The Beta Battle

The hand over my mouth felt warm. And that voice? Sweet, familiar. But off. 

“Shhh…” it whispered, pulling me deeper into the shadows. “You weren’t supposed to find her yet, you were warned about looking too closely and now you’ll have to face the consequences.”

I struggled against it, with my human strength, while my eyes were locked on Melina. She was tied up, crying, and too weak to scream again. I pondered how many hours she had been tortured and why she was chosen to be in this position. I contemplated what would have happened to her if I hadn’t shown up.

Just as my feet dragged across the floor, struggling with the hand over my mouth and neck, I tried to use my wolf strength but immediately the door flew open behind us. 

“MAY!” 

 Aether’s voice cut through the air, sharp and furious, and instantly the hand released me. The figure dissolved into smoke.

By the time Aether got to me, I was on the ground, breathless and trembling. He pulled me up, his eyes wild. “What happened?”

I pointed into the dark room. “She’s here. Melina. And whatever that thing is that did this to her was struggling with me just now”

Aether frowned, his brows knitting together. “It seems I have been relenting a lot these days, so that anything and anyone feels they could just walk into my pack and torment my subjects. 

He growled with fury, his eyes darkening. 

Minutes later, Laziel and Aria rushed in. They were filled with disbelief at what was happening while they were fast asleep. 

Melina was curled up in the corner, cuts on her skin, her wrists burned from the Moon-thread that had held her captive.

She looked up through a mess of tangled hair.

“You found me…” she whispered.

Tears stung my eyes. “You were right. They did impersonate you, I will get to the bottom of this to why it’s you they chose to use. 

She offered a weak smile. “Don’t… trust her. The one wearing me… she’s not just Hollowed.”

I leaned in closer. “Then what is she?”

Melina's voice shook. “She’s the bridge.”

I blinked. “Bridge to what?”

Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

–––

The next day, a horn echoed through the courtyard.

Laziel and Aether dashed to the temple gates.

A tall, broad-shouldered wolf in silver and black armor stood just outside the barrier facing backward and when he turned, he seemed strange.

Beta Nelson, Castillo’s second, and the last man who somehow still believes I belonged to his Alpha. To his pack.

I stepped forward slowly. “Nelson! What now?”

He turned to me, but his eyes… They weren’t brown anymore, they were completely black.

No whites, no emotion. Just endless voids. And his aura? Different.

My stomach dropped.

“May,” he said, his voice too smooth, too calm. “You’ve changed.”

“I could say the same,” I shot back, stepping behind Laziel.

His smile twitched unnaturally. “The Moon was wrong about you. But we can still fix this. Come back to Castillo. Come… home.”

Aether stepped in front of me. “That’s not happening.”

Nelson tilted his head. “Then we’ll take her.”

His body twitched, then cracked. Bones shifted wrong, too fast— not like a wolf but like something crawling beneath his skin.

And then he lunged at me.

Aether shoved me aside, teeth bared, wolf shifting and claws extending vigorously.

“Don’t worry Alpha, let me take this one, he's a small fry” Laziel scoffed. 

“Hello boy, we meet again. You ridiculed me the last time calling me a dog, now let me show you what big dogs do” he smirked shifting into his wolf. 

Green eyes, ashy and huge like Castillo’s. I have never seen Laziel shift ever since his arrival in the pack. He’s indeed Aether's brother. The bloodline of surviving Royal rogues.

“This is not your fight, I will crush you!” Nelson echoed and with speed leaped onto Laziel.

The clash of claws and teeth echoed through the Northwoods gates. Exchange of powers and tactics 

Nelson fought like he was possessed—his limbs moving at impossible angles, his body reshaping with every hit.

But Laziel was unyielding. He matched each blow with fire. He was fast, brutal, and relentless.

The two Betas moved like lightning. They fought for too long and Laziel was beginning to lose strength but Nelson wouldn’t budge. I peeked at Nelson, his moves, and body language and instantly I realized 

He has been swallowed by the hallowed to come capture me. I whispered to Aria and in no time she brought out wolfbane and sprinkled it on Nelson, weakening him. 

Laziel slammed Nelson into the stone wall hard enough to crack it. Nelson let out a shriek—not human, not wolf but something ancient.

He dropped to his knees, black smoke pouring from his eyes. And then… the hallowed vanished from his body. He regained his mind and fell to the ground wailing. 

–––

We locked Nelson in the lower dungeons, where not even the Moonlight could reach. He will be there for three days, Aether has earlier declared.

And me? I treated Laziel's wounds. Although he withstood the pain, Nelson had wounded him severely in his back and limbs and my healing skills were needed. The fact that this hallowed will control anyone just to get to me was becoming too alarming.

Later that night, I stood on the balcony, staring at the stars, my heart palpitating loudly.

Then I heard it, like a calm whisper in the wind.

“Bearer…”

I turned slowly and peeped. A girl stood at the edge of the courtyard.

No guards had spotted her, no scent and she made no noise.  But I perceived her just in time and recognized that face.

The Second Vessel, she was Alive and back. Her hair was longer, her eyes sharper—glowing faint violet in the moonlight.

But her aura… It felt cold, dead, and empty. She looked at me like a stranger, like prey.

“The Moon chose wrong,” she said. “And now, I’ve come to fix that mistake. I’m back to take my place as the rightful vessel.”

And then— Her fangs elongated.