A seasoned Beta, her fur bristled in uncontained fury as she lunged. Her extended claws slashed toward Lucas with a mother’s unrelenting wrath.
“You blind, unworthy Alpha!” She roared, each swipe fueled by her devastation. “She marked you with her life!”
Her words struck deeper than any claw ever could
“Ava’s soul is trapped in the moon’s shadow now, all because of you!”
Lucas’s subordinates barely managed to approach, weighed down by the crushing presence of their grieving Alpha. One of them forced himself forward, hands trembling as he presented a blood–stained report.
+15 Bonus
“My Alpha!!” The young wolf’s ears flattened in fear. “The autopsy of Luna Ava… uhm… it states…” He hesitated before forcing
the words out.
“She used the last of her strength… to shield a pup in the mine.”
The words barely registered in Lucas’s mind before he saw the claw imprinted on the report, and the fetus had already begun
shifting in the womb- A sign of an Alpha’s heir.
And the time of death–It aligned perfectly with the night he had been at the hospital with Sophia.
If he had answered the mate bond’s distress call that night, if he had felt my pain through the link I might…
“Every night, you spent your time grooming this treacherous wolf,” Emily spat, her claws trembling as she pointed at Sophia.
The room turned deathly silent. Lucas barely registered the weight of her accusation until-
Sophia’s legs buckled. She collapsed onto the cold floor, her trembling hands trying to shield herself as her carefully crafted deception crumbled.
By then, the entire pack saw silver dust under Sophia’s nails. The faint metallic scent of the mines clung to her fur.
Evidence that could only mean one thing–She was there with me and had pushed me into the pit.
Yet Lucas’s instincts–so finely honed, so infallible–betrayed him.
His body moved on its own, stepping between Sophia and the pack’s wrath, a low, warning growl rumbling in his throat.
“Ava knew the mines were forbidden. She broke the pack law,” he snarled, though his voice wavered.
Sophia whimpered, her voice breaking into a desperate plea.
“Yes, and I… I didn’t know… I swear….”
Lucas’s growl deepened, his fangs bared.
“Ava brought this upon herself-”
A thunderous snarl cut him off–It was his father.
The old Alpha’s tail stood high like a war banner, his powerful presence making the very walls tremble. His claws struck the ground, sending dust spiraling into the air.
“Foolish boy! Can’t you smell the stench of her lies?!”
“You are seriously unworthy of leading this pack,” The elder Alpha yelled, his voice echoing through the hall.
“You failed to protect your mate.You failed to protect your pup. You are no Alpha.”
Lucas staggered, the words hitting harder than any physical blow.
+15 Bonus
And I–I watched from above, my spirit weightless, drifting between the slivers of moonlight streaming through the shattered
skylight.
By the laws of our kind, a werewolf who died unjustly would never rest, their spirit bound to the place of their final suffering.
I stared down at my own body–lifeless, empty.
And my claws were slowly turning transparent.
