“Yes.”

“You saw the body?”

Ragnar nodded. “I did.”

I crouched again and let my wolf search through the scent. “That’s him.”

I didn’t like it.

“Get F-Tech on the line,” I told Rhys.

He called Cheryl, who connected us with the archive team. We sent them the scent sample from the soil along with Corvin’s records.

F-Tech had collected scent profiles from senior warriors for years as part of security and medical monitoring, taken during routine examinations, injuries, and pack health checks.

Within minutes, Rhys had the first comparison.

“Ninety-eight percent.” He looked at me. “That’s too close.”

“Run it again.”

He did. The result barely changed. Corvin’s medical record matched the sample from the border.

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Finished

I stepped away from the screen. Either someone had brought a dead wolf back to Dartwood, or they had found a way to copy his scent so accurately that our own security couldn’t tell the difference.

The second explanation made more sense. It also meant someone had access to pack records.

“Whoever did this wanted us to believe Corvin was here,” Rhys said.

“Or they wanted us to follow his trail.”

Ragnar looked toward the trees. “And if they knew we’d recognize it?”

“Then they know Dartwood’s security.”

My wolf growled. They know us.

I studied the trail again. The tracks had been placed where patrols would notice them, and the masking had been applied only after enough scent remained to make identification possible. It had all been designed to confuse us.

My phone vibrated. Flourish.

“Where are you?”

“On my way.”

“You were supposed to stay at Stonehedge.”

“I know.”

There was no point arguing over the phone. “How far?”

“Ten minutes.”

I glanced at Rhys. He gave me a look that said he had expected her to come all along.

When Flourish arrived, she stepped out of the vehicle with two Stonehedge security wolves. behind her. Her wolf reacted right away to the scents around us.

“What happened?”

I told her. She walked to the paw print and crouched. “Corvin?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

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“F-Tech confirmed the scent.”

Her eyes moved toward the woods. “Then someone wants us to believe a dead warrior is walking around Dartwood.”

“That’s what I think.”

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Finished

As we moved farther into the territory together, the wolves stationed at the border began to react. I felt their pack bonds tighten.

Dartwood wolves had always responded to my Alpha presence, but this was different. Flourish added another pressure to the air, especially after everything we had learned about the bloodline.

One of the younger warriors lowered his head without realizing it. A Stonehedge wolf beside him did the same.

Flourish noticed. “They’re reacting to both of us.”

“They’re sensing the bond.”

Her wolf stirred. Two Alphas.

Flourish glanced at me. “We’re not both Alphas.”

“You carry the First Alpha bloodline. They don’t care about the title.”

She frowned but let it go.

We followed the false trail until it ended at an abandoned storage building. Ragnar checked the door. “Locked.”

Rhys examined the frame. “There are fresh marks.”

I reached for the handle and the door opened. The smell of old dust mixed with wolf scent hit me immediately. The place wasn’t abandoned. There were tables, training mats, weapons, communication equipment, and racks of uniforms. Some were Dartwood styles. Others belonged to packs I recognized.

Rhys went to a desk. “Files.” He opened the first folder, and names filled the pages. Grey Ridge, Mooncrest, Northvale, Stonehedge, Dartwood.

“These are pack records,” he said.

“Security information,” Ragnar added.

I picked up a file. It held patrol routes, warrior numbers, Alpha schedules, and notes on pack

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Chapter 309 A Dead Wolf’s Scent

weaknesses.

Flourish stood beside me. “They’ve been watching all of us.”

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Finished

I turned another page and found photographs, some years old, others recent. Rhys searched the computers while I went through the files. Whoever had used this place had been gathering information for a long time.

Then Rhys stopped. “Damian.”

I looked over. His face had changed. “What?”

“You need to see this.”

I crossed the room. A file was open on the screen with two names at the top. Mine and Flourish’s. Below them was a photograph, and I recognized the location immediately. It was outside F-Tech. Flourish and I stood side by side, speaking to Rhys after the meeting about the Grey Ridge distress signal.

I remembered that day. It had been four days ago.

Rhys checked the file details. “The photograph was uploaded three days ago.”

Flourish stepped closer. “Three days?”

He nodded.

“Can you find where it was taken?” I asked.

Rhys enlarged the background. The photographer had stood across the road, partly hidden behind a parked vehicle. “No camera record. The file was probably uploaded from outside our network.”

Flourish looked at the screen. “Could the date have been changed?”

“Yes.”

“Then how do we know?”

Rhys pointed at our clothes. “Because you were wearing the same things that day.”

I looked again. He was right. Whoever took the photograph had been close enough to hear us and watch us, and had left without being noticed.

My wolf growled. They were close.

A warning flashed on the computer, and Rhys went still. “Someone is trying to access this file.”

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“Trace them.”

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