“But it’s only a matter of time, yeah, so I’ve heard,” Cooper said. Most of his fellow agents belonged to ruling packs and had obligations outside of the Trust. Maybe all of them, besides Cooper and Park. That needed to change. But it was a job for another day.

“And what about the other leak?” he continued. “Freeman couldn’t have pulled this off without a hell of a lot of wolf information, science, lore and politics for a human who supposedly can’t comprehend your existence without a wolf hand to hold.”

Cola’s expression darkened. “We will be checking Dr. Freeman’s hands and whose she’s been holding. Thoroughly.”

“Rebels, ruling packs, WIP—we’ve always been at odds on everything but this,” Park agreed. “If there’s a traitor sharing our secrets, hoping to expose us, they must know it won’t end well.”

Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead, Cooper thought. Ryan’s intended star victims: James Finnigan, Arthur Crane and the Shepherd. Each of them infamously connected to the rebels, WIP, and the ruling packs, respectively.

“Maybe exposure isn’t the end goal,” he thought out loud. “Freeman’s certainly wasn’t. Not anymore.”

“She wanted a get out of jail free card,” Park said.

“And to develop and test a weapon to use against wolves,” Cooper added. “And for the rumor of the Moon to get out and ignite the simmering tension between the three factions.”

Cola and Park both looked disturbed at that. “You think a rebel or WIP wolf intentionally shared secrets?” Park asked.

“Or a ruling pack,” Cooper said. “Your uncle had hopes for that, once. Let’s not forget where Freeman got those biological samples.”

“Marcus was delusional,” Park said flatly. “Whatever noble reasons he told himself he was doing it for, at the end of the day he just wanted to take over the Park pack. He wanted power. The ruling packs have power already. They don’t need to ignite war between the factions to get it.”

“There won’t be any ignition,” Cola said firmly. “The Trust will make sure of it. We’ll find Freeman’s source and determine if they’re simply a fool or if there really was intention of unsettling the balance between the three.”

“Even if the source turns out to be a ruling pack?” Cooper couldn’t help but push.

“Even then,” Cola said. “The Trust isn’t the ruling packs’ personal guard.”

“Does Helena know that? Do you? Because when I became an agent, that wasn’t what I signed up to do,” Cooper warned. “And it never will be.”