In Loving Conviction

Cassandra wakes to silence that doesn't feel right. Then footsteps. Then figures in the dark. They move like they know exactly where she is and exactly what she is worth. The last thing she sees before the dark takes her is a circle of faces that tell her nothing except that they came prepared. She has spent her entire life not knowing why her mother kept them hidden. The mark she has worn since birth and was never permitted to ask about is not a mystery.
It is a claim. And the Pantheon Guard - the secret society that binds ancient cryptids to keeper bloodlines to protect humanity - has factions on both sides of that claim, some bent on using her, some on ensuring she never understands what she is. Alec Campbell didn't know any of this when he filed his field report. The youngest of the Campbell siblings, he passed along a single observation in good faith - a routine act of duty - not knowing it would send the Guard to Cassandra's door in the dark.
By the time he finds out, she is already inside the organization that took her, using its own resources to uncover what it buried. The Cu Sidhe at his side, a forest hound that came to its bond willingly and has strong opinions about everything, has already formed a view on Cassandra. It communicates this to Alec with what he considers entirely unnecessary frequency. When the truth surfaces - about his report, her bloodline, and what was sacrificed to keep her from ever finding out - neither of them will have anywhere left to stand except beside each other.
Conviction is not about certainty. It is about choosing the truth even when the cost is everything you thought you knew.