Chapter 7

Lucienne was already moving before the guard finished speaking.

“What do you mean she’s gone?” His voice cracked through the council chamber like thunder. The guard immediately dropped to one knee. “We searched her room, Alpha. The bed is empty, the window was open, and no one saw her leave.”

Darius’s expression darkened. “That’s impossible.” He had left Selena only moments ago. She had promised to return straight to her room. His stomach tightened with dread as one terrifying thought crossed his mind. She hadn’t run away. Someone had taken her.

“Seal every gate!” Lucienne ordered. “No one enters or leaves SilverMist without my permission.” Bloodfang warriors rushed from the chamber while SilverMist guards scattered through the palace. The peaceful dawn disappeared beneath the sound of alarms echoing across the fortress.

Seraphine lowered her head, hiding the satisfaction flickering in her eyes. “I knew she was upset,” she whispered. “Maybe she couldn’t bear everything that happened tonight.” Luna Alara grabbed her daughter’s arm. “Selena would never leave.” It was the first time those words had ever left her mother’s lips, and somehow they only made the silence heavier.

Darius ignored the council and sprinted toward Selena’s room. Lucienne followed close behind. The chamber looked untouched except for the open window and the cloak Darius had wrapped around Selena only an hour earlier. It lay abandoned on the floor. Lucienne picked it up, his eyes narrowing. “She wouldn’t have left without this.”

Then Darius noticed something else.

A single silver flower rested on the windowsill.

His heart stopped.

“I’ve seen this before,” he murmured.

Lucienne turned sharply. “Where?”

Darius slowly picked up the flower. “Father once told me never to follow these flowers if they ever appeared.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “He said they bloom only when the Moon Queen is being called.”

A freezing wind swept through the room.

Outside the window, another silver flower bloomed.

Then another.

Then dozens more appeared one after another, stretching deep into the forbidden forest like a glowing path leading into the darkness. Without warning, Selena’s silver bracelet, still lying on the bedside table, began to glow… and a voice only Lucienne could hear whispered from somewhere beyond the trees.

“Come alone… if you ever want to see your mate alive.”

Lucienne’s fingers tightened around the glowing bracelet. The whisper still echoed in his mind, cold and unmistakable.

“Come alone… if you ever want to see your mate alive.”

Darius stepped toward the window, his eyes fixed on the trail of silver flowers disappearing into the forest. “We need to move now. Whoever took Selena can’t be far.”

“Who said she was taken?” Lucienne asked.

Darius turned sharply. “What?”

Lucienne faced him fully, his expression hardening. “Seraphine told the council you met Selena in secret tonight. Then she disappears. Tell me why I shouldn’t question that.”

The accusation hung between them.

Darius let out a disbelieving laugh. “You think I had something to do with this?”

“I think you’re hiding something.” Lucienne’s voice dropped dangerously low. “You saw that dagger beneath the bed and said nothing.”

Darius froze.

“How do you know that?”

“Because I know you.” Lucienne took a step closer. “You’ve been protecting her all night. Meeting her in gardens. Keeping secrets from me.”

Anger flashed across Darius’s face. “I was protecting her because you wouldn’t!”

The room went still.

“You looked at the broken vase, at Seraphine’s tears, and decided Selena was guilty before she could defend herself.”

Darius’s jaw clenched. “I saw the truth, Lucienne. Seraphine hid the dagger. Selena was being framed.”

Lucienne’s eyes narrowed. “And instead of coming to me, you met my mate alone in the middle of the night.”

“Because she needed someone to believe her!”

The words hit harder than either of them expected.

Darius took another step forward. “Do you know what she said to me? She said no one had ever listened to her before. Not her mother. Not her sister. Not even her mate.” His voice roughened. “And she was right.”

Lucienne’s wolf snarled beneath his skin. “Be careful, Darius.”

“Or what?” Darius shot back. “You’ll punish me for treating her with kindness?”

For a heartbeat, the brothers stood inches apart, tension crackling between them like a drawn blade. Outside, the silver flowers continued blooming deeper into the forest, their glow creeping closer to the palace walls.

Then Lucienne spoke, each word edged with warning.

“If anything has happened to Selena because you kept this from me…”

Darius’s eyes blazed. “And if anything has happened to her because you trusted the wrong sister…”

A distant scream suddenly tore through the forest.

Both brothers turned toward the window.

The silver flowers flared brighter.

Just as Lucienne lunged toward the window, something crashed through it. A bloodstained bird landed in the middle of the room and collapsed at Darius feet. Tied around its neck was a strip of black cloth marked with SilverMist’s royal seal. Darius ripped it free and unfolded it. There were only six words written in fresh blood. “Choose one sister before sunrise.” Beneath the message was a single lock of Selena’s silver hair.

Lucienne was the first to move.

He vaulted through the shattered window without another word, landing hard in the palace courtyard before sprinting toward the forest. Darius followed close behind, refusing to let his brother face whatever waited in the darkness alone. Behind them, Bloodfang warriors poured out of the palace, but Lucienne raised a hand without looking back.

“No one follows.”

The command stopped every warrior in their tracks.

Darius caught up with him just outside the forest. “You’re making a mistake,” he said. “If this is a trap, the two of us won’t be enough.”

Lucienne didn’t slow down. “If they’ve taken Selena because of the mate bond, every extra warrior puts her life at greater risk.”

The silver flowers guided them deeper into the woods until they reached a small clearing bathed in pale moonlight.

Empty.

No Selena.

No attackers.

Only her silver bracelet lying in the middle of the grass.

Lucienne rushed forward and picked it up. It was still warm.

“She was here,” Darius said, scanning the trees.

Before either of them could react, a low chuckle echoed through the clearing.

Both brothers spun toward the sound.

Kael stepped out from behind the trees, alone.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come,” he said.

Lucienne’s eyes turned cold. “Where is she?”

Kael looked from Lucienne to Darius before a slow smile spread across his face.

“I only invited one brother, seems both cares for her so much “.

The ground suddenly trembled beneath their feet’s.

Kael folded his arms.

“Now…” he said quietly.

“Let’s see which one of you she’ll choose.”