CHAPTER 4 : " Whispers Of Betrayal"

The courtyard reeked of blood and ash.

Selene stood on the highest balcony of the Alpha Hall, her cloak whipping in the midnight wind. Below her, warriors scrambled, dragging away the charred remains of the creature Ryker called a harbinger.

It had appeared as a blur of smoke and claw ; silent, swift, and dripping with shadow. Three sentries had died before they even knew what hit them.

And Ryker had killed it.

He’d broken his chains, shifted mid-air into a black-furred beast with glowing silver eyes, and torn the harbinger in half with a single bite.

The pack had seen it. They had all seen it.

And for the first time, Selene wasn’t the one they looked to for power.

They looked at him.

She stormed into the war room, eyes blazing. Ryker was there, shirtless, wounded, wiping blood off his jaw with a rag. His skin gleamed with sweat and moonlight, the sight of him infuriatingly distracting.

“You shifted inside my estate,” she hissed.

“You’re welcome,” he said without looking up.

“You broke silver cuffs.”

He tossed the broken chains at her feet. “They were rusted. Weak. Like most of your sentries.”

Her hand shot out, grabbing him by the throat, slamming him into the wall. His breath hitched, but he didn’t fight back.

“Don’t test me,” she growled.

His silver eyes locked on hers. “You’ve already been tested, Luna. And you’re running out of people to trust.”

She froze.

“Your beta. Thorne,” Ryker added softly. “He’s the reason the harbinger got past your border wards.”

Selene let go of him instantly, stepping back, cold flooding her veins. “You’re lying.”

“He left the ward line open for exactly six minutes. Just long enough for something to slip in.”

She swallowed, her world tilting. “He would never! ”

Ryker stepped closer, eyes unreadable. “Loyalty fades when power shifts. You felt it tonight. Your pack did too. And Thorne? He’s not ready to kneel to a Moonborn queen.”

Selene stalked the halls with purpose, her boots striking hard against marble. Every instinct screamed at her to confront Thorne. But she needed proof. Needed to be sure.

She passed warriors who bowed, but their eyes held something new....uncertainty!

They’d seen Ryker shift. Seen the raw power in his bones. And though they still respected her… something was changing.

She caught murmurs behind doors. 

Low whispers:

"She can’t control him."

"What if he’s stronger?"

"Maybe the rogue is the real Alpha."

Selene’s jaw clenched. She paused at a bend in the corridor and heard her name.

“…Selene’s losing control.”

It was Thorne’s voice.

She pressed closer, listening.

A second voice responded. Female. Cool. Confident. Not from her pack.

“If she doesn’t hand over the Moonstone by the next blood moon, your deal’s off.”

“She won’t,” Thorne muttered. “But I’ll take it. And when she falls, I’ll claim the pack myself.”

Selene’s breath caught.

Betrayal.

That night, she didn’t sleep. She sat alone in her war chamber, the Moonstone pendant she wore burning against her chest. A symbol of her heritage. A gift from her mother. And now, a target.

She stared at the glowing crystal, her mind spinning.

Thorne. Her closest friend. Her second-in-command. Her brother in all but blood.

Had he really traded her to the enemy?

Ryker entered without knocking.

She didn’t stop him.

“You heard it?” she asked softly.

“I felt your heart spike the moment he said your name.”

She looked up. “I should kill him.”

“You can’t...yet,” Ryker said, stepping closer. “He’s not acting alone. He’s working with someone from the Ironhide Pack.”

Selene tensed. “Our oldest rival.”

Ryker nodded. “They want your stone. Your blood. Your throne.”

“And you?” she whispered. “What do you want, Ryker?”

He didn’t answer right away. Just looked at her like she was something carved from fire and stars.

“I want to see what happens when you stop holding back.”

Later that night, Selene found herself drawn to the garden, the sacred clearing where Luna blessings were once given.

She needed air. Space.

She wasn’t surprised when Ryker found her there.

“I can’t feel anything anymore,” she admitted. “I don’t know who to trust.”

He stepped beside her. “Trust your wolf.”

“She’s angry.”

“Good. Use it.”

The silence stretched, heavy with something unspoken. He turned to her.

“You’re holding everything in. All that pain. All that rage. What if you let it out?”

Selene’s breath hitched. “And what happens if I do?”

His voice dropped. “Then they’ll see what a true Luna looks like.”

She turned to him,and this time, she didn’t stop the pull.

Their lips met like a spark in dry grass, instant, burning, dangerous. His hands gripped her waist, her fingers tangled in his hair.

For a heartbeat, they were nothing but heat and hunger.

Then Selene broke the kiss, panting. “I’m not ready.”

Ryker’s eyes flickered. Not with anger. But something deeper. “Then I’ll wait. But the world won’t.”

At dawn, Selene marched into the training yard where Thorne was sparring.

He smiled when he saw her. “Luna.”

“Cut the act,” she said coldly.

Warriors paused, tension crackling in the air.

“I heard everything,” she added. “Ironhide. The Moonstone. Your betrayal.”

Thorne froze. Then his smile faded.

“Then you know I had no choice.”

“You had every choice,” she hissed. “You were my family.”

“You were weak,” he snarled. “Chasing power you don’t understand. Sleeping with rogues..."

She struck before he finished.

Their battle was vicious. Steel against steel. Claw against claw. Thorne was fast, but Selene was faster. Stronger.

Until he pulled a dagger laced with wolfsbane and drove it into her side.

She gasped, staggered.

Warriors rushed in...but it was too late.

Thorne vanished into the trees, howling into the wind.

Ryker was suddenly beside her, catching her before she fell.

Blood soaked her tunic. Pain stabbed through her ribs.

But it wasn’t the wound that broke her.

It was the realization: Thorne knew exactly where to stab.

And he hadn’t hesitated.