🐺 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - The Traitor Alpha
The footsteps grew heavier, crunching over roots and stone until they stopped just outside the sanctuary. The air thickened with hostility, and Kael's wolf surged beneath his skin.
Lyra clung to the wall of the cave, still weak from the First Moon Sign, her arm throbbing with silver heat.
"Stay behind me," Kael warned, his voice low and dangerous.
Lyra opened her mouth to argue, but the moment she stepped forward, a scent hit her-sharp, wild, and cold. And then a figure entered the cave, tall and dark, with the same silver eyes as Kael... but filled with cruelty.
He smiled.
"Well," he drawled, tilting his head, "I see the little prophecy pet survived the night."
Kael snarled so deeply the rocks trembled.
"Rivan. You're not welcome here."
Rivan Darkbane.
Kael's older brother.
The heir who lost the right to lead-and blamed Kael ever since.
Rivan stepped closer, his boots echoing. His presence filled the cave like a heavy shadow.
"And you think you can stop me?" he taunted. "You? With your human toy glowing like a broken moonstone?"
Kael lunged.
Rivan dodged, laughing.
Lyra stepped forward despite the pain. "Stop it!"
Rivan's eyes snapped to her-and he froze.
The silver veins on Lyra's skin glowed faintly in the dim light. The mark pulsed like a heartbeat. And something in Rivan's expression shifted-from mockery... to calculation.
"So it's true," Rivan whispered. "The First Moon Sign has begun. The prophecy has awakened."
Lyra tried to steady her breathing. "I didn't choose any of this."
"No," Rivan said softly, taking one step closer. "But I did."
Kael stiffened. "What did you just say?"
Rivan's smile returned-slow, sharp, deadly.
"Oh, little brother... did you really think the Oath chose her by accident?"
Lyra's stomach twisted.
"What are you talking about?"
Rivan crossed his arms, leaning against the cave wall casually.
"The night the Oath awakened-when the Moonblood rose-I was the one who performed the ancient call."
Kael's blood ran cold.
"You WHAT?"
Rivan shrugged.
"I summoned the Oath seeking power. A chosen mate. A queen. But instead of binding to me..."
He looked directly at Lyra.
"...it chose you."
Lyra's breath caught.
"So you wanted the Oath first."
"Yes," Rivan said simply. "You were meant to be mine."
Kael lunged again, fury blazing. Rivan met him halfway this time-two wolves clashing with a burst of power that shook the cave. Sparks flew from the impact of their blows.
Lyra cried out, the Oath reacting violently, pulling at her chest as Kael's heartbeat spiked. She felt his pain, his rage, his desperation.
"Stop!" she screamed, but the brothers were lost in battle.
Kael slashed.
Rivan countered.
Power collided in blinding silver.
"Kael!" Lyra gasped, clutching her glowing arm. "You're hurting yourself-stop-"
Rivan laughed breathlessly as they circled each other.
"Look at you, brother. Weak. Letting a human drain your strength."
"She is NOT draining me!" Kael roared.
"Oh? Then what happens," Rivan hissed, "when the Second Moon Sign begins? When she starts hearing every emotion, every thought, every memory inside your mind?"
Lyra froze.
"I'll... hear your thoughts?"
Kael turned sharply toward her-too sharply.
He didn't want to answer.
His silence was the answer.
Rivan smirked. "Oh yes. Every secret he's ever kept from you... every feeling he hides... every desire he refuses to admit."
Lyra's heart thudded painfully.
"Kael...?"
Kael's jaw tightened, but before he could speak, Rivan made his move-lunging straight for Lyra.
Kael shifted mid-air, full wolf, ramming Rivan into the stone floor with a snarl that shook the sanctuary.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!"
They rolled, teeth bared, claws slashing, growls echoing like thunder.
Lyra stumbled backward, her vision spinning. The silver veins on her arm flared again-bursting with heat, reacting to Kael's danger.
"Stop... Kael, stop-!"
Her mark pulsed violently.
The cave exploded with silver light.
Both wolves were thrown apart, crashing against opposite walls.
Lyra collapsed, panting, her body trembling.
Rivan rose first, brushing stone dust off his jacket, eyes burning with shock and anger.
"Well," he said hoarsely. "Looks like the prophecy is progressing faster than expected."
Kael shifted back, staggering to his feet, blood on his lips-but never taking his eyes off Rivan.
Rivan stepped toward the cave entrance.
"I'll be back before the second moon. And when her mind fully opens..."
His eyes glowed.
"...I wonder which brother she will choose."
He disappeared into the mist.
Kael rushed to Lyra's side, kneeling.
"Lyra. Lyra, look at me."
She lifted her trembling hand to his chest.
"I felt everything. Your fear. Your anger. Your pain."
Kael's voice cracked.
"And you will feel more," he whispered. "Because the Second Sign is coming."
The mark glowed on her skin.
The prophecy pulsed in her blood.
And for the first time...
Lyra feared not the wolves outside-but the power waking inside her.
