🐺 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠 🐺

🌕 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 🌕

Elara stormed through the corridors, her heels clicking like gunshots against the marble floor.

Guards scrambled out of her way. Servants pressed themselves against the walls, their eyes wide with fear.

They had never seen the Luna move with such urgency before.

She reached the Alpha Wing and shoved the door open without knocking.

"Damien! Kai! Rafe! What is the meaning of—"

Her voice died in her throat.

The sight before her left her speechless.

Nymeria sat on the edge of Damien's bed, wrapped in a clean blanket.

Her face was pale, her eyes still red from crying, and her hands trembled as she held a cup of water.

Damien stood beside her, his expression hard as he inspected the bruises on her arms. His jaw was tight, his fingers gentle as they traced the purple marks on her skin.

Kai was kneeling in front of her, carefully applying medicine to her injured palms. His usual playful grin was gone, replaced by something dark and protective.

Rafe stood nearby, reading through the healer's instructions, his face filled with concern.

"Explain," Elara said coldly.

The three brothers turned toward her.

Damien stepped forward. "Nymeria was attacked during the festival. By noble daughters. Seraphina Ortega and her friends."

"And how is that meant to be your problem?" Elara's eyes moved back to Nymeria. "She is just a servant girl."

Nymeria immediately lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry, Luna. I didn't mean to cause trouble." Her voice shook as she tried to stand. "I'll go back to my quarters now."

Damien's hand shot out, pressing her back down. "No. You won't. You can barely walk."

Something about those words made Elara's expression darken.

She looked at her sons with disgust.

"I'm finding it hard to understand what you see in her. Why would you bring a fat, wolfless orphan into the Alpha Wing?"

The room went deathly quiet.

Kai's eyes flashed gold. "Don't."

"Don't what?" Elara sneered. "Speak the truth?"

"Do not say those mean words about her, Mother," Damien answered without hesitation.

Elara's fingers tightened into fists.

"Oh, Moon Goddess, please help me control my nerves."

She threw her hands up. "Do you understand what you have done? Of all the ladies for you three to get attracted to, you chose a servant?

What about the noble girls? Did no one catch your attention?"

Kai's expression shifted. "We protected someone who needed help."

"She is a servant," Elara replied sharply.

Rafe's gaze hardened. "She is also a member of this pack."

Silence filled the room.

Elara turned away slowly, her shoulders rigid.

"She can stay for the night," she said coldly. "But move her back to the servant quarters by morning."

Damien's voice turned to ice. "No."

Elara stopped. She spun around, her eyes blazing. "No? You dare question my authority? Do you know what our rivals would say?

Do you know what the elders will say? Imagine the gossip spreading right now!"

"I don't care what they say," Damien said flatly.

"You should!" Elara's voice rose. "Your father is dying. The pack is watching. And you're here, fighting me over a servant girl?"

Kai stepped forward, his playful smile completely gone. "No, Mother. One thing is clear. Nymeria is being bullied by the pack. And we won't let those bullies near her again."

"Bullied?" Elara laughed harshly. "She's a servant. Servants are bullied. That's how it works."

"Not anymore," Kai said firmly. "She is ours now. And she will be staying in our quarters."

Nymeria sat frozen on the bed, clutching the cup of herbal tea someone had pressed into her hands.

Her eyes darted between the three brothers and their furious mother.

"What in the Moon Goddess is going on right now?" she whispered to herself.

Damien ran a hand through his hair. "You know what, Mother?

Enough of this bickering. I'm going to Father's chambers to check on him.

Please go back to your quarters. Nymeria is ours, and she isn't going anywhere. Not anytime soon. So please, leave."

Elara's face twisted with rage. She looked at Nymeria with pure hatred.

"This is not the end of this," she hissed. "You think you've won? You haven't. I will destroy you, orphan. Mark my words."

She stormed out, slamming the door behind her so hard the paintings rattled on the walls.

Thirty Minutes Later Damien walked through the dark corridors toward Viktor's chambers.

He pushed open the door to find Viktor lying pale and still in the massive bed. The healers had done everything they could, but nothing worked.

The old Alpha looked smaller somehow. Frail.

Damien sat beside his father, his voice barely a whisper. "What happened to you, Father? Who did this?"

His mind drifted to the Bloodmoon Pack. Their movements along the borders had grown bolder. They were circling like wolves waiting for the Alpha to fall.

Kai entered quietly. "I've been looking into who has access to Father."

"And?"

Kai pulled out a small list. "Only a handful of people have unrestricted access to his chambers. Mother. The Head Healer. And the senior servants who attend him daily."

Damien's stomach dropped. "That's it?"

"That's it." Kai's expression was grim. "The enemy doesn't need an army inside the manor. They only need one person close enough to poison him."

Damien stared at the list. His mother. The healer. The servants.

"Someone on this list is a traitor," he said slowly. "Someone is killing him."

Kai nodded. "I know."

They sat in heavy silence, the weight of betrayal pressing down on them.

Rafe appeared in the doorway. "I've been watching the restricted hallway. Someone's been visiting Father's chambers late at night."

"Who?" Damien demanded.

"Elder Cassian Voss."

Damien's blood ran cold. "Cassian? He's served our family for decades."

"Exactly," Rafe replied. "Which makes him the perfect person to trust."

Later that night, Rafe found Elder Cassian leaving the restricted hallway near Viktor's chambers.

"Elder," Rafe called out, his voice sharp as a blade. "Late night prayers?"

Cassian turned slowly, a serene smile on his weathered face. "Prince Rafe. Yes, I came to offer respect to our dying Alpha and pray for his recovery."

"At this hour?" Rafe's eyes narrowed.

Cassian chuckled softly. "I'm an old man, young Alpha. Sleep doesn't come easily when one's pack is in danger."

Rafe studied him carefully. "You seem to visit quite often."

"Loyalty requires dedication," Cassian said smoothly. "Do you suspect me of something, Prince Rafe?"

Rafe met his gaze. "I suspect everyone."

Cassian's smile remained perfectly in place. "As you should. A wise Alpha trusts no one."

He tilted his head, his eyes glinting in the torchlight. "Though I wonder, Prince Rafe, if your suspicions are truly about me.

Or if your judgment is being clouded by... other distractions."

Rafe's jaw tightened. "What are you implying?"

Cassian's eyes flickered with cold amusement. "I saw the commotion earlier.

Rafe stepped closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Watch your words, Elder. My judgment is perfectly clear. And if I find out you're hiding something—"

"You'll what?" Cassian's smile didn't waver. "Accuse a loyal Elder without proof? That would create quite a scandal, wouldn't it?"

Rafe's wolf surged beneath his skin. "I'll find proof."

"Will you?" Cassian's smile widened. "Or will you be too busy playing protector to an orphan girl?"

Rafe's hands clenched into fists. "What do you know about her?"

"I know enough." Cassian stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. "I know she has no wolf. I know she has no family. I know she appeared in this pack years ago with nothing but a silver pendant and a mysterious past."

He tilted his head. "I also know that three Alpha heirs don't suddenly become obsessed with a servant girl for no reason."

Rafe's heart pounded.

Cassian chuckled softly. "I've been around a long time, Prince Rafe. I know how prophecies work. I know how fate works.

And I know that the Moon Goddess never does anything by accident."

He disappeared into the shadows. Rafe stood frozen in the hallway, his mind racing.

The silver pendant. The missing wolf. The mysterious past.

What did Cassian know?

And more importantly, what was Nymeria?