CHAPTER 4

Racheal POV 

Was Kael still on our side?

Or had he crossed the line and joined the enemy?

My heart thudded in my chest like war drums. I clenched my fists, teeth grinding together as confusion clouded my mind. Kael, my brother, my blood… How could he do this?

I kept pacing. My thoughts were everywhere. Every truth I once believed was shaking, falling apart piece by piece.

And something inside me said the worst was still coming.

"I can’t understand this," I muttered, more to myself than to Heden, who stood beside me with a heavy face.

"Did Kael really betray us? Did he turn his back on his own family? On his pack?"

The words echoed like a curse in my mind, taunting me with no mercy.

My heart pounded like war drums trapped in a cage of ribs. It wasn’t just the betrayal that burned it was the possibility that I’d never truly known him. My own brother. My blood. Kael, who once stood beside me when we swore an oath beneath the Moonstone Tree, had now become a phantom in our war too silent, too distant. And silence in wartime is a scream for suspicion.

I raked my fingers through my hair, pacing the edge of the ridge like a wolf trying to break its leash. My thoughts refused to settle. Everything I believed was falling apart crumbling like old ruins that once stood tall and proud.

Behind me, Heden stood with his arms crossed, his jaw tight. “We don’t know everything yet,” he said. “Kael may have been forced. We’ve seen what the enemy does to the mind.”

I wanted to believe that. I needed to.

But something in my gut something primal was howling otherwise.

“What if this time… it wasn’t the enemy who broke him?” I whispered.

Heden's brows were knit together. He looked lost. “I don't know… This doesn’t make sense. There must be more to it.”

“There has to be,” I said. But even as I spoke, doubt wrapped around me like chains. "But time will tell. One way or the other…"

Silence fell between us. Heavy. Bitter.

We turned back to Grey Moon.

The night was colder than before. The trees whispered secrets to each other. The wind carried smells of ash and war reminders of everything we’d lost.

When we reached the pack lands, Heden looked at me with tired eyes. “It’s late. You need to leave now. You’re not safe here.”

I nodded slowly.

He didn’t need to say more.

I shifted and ran through the night like a shadow, heading for Blue Moon. I just needed space. Time to think. Time to breathe.

But halfway through the forest, something stopped me.

A scent.

Familiar.

I slowed. Sniffed the air again.

It hit me like lightning.

Lucy.

I froze.

The smell was faint but real. I wasn’t imagining it.

“What is she doing out here?” I whispered to myself.

I followed the scent trail, my senses on fire. My wolf stirred inside me restless. On alert. The hairs on my neck stood up.

Then I heard footsteps.

Light. Careful.

I quickly hid behind a broken stone wall. The moonlight barely revealed her.

Lucy.

Her cloak flowed behind her like mist. She looked around paranoid and then started walking quickly into the deeper woods.

I followed her quietly. Careful not to snap a branch or stir a leaf.

She didn’t know I was behind her.

We walked deeper. Past the marked paths. Into a part of the forest I had never dared to enter alone.

She had no reason to be here. No one from Blue Moon ever came this far out, not alone. Not at night. Not when the trees whispered strange things.

She stopped in a strange clearing surrounded by tall stones, each one carved with symbols I’d only seen in ancient drawings.

My heart started racing.

She raised her hands, her voice low, chanting words I didn’t understand.

The wind picked up, swirling leaves in a circle around her. The ground shook.

A black mist began to rise.

I stepped back, mouth dry.

Then I saw them.

I gripped the tree beside me to steady myself, trying to stop my heartbeat from betraying me.

Shadows.

They crawled out from under the stones, forming shapes thin, tall, clawed. Spirits. Witches. Creatures I thought only lived in bedtime stories.

The Thorn Coven.

I stared, frozen.

Lucy… she had summoned them.

The truth hit me hard in the chest.

It was her.

The attack I had in my dream. The strange feeling in the air. Ezekiel’s strange behavior.

It all made sense now.

She must have bewitched him.

I listened to their conversation 

Lucy (in a low voice): “It’s done. He doesn’t suspect a thing.”

Witch Voice (dry and echoing): “And the bond? Does it hold?”

Lucy: “Stronger than before. I’ve twisted his memories enough. He no longer trusts Rachael… not fully. The dream spell worked.”

Racheal’s breath caught in her throat.

Witch Voice: “You’re playing a dangerous game, girl.”

Lucy: “I’m winning it. Blue Moon listens to him. And he listens to me.”

Racheal’s fists clenched. Her chest tightened.

Lucy (soft, bitter laugh): “Racheal still thinks they’ll all stand with her. She doesn’t know she’s already lost. Her pack. Her mate. Her future.”

Another voice older, harsher: “And the Council? What of the Elders?”

Lucy: “Give it time. When Racheal lashes out, they’ll see her as unstable. Dangerous. I’ll be calm. The balance. The future Luna they need.”

Witch Voice: “You seek the throne.”

Lucy: “I will have it.”

The shadows stirred. A swirl of cold wind swept across the clearing. The symbols on the stone glowed faintly.

Witch Voice: “Power comes with a price. Are you still willing to pay it?”

Lucy (without hesitation): “Anything. I’ve waited too long. I won’t be forgotten. Not again.”

A long silence followed.

The wind howled.

Lucy (to herself, coldly): “You should have stayed gone, Racheal. But since you’re here… I’ll let you break in front of them.”

*****

Her plan was simple.

Take over Blue Moon.

Kill me.

Then control Ezekiel.

I felt anger rise in my chest like lava. My hands shook. I wanted to scream. To attack. But I held back.

She couldn’t see me. Not yet.

I would not be another foolish victim of her game.

I left before the ritual ended. I had seen enough.

I ran, each step driven by pure rage.

I wasn’t going to beg Ezekiel to believe me.

I wasn’t going to hide.

Let the truth break everything if it had to.

My marriage.

My name.

My peace.

I didn’t care anymore.

She had to be stopped.

And justice had to be done.

Even if I had to walk into fire alone.

Even if I had to face Ezekiel one last time.

I would make him see.

I stormed into the Blue Moon pack house, pushing the doors of the council room open without knocking.

And with fire burning in my chest, I said,

"I am going to put some sense into Ezekiel tonight…