Chapter 159: Shadows on the Border
Kiel
I had seen a lot of things in my life. Blood. Betrayal. Death. But nothing—absolutely nothing—prepared me for the sight that burned itself into my skull the moment I stepped into that room.
Josie.
And Varen.
Entangled.
My lungs forgot how to work. For one full second, I stood frozen like some fool who had stumbled into a nightmare, my mind refusing to process what my eyes screamed at me. Then it hit me, hard and merciless, a punch straight to the gut.
They were together.
She was his.
I felt my entire chest cave in, like my ribs could no longer hold the fury and disgust building inside me. The sound that ripped from me was half a growl, half a strangled snarl, before I turned on my heel. If I stayed, I would kill him. No—worse, I might kill them both, and I wasn’t ready to damn myself that far.
The betrayal cut sharper than any blade. First Thorne, now Varen. My own blood. My own damn brother.
"Alpha?" My Beta, Dax, rushed to my side the moment I stormed out, his eyes searching me for wounds I didn’t carry on my body but deep in my soul.
"Don’t. Say. A word." My voice was raw, broken.
He nodded quickly, falling into step as I strode past the halls and out into the open night air. The cold should have numbed me, but the fire under my skin refused to let me feel relief. I needed to get away before I tore the place apart.
"Where to, Alpha?" Dax asked carefully.
"The borders," I snapped. "I need to see something that doesn’t make me sick."
He nodded again, no questions this time. He knew better.
We walked, the crunch of leaves under our boots filling the silence. I breathed deep, trying to shake Josie’s face, Varen’s hands on her, the sound of her voice. The betrayal was so sharp I swore I could taste blood on my tongue.
But then it started.
At first, I thought it was the wind. A whisper. A trick of my furious imagination.
Kiel...
I stopped dead, my ears straining.
"What is it?" Dax asked, scanning the trees, already reaching for his blade.
I shook my head. "Nothing. Just...nothing."
But it came again.
Kiel...listen...
The hairs on the back of my neck rose. My fists clenched at my sides. I wasn’t losing my mind. Not yet.
"Patrol ahead," I ordered Dax gruffly. "I’ll circle around."
He gave me a suspicious look but didn’t argue. "Be careful."
I stalked off alone, following the pull of that voice. The deeper I went, the stronger it became, like a thread tugging me toward something I knew I didn’t want to see.
And then she was there.
The witch.
Standing in the clearing as if she’d been waiting for me all along, her dark hair wild, her eyes glimmering with that unnatural sheen that made bile rise in my throat.
"You," I spat, every muscle in my body locking into place.
"Kiel," she said softly, as though she could soothe me with my own name. "I didn’t want it to happen like this."
I laughed bitterly. "You ruined everything. Don’t stand there and pretend regret. You destroyed us."
She flinched, just slightly, then raised her hands in a pathetic gesture of surrender. "It wasn’t me. Liam—he went against what I was told to do. You must believe me."
"Believe you?" My growl rumbled from my chest. "You think a few pretty words will wash away the filth of what you’ve done? You put her in danger. You played your games and shattered everything. And for that, witch, you will be punished."
Her lips trembled, but her eyes hardened. "You think I’d risk this if she weren’t different? Josie is powerful. Too powerful. You don’t see it yet, but she is more than just another werewolf. That is why I came. That is why Liam acted. He wanted what she carries inside her."
"Shut your mouth." My claws itched to tear through her. "You’ll not use her name like some token on your cursed tongue."
Still, she dared to step closer. "If she knew how dangerous it is to walk with that power untamed, she’d fear herself. I can help her—"
"Enough!" My voice thundered through the trees. "You’ve poisoned everything you’ve touched. You think you can crawl back now with your excuses? No. This ends here."
I reached for the only weapon I had that could level her madness—my music. The hum built in my throat, low and steady, vibrating through my chest until the very air quivered. The melody sharpened, bending the space around us, slicing through her aura of deceit.
She screamed, staggering back, her face contorting. "You—always your cursed music!"
"You’ll find no mercy here." My song rose higher, wrapping around her like chains.
But then she laughed.
It started as a chuckle, jagged and ugly, then grew into manic, echoing laughter that clawed its way up my spine. She twisted under the pressure of my notes but refused to break, her grin splitting her face wide.
"You think you can cage me with your sound?" she hissed. "Fool. If Liam won’t bend, I’ll take him myself. And Josie—oh, sweet Josie—she won’t be safe from me either. She doesn’t even know what she carries. But I know. I’ll take it from her. I’ll grow stronger than any of you ever dreamed."
My melody faltered, my fury rising so sharp I could barely breathe. "You lay one hand on her and I will burn this world to ashes with you in it."
Her laughter rang again before she dissolved into the night, her form scattering like smoke.
"Coward!" I roared, clawing the air where she’d been. My song collapsed, leaving me heaving and furious, my throat raw. I had failed. She was gone, and I had let her slip through my fingers again.
Dax came crashing through the trees, sword raised. "Alpha! Are you hurt?"
"No." My voice was a rasp. "But I should be. I should’ve ended her."
I turned on him, my rage spilling over. "Post guards. Double the patrols. No one comes near this place, do you hear me? No one."
He bowed quickly, shouting orders to the warriors who had followed.
And then—
"Alpha." A young pack member stumbled forward, eyes wide, chest heaving as though he’d run from the edge of the world.
"What is it?" I barked.
He swallowed hard. "I... I thought I saw someone. A woman. She looked like Michelle. Near the village perimeter."
Every nerve in my body went rigid. Michelle.
"Find her," I ordered, my voice sharp as steel. "Scour every inch of this territory. Bring her to me alive if you can. Dead if you must."
The pack member nodded frantically and bolted.
Dax, however, stepped closer. "Alpha... shouldn’t we inform Thorne first? If Michelle is truly here, it concerns him too. She was—"
"Don’t." My words cut like a blade, my glare locking on him. "Do not speak that name to me. Thorne is nothing but a thorn on my path. His concerns mean nothing here."
I shoved past him, fury still burning in my veins, the witch’s laughter echoing in my skull as I stalked deeper into the night.