CHAPTER SIX

~Aiden~

The convoy rolled through the gates of Darkmoon territory just as the sky bled orange. Engines rumbled, and wolves in tactical gear cheered, hanging out of armored trucks, waving our black banners high.

To them, we’d won.

To me, it felt like we’d lost something we could never get back.

Father’s jeep pulled to a stop in front of the castle. “Another triumph for Darkmoon!” he shouted, arms wide open.

The soldiers howled in approval. I stayed by the car, watching the medics lift a stretcher out of the back.

The Princess of Nightfang lay unconscious under a white sheet. She looked pale and was breathing shallowly.

Father caught me staring. “She’s lucky to still be breathing,” he said casually.

“She’s badly hurt, Father,” I murmured. “If she dies…”

He shrugged, lighting a cigar. “Then she dies. You can’t save everyone, son.”

I clenched my fists at my sides, swallowing the anger that rose in my throat.

The castle buzzed with energy. Darkmoon warriors unloaded supplies, weapons, and chained prisoners. Nightfang wolves forced to their knees by guards in black tactical armor.

Father waved his cigar. “Get them locked in the lower cells. All of them.”

“Except the Luna,” he added, turning his cold eyes toward the woman standing silent among the prisoners.

Luna Siairah looked nothing like a defeated leader. Her white dress was torn, her face streaked with soot, but her spine remained straight.

Father smirked. “Bring her to my chambers.”

She didn’t speak; she didn't even resist his words, and that felt strange.

I stood there, frozen, watching the door close behind them. Something ugly twisted in my gut.

By the time I made it to my room, the castle was alive with noise. Music thumped from the banquet hall, servants rushed past with trays of champagne, and laughter echoed down the marble corridors.

I locked my door behind me and leaned against it, pressing a hand to my chest. I could still smell smoke, blood, and burning sage.

Then suddenly, a knock snapped me out of it.

“Come in,” I said.

Jayden stepped inside, closing the door quietly. “You look like you saw a ghost,” he said.

“Maybe I did.” I dropped into the chair near my desk. “Jayden, what do you think Father’s doing? With her?”

He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “Do you really have to ask?”

“Don’t start…”

“He’s doing the wrong thing, Aiden. Hell, he’s been doing the wrong thing. He slaughtered their Alpha, wiped out half their pack, and for what? Because they were growing faster than us? Because he couldn’t stand someone else having peace?”

“Stop it,” I snapped. “You can’t say that. You don’t know he killed their Alpha.”

Jayden laughed bitterly. “Oh, I know. Just like I know he killed our mother.”

I shot up from the chair. “Jayden!”

He didn’t flinch. “What, you think I haven’t seen the pattern? The Nightfang Alpha died of ‘food poisoning.’ So did Mom. Both were threats to Father’s control. You think that’s a coincidence?”

My chest felt tight. “That’s enough.”

Jayden shook his head and walked to the door. “You’re just scared to face it. But one day, you’ll have to.”

He left before I could answer. The door slammed behind him, leaving a silence that screamed louder than any argument.

I stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty doorway. His words kept repeating in my head, each one heavier than the last.

Finally, I forced myself to move. I took a shower, letting the hot water burn against my skin until my thoughts blurred into steam. I changed into clean clothes, but even when I walked downstairs, the noise from the feast only made me feel sick.

“Where’s my father?” I asked a passing guard.

The man hesitated. “Still in his chambers, sire. With the Luna. He ordered not to be disturbed.”

My stomach turned. “Still? Are they fucking?”

The guard looked away.

I exhaled, shaking my head. “Forget it.”

Before I could walk off, another thought hit me. “And the Nightfang princess?”

“She’s alive, but still unconscious. The medics stabilized her, then moved her to the lower-level holding cells.”

“Take me to her,” I said quietly.

The guard nodded and led the way down the corridor, past the muffled sound of laughter echoing from the great hall.

We entered the elevator at the end of the hall, and it opened in front of a large door that slid open to a long, narrow passage lined with reinforced cells. We walked for what felt like forever.

“Isn’t she here?” I asked again, scanning the faces behind each barred door.

“No, sire,” the guard replied. “Her cell is further down. The king said she should be kept apart.”

Of course he did. My father liked control, and isolation was his favorite weapon.

The guard stopped at a final door at the very end of the hall. It looked different from the rest, thicker, sealed, with no small window like the others.

“She’s in there, Alpha.”

“Open it.”

He hesitated. “It’s… dark inside, sir. The power lines don’t reach that cell properly.”

“Give me the keys. Then, get some light,” I said flatly.

The guard hesitated again.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” I snapped.

He flinched and hurried off.

The silence that followed was suffocating. I waited a few seconds, then sighed and pulled out my phone, turning on the flashlight while I turned the keys to open the door.

The heat hit first; thick, stale air clung to my throat.

Then I saw her. She lay motionless on a narrow cot, her hair tangled, her skin pale and bruised. Bandages were wrapped around her shoulder and collarbone, still stained with dried blood.

She didn’t look anything like the woman who’d stood on that battlefield, fierce and unshakable. She looked small and fragile.

Something twisted inside my chest. Why did this hurt so much to see?

I stepped closer, holding the light steady as Jayden’s words echoed in my head: “He killed their Alpha, just like he killed our mother.”

I clenched my jaw, staring down at her. “Stop,” I muttered under my breath. “Stop thinking like that.”

But I couldn’t.

Because the more I looked at her, at the marks on her skin, the exhaustion etched into her face, the more I saw what we’d done. What he’d done.

My father called it victory. But this? This wasn’t victory. It was ruin.

I dragged a hand down my face, then covered my mouth to stifle the sound that wanted to escape, something between a sigh and a groan.

“Goddess,” I whispered. “Would she even make it through the night?”

I turned the light briefly toward the ceiling, trying to breathe. My throat burned. My head felt too heavy for my body.

When I looked back, she moved. Just barely, her fingers twitched against the sheet.

It was such a small movement, but it made my pulse race. My wolf stirred deep inside, restless and unrelenting, just as it had earlier today on the battleground. I pressed a hand to my chest as if that would calm it.

“This isn’t right,” I whispered to no one. “Why is this happening again?” I muttered. “Why do I feel like this around you?”

I looked back at Riya and lowered the light toward her face again. Her lips parted slightly, a shaky breath escaping her chest. Her eyelids began to flutter. She was waking up.

Without thinking, I turned off the flashlight, plunging the room back into darkness.

My heart pounded as I backed out of the doorway and leaned against the cold metal door.

Through the silence, I heard her cough, sl

ightly weak, fragile, but alive. It was clear she had now woken up.

I closed my eyes and let out a long, shaky breath.

“Now what next?” I whispered.