5

Darius POV

My limbs were still trembling from the pain. The chains may be gone, but the ache lingered in my bones, I need to save my brother. After he threw me in that cell like a traitor. He’s still my blood. And he's walking straight into a trap.

Kain had existential beef with the Nightfall Pack. That much, I knew. The tension between them had been a ticking time bomb; territorial disputes, border raids, blood spilled over who ruled what. Kain and the Nightfall Alpha were two wolves cut from the same cloth: ruthless and unwilling to yield. For them, there would be no peace—only death.

But this… this wasn’t about territory anymore. Elara’s sister, Maya, wasn’t taken by the Blackthornes. She was taken by Nightfall.

They staged it; planted the clues, left the scent trails, even dropped the necklace Kain had given Elara for her sister. All of it designed to frame the Blackthornes. Because they knew Kain would bite. Knew he’d charge in headfirst, blinded by rage, haunted by our mother’s murder. They’re playing him like a damn fiddle. That was such a Nightfall pack thing to do.

It wasn’t just about revenge, it was strategy. 

The Nightfall Pack was never after Kain’s territory alone, they were after him. Well, if they killed him, they'll gain his territory, and they were playing a long game to make it happen. They planned to wage war on the Blackthornes. Which was already in motion. But the real move? It was baiting Kain. Once he stepped foot into Blackthorne territory, furious and ready for blood, Nightfall would strike. Not just at the Blackthornes—but at Kain.

They wanted him caught in the middle of a war that wasn’t his.

Once he was inside enemy lines, surrounded by a pack that he already had a rift with for what happened to our mother, the Nightfall wolves would launch their assault. In the chaos of bloodshed and blame, no one would ask questions. They’d say Kain died in battle, collateral damage in a war he helped start.

And just like that, he’d be gone. And Kain, for all his strength, was being led like a lamb to the slaughter.

Earlier that morning, my spy returned with blood on his boots and urgency in his voice. ''The Nightfall pack had orchestrated the entire setup. They took a girl; someone important and framed the Blackthornes for it''. 

I was going to tell him everything. I swear I was.

I walked the stone corridors, rehearsing the words in my head.  I turned the corner and felt it...Elara. Her scent curled around the air like smoke, pulling me off course.

She wasn’t safe here, None of this was safe for her. I stepped closer, raising a hand, trying to keep my voice calm. “Elara—listen, I need to get you out of here.” But before I could finish the sentence, I felt the air shift. Kain.

He stormed into the hall like thunder wrapped in skin. No warning or words. Just brutal strikes. His fist collided with my jaw and the world spun sideways. The last thing I saw before everything went black was Elara’s wide eyes—and Kain’s shadow swallowing the light.

---

There was no time to waste. I stood in the castle courtyard, my voice cutting through the air like steel.

"Gather all ye soldiers!" I barked, my tone carrying the weight of command I hadn’t wielded in a while. "Our leader is in a battle he cannot win—not without us." The troops straightened, armor clinking, faces grim with readiness.

"We’ll divide and conquer. A quarter of you; stay back. Guard this castle with your lives. We cannot afford to be ambushed. The rest of you; split into two units. One will infiltrate the Nightfall camp and retrieve the girl. The rest, you're with me. We ride to save Kain."

I reached for my sword, the blade still stained with the fight from last night. I held it high above my head, the moonlight catching its edge. "Vamos!" I roared, the fire in my chest spreading to the hearts of every soldier present. “For blood. For pack. For the Alpha!” 

And with that, we charged into the dark. 

A few minutes after we charged into the darkness, my heart led the way more than my head.

I found Kain.

He was barely recognizable; battered, bloody, and hanging upside down like a hunted animal. A thick silver chain was wrapped around his torso, its cursed metal slowly burning into his flesh. Smoke rose from every point it touched him, and his skin peeled back like paper in fire. His eyes were barely open, his body trembling from the pain and exhaustion.

"Brother..." I breathed, rushing forward.

He didn’t answer.

Without wasting another second, I gritted my teeth and yanked at the chain. It burned my hands, but I didn't stop. Pain meant nothing right now not while he was dying right in front of me. With one final pull, the chain snapped from the hook and Kain dropped into my arms like dead weight. I hoisted him over my shoulder and signaled my men.

"Fall back!" I ordered. "Get the healers ready. We're bringing him home." And just like that, I carried my brother out of the warzone; And I wasn’t going to let him die like this. Not today, when I carried Kain back to the castle, barely conscious and drenched in blood, Elara was already waiting.

I hadn’t even stepped fully into the infirmary before she rushed forward, eyes wide with concern, not for me, but for him.

She didn’t flinch at the wounds, or the scent of scorched flesh. She didn’t mention how he’d nearly killed me or how I was the one who saved him. No. She just dropped to her knees beside him and began tending to him like her life depended on it.

And I stood there watching them.

Watching the way her fingers moved gently across his skin, dabbing at the wounds with a wet cloth. Watching the way she whispered his name like a prayer, like she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him. And something inside me twisted. It was like a storm had broken open in my chest. A dark, consuming wave of something I couldn’t even name: jealousy? Rage? Possession?

I didn’t even know if it was because she cared for him, or because he had something I wanted but couldn’t have. But in that moment, seeing her care for him like that, I hated the closeness between them.

hated how it made me feel.