WebNovels

Chapter 10 - Chapter Ten: The Shadow of Betrayal

The moon hung low over the quiet vale, its pale light spilling through the cracks in Selene's shutters, silvering the floor where Lucian lay unmoving. His breathing was shallow but steady, his skin cold yet alive, a fragile thread between death and life.

Selene sat beside him, her palms glowing faintly as she whispered incantations older than time. Each word was a plea to the moon itself, a desperate call for mercy. Sweat beaded her forehead, her magic flickering like a candle in the wind.

Behind her, Darius paced restlessly. His hands were clenched into fists, his heart torn between duty and loyalty.

"Darius," Selene said softly, her voice edged with exhaustion. "You must go back to your pack. Tell them their Alpha still breathes. Caius is a traitor and who knows what he might have done already."

Darius stopped, his gaze burning. "No."

"Darius, please," she insisted. "Every moment you stay here gives him more power to twist the truth."

He shook his head, the muscles in his jaw tightening. "You do not understand. I will not leave him. He is not just my Alpha. He is my brother in all but blood. We have fought side by side since we were pups, bled together, nearly died together. I swore to protect him with my life. I am not breaking that vow now."

Selene tried again, her tone gentler. "If you stay, your people may fall into Caius's lies. He could claim the throne and then what? Everything Lucian fought for will crumble."

But Darius only looked at her with suspicion, his eyes narrowing. "You speak as if you care for him, witch. But how do I know you are not part of this? How do I know this is not one of your kind's tricks?"

Her breath caught. She had heard the word "witch" before, dripping with venom, but never from someone who had eaten her food and shared her fire.

She rose slowly, anger and hurt burning beneath her calm exterior. "You think I would go through all this just to betray him? I have used my magic to keep him alive, to heal wounds even your kind cannot see. I have risked my life by defying the king's decree. And yet you still look at me like a serpent in your midst."

Darius looked away, guilt flickering briefly before stubborn pride replaced it. "People can call me ungrateful, I do not care. I only trust my kind and those who have proven themselves with blood, not spells."

Selene's eyes darkened like a gathering storm. "Then you are blind," she said coldly. "Blind to who your true enemies are."

He said nothing. The silence between them was heavy, broken only by Lucian's faint breathing.

Every time Selene entered the room to tend to Lucian, Darius would watch her from the doorway. His instincts screamed at him to protect his Alpha, even from the woman who had saved him. He peered through half-open doors, watching as she changed his bandages, mixed herbs, whispered spells. Yet all she ever did was care gently, tirelessly, with a tenderness that unsettled him.

Each day he found fewer reasons to doubt her, yet he could not bring himself to trust completely.

At night, when Selene slept on the floor near the bed, Darius would sit by the window, looking out into the forest. He tried to reach his mate through the mindlink, closing his eyes, willing the bond to stretch across the distance. But the silence pressed back against him like stone.

No voice. No warmth. Only emptiness.

He sighed deeply, his chest aching. He missed her, her gentle touch, her laughter, the scent of crushed herbs on her skin. But duty bound him here.

"She will understand," he whispered to the dark.

Back in Moonfang, the air was thick with tension.

Luna Seraphina refused to believe her son was gone. Each dawn, she sent out new search parties, trackers, scouts, even lone hunters to comb the valleys and forests for any trace of Lucian or Darius. But each team returned empty-handed.

"It is as if the earth itself swallowed them," one scout said, eyes low with shame.

Seraphina's heart broke a little more with each passing day, but she would not yield. She ruled the pack now in Lucian's absence, her presence commanding, her grief turned to fire.

"Until I see his body," she told the elders, "my son lives."

Her words silenced even those who doubted.

Lyra, meanwhile, had changed beyond recognition. The once playful sister who sang with the morning birds now trained with the warriors until her hands bled. She sparred with blades, teeth bared, determination blazing in her eyes.

"If I cannot bring him back," she whispered one night to her reflection, "then I will protect what remains of him."

Even Alora, Darius's mate and the pack's healer, had grown quiet and withdrawn. Her once bright smile was gone. She moved through the infirmary like a ghost, tending to wounds in silence. The spark in her eyes was replaced by a cold, aching emptiness.

Still, she could feel her mate's heartbeat in her soul... faint, but present. "You are alive," she murmured to herself. "I know you are."

But peace was a stranger in Moonfang.

Caius's plans were unraveling faster than he expected. Despite his efforts to turn the pack against their lost Alpha, most still refused to believe Lucian was dead. Seraphina's leadership held the loyalty of the majority and the elders remained steadfast at her side.

No matter how many houses Caius visited, how many whispers he spread, the people did not bend.

"The true Alpha's blood still burns," they said. "We will not kneel to a false one."

Hatred festered inside him like rot.

He stared at the great hall one evening, his jaw tight, his eyes dark with envy. His aunt had taken full control, commanding, respected, unshakable.

He could not touch her, not yet. But he would find a way.

When the next letter arrived from Valehart, Caius read it in the shadows of his room.

King Aldred's seal glimmered in the candlelight.

"The packs are divided," it read. "If you wish to rule, remove those who stand in your path. The queen wolf first, her death will open the throne."

Caius smiled, folding the letter slowly.

"So be it," he whispered. "Let the moon witness what I will become."

He began to summon his allies, those desperate for power, those who hated Lucian's bloodline, those willing to betray for gold. Together, they would burn Moonfang from the inside.

Far away, beneath Selene's roof, the cursed Alpha stirred.

Lucian's eyes fluttered open, his breath ragged. The world swam before him, shadows and moonlight blurring together. Selene leaned forward, her voice trembling with relief.

"You're safe," she whispered. "You're home."

Lucian's gaze met hers, clouded with pain and confusion. "Home?" he rasped. "No… not yet."

And somewhere, deep in the woods, the moon flickered, as if the heavens themselves knew that the war was far from over.

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