Echo in the Machine

I killed the Ducati’s engine, letting the aggressive roar fade into the quiet, suffocating stillness of the Vance family estate. The ocean breeze still clung to my leather jacket, but the cold dread of this place washed it away. I pushed through the heavy mahogany front doors. The grand foyer stretched out before me, dripping with pretentious wealth and smelling of floor wax and stale hostility.

A painfully familiar ambush waited in the shadows.

Genevieve stood at the bottom of the sweeping staircase. She crossed her arms, her posture rigid, her eyes narrowing as they locked onto me.

"Coming home at this hour?" Genevieve demanded, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. "What were you doing out there in the dark?"

Before I could formulate a dismissive response, Blair stepped out from the drawing-room. She wore a perfectly tailored silk robe and a sickly, feigned smile.

"Sister, it's dangerous out there in the dark," Blair cooed, her voice dripping with fake concern. "You know the family rules."

I let out a loud, rough scoff. The sound echoed off the high ceiling. "Your acting gets better every single day, Blair. Hollywood is missing out on a star."

I didn't wait for her to drop the sweet facade. I walked straight past them, my boots clicking against the marble floor as I headed for the kitchen. My stomach tightened. The tension from the cafeteria, the ride, and Jace’s phone call had burned through my energy. I needed food.

I pushed through the swinging doors, turning on the harsh overhead lights.

The space was spotless. Unnaturally so.

I pulled open the massive stainless steel refrigerator. Empty shelves stared back at me. I checked the walk-in pantry. Bare. They had intentionally cleared out every scrap of real food.

Footsteps clicked behind me. Genevieve leaned against the doorframe. "Look at you," she sneered, making sure her voice carried. "Wandering in like a stray. You are a laughingstock to this pack."

Blair hovered over her mother's shoulder. She leaned in, her eyes gleaming with malice. "She almost caused a massive disaster last time. You know, that incident. Some people never learn."

They wanted a reaction. They wanted me to snap, to yell, to show them how much the starvation tactics and the whispers hurt. I refused to let them see me bleed.

I turned away from the empty fridge. A decorative fruit bowl sat on the marble island. Inside rested a single, lonely apple. I picked it up, polished it against my jacket, and took a slow, deliberate bite. The loud crunch filled the silent kitchen.

I chewed, swallowed, and walked past them without a backward glance, refusing to give them the sick satisfaction of my frustration.

Safe inside my isolated room, I threw the deadbolt. The click of the lock provided a fleeting sense of security. I dropped my jacket on the floor, pulled my heavily encrypted laptop from my bag, and flipped it open.

Lines of code reflected in my silver-gray eyes. I seamlessly entered the digital realm. Here, I wasn't the outcast Vance daughter. I was Echo.

The moment my secure dashboard loaded, the screens flared blinding white, then flashing crimson. A massive crisis was unfolding in real-time. Alerts cascaded down the monitor. Someone was ruthlessly attacking Cross Corporation. An aggressive anti-werewolf organization had launched a coordinated strike against Kaelen Cross's new, highly classified medical project.

The exact project dealing with silver-defense technology.

"Figures," I muttered. My fingers hit the keys, flying across the board in a blur.

I bypassed Cross Corp's failing external firewalls and dove straight into the warzone. The enemy mercenaries were brutal, smashing through security layers with brute force algorithms. I intercepted the hostile data streams, weaving my own code through their pathways like a snare.

"Not today," I whispered.

I executed a hard lock. The enemy's access froze. I corralled their data, severed their connections, and trapped their tracing signatures in a loop. Within seconds, I secured the vital intel and forwarded the encrypted package directly to Jace's secure server.

Bang!

My bedroom door shuddered. The lock groaned, giving way under sudden force.

The door flew open. I slammed the laptop shut just as the latch broke.

Blair barged in, stepping over the threshold entirely uninvited. Her eyes darted around the dim room, scanning the shadows, looking for whatever I was doing.

"What are you hiding?" she demanded, her gaze landing on the closed laptop under my hands.

"Ever hear of knocking?" I stood up, blocking her view of the desk. "Get out."

Blair ignored my warning. She tilted her chin up, a smug smile stretching across her face. "Mother sent me to tell you. Mandatory family meeting tomorrow. Don't be late. Though why you're included after being gone for three years is beyond me."

I stepped forward, crowding her space. The dormant wolf inside me pushed against my ribs. I grabbed her shoulder and practically shoved her back out into the hallway.

"Meeting noted. Now stay out of my room."

I slammed the door in her face and jammed a chair under the doorknob.

I hurried back to the desk and popped the laptop open. My heart dropped into my stomach. A terrifying, undeniable truth flashed in neon green across the black screen.

Cross Corporation's elite security team wasn't just sitting back. They were actively attempting to trace my encrypted signal. The progress bar inched forward. They were hunting Echo.

If I stayed plugged into the Vance mansion's network, they would pinpoint this address. Operating from here was way too risky. If my hacker identity was exposed to Kaelen Cross, the pack enemies would circle. Grandfather and I would be placed in grave, immediate danger.

I couldn't stay here.

I ripped the power cord from the wall. I grabbed my duffel bag from the closet and started throwing things inside. Clothes, hard drives, cables, emergency cash. I slung the heavy strap over my shoulder and grabbed my helmet. I needed a secure location. A place where I could set up a real firewall, a place where I could work without constant surveillance.

I pulled the chair away from the door and headed downstairs.

Genevieve stepped out of the study, stepping right into the middle of the hallway to block my path. Her eyes flicked to the duffel bag.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, her tone shifting from mockery to suspicion.

"I need my own space," I told her evenly. I kept my voice hard as stone, betraying zero panic. "And don't worry, I am not abandoning my claim to what is rightfully mine in this family."

Blair leaned against the banister, a triumphant, nasty smirk playing on her lips. She thought she had won. She thought they had finally driven me out.

I shot both of them a cold, warning stare. I didn't waste another breath on them. I pushed past Genevieve, walked out the front door, and disappeared into the night.

POV: Kaelen

"Mr. Cross!"

The heavy oak doors of my private office flew open. Dane, my usually stoic security chief, burst into the room in an absolute panic. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Our core corporate systems are under massive, coordinated attack!" Dane shouted, breathless.

I dropped my pen. I didn't ask questions. I stood up and strode past him, heading straight for the subterranean security center.

The room was a chaotic war zone of frantic analysts and blaring red sirens. I stood at the back of the room, my hands clasped behind my back, watching grimly as our primary system defense collapsed in real-time. The main holographic display showed the containment fields failing.

"Failure rate nearing eighty-five percent," an analyst yelled over the din.

A dozen top-tier mercenary hackers were violently tearing through our networks. They were attempting to steal our vital medical research—the exact groundbreaking technology specifically designed to prevent silver from harming our werewolf brethren. If that data leaked to the anti-wolf factions, a slaughter would follow.

"They're breaching the final firewall," Dane said, his voice tight with desperation.

I watched the last digital barrier crumble.

Then, the screens went black.

A second later, a brilliant, distinct geometric pattern flashed across every monitor in the room. An echo.

"Sir," Dane gasped.

Echo. The legendary core member of the Moonshade Organization. The myth had finally arrived.

I watched in silence as the tide of the cyber battle instantly turned. Single-handedly, and with terrifying precision, the mysterious hacker reversed the hostile data streams. The enemy code was shoved back through the breach. Within breaths, Echo completely rebuilt our firewall at mathematically impossible speeds. The red alert sirens died. The room plunged into stunned silence.

Intrigued and immensely impressed by this living digital myth, I stepped closer to the primary monitor.

"Track the signal," I ordered immediately. "Find the origin."

Dane scrambled to his terminal, his fingers flying over the keys. Seconds ticked by. He looked up, his face pale, his voice thick with disbelief.

"Sir... we can't get an exact address, but we have the grid. Echo is right here in Seattle."

A predator's thrill spiked in my chest. Right in my territory.

"Contact Moonshade through our secure channels," I instructed, my voice echoing in the quiet room. "I need to meet this Echo personally. I must ensure the absolute safety of our entire community."

Dane nodded firmly, already drafting the encrypted message.

Later that evening, the corporate offices emptied out, leaving only the quiet hum of the building's ventilation. I sat at the head of the long glass table in the quiet boardroom. Elder Malcolm stayed behind, his posture stiff, his cane resting against his chair.

"Kaelen," Malcolm began grimly, dropping the usual formalities. "You are thirty-five years old now."

I leaned back in my chair, keeping my expression neutral. "I am aware of my age, Malcolm."

"As the Alpha of Seattle's wolf pack, you urgently need a mate." He leaned forward, his weathered face dead serious. "An Alpha without a mate is viewed as unstable. The ruling Council is restless. They are already secretly considering replacements for your position. You cannot hold this territory alone indefinitely."

A low growl rumbled in my chest before I could stop it. I stood up, resting my knuckles on the glass table.

"Anyone who challenges my position should be fully prepared to pay the absolute price," I replied smoothly.

A sharp, lethal light flashed in my eyes. The ambient temperature in the room seemed to drop. Malcolm swallowed hard, grabbing his cane and taking a deliberate step back.

"Do not test the Council, Kaelen," Malcolm warned softly, though his bravado was gone. He turned and left the boardroom with a heavy sigh, the door clicking shut behind him.

I was left alone in the vast, quiet space. I turned away from the table and walked over to the massive floor-to-ceiling glass window. The glittering Seattle nightscape stretched out below me, a sea of neon lights and dark shadows.

The political pressure was mounting. The Council wanted a Luna to anchor my reign. Every noble family in the territory had women aggressively pursuing me, parading themselves at every gala, desperate for the title.

But as I stared out at the city, my mind wasn't filled with strategic thoughts of political alliances or potential mates.

It was entirely consumed by a mysterious, defiant face.

Selah Vance.

I saw her standing in the cafeteria again, radiating quiet danger. Those striking silver-gray eyes that refused to back down. That incredibly rare white wolf bloodline pulsing just beneath her skin. And Dean Castillo’s nervous report about her exceptionally brilliant medical skills.

I pressed my hand against the cool glass. The city lights blurred.

Why couldn't I erase her from my thoughts?