Chapter Seven: The Brother’s Ultimatum

Marcus POV

The screen blinked once, then went dark.

For a moment, Marcus didn’t move. The silence in his war room pulsed like a heartbeat, violent, suffocating. His fingers rested on the cracked console, blood dripping from his knuckles.

“Run it again,” he growled.

His Beta hesitated. “It’s the same footage, Alpha. Silas is… he’s not just infiltrating. He’s”

“Don’t say it,” Marcus snapped.

He paced once, sharp strides echoing across the cold stone floor. Outside, the Crescent Moon warriors were sharpening blades, drilling maneuvers. Preparing for war.

And now his brother, his only family was tangled up in the one wolf they were sent to destroy.

Marcus stopped in front of the window, gaze locked on the dark horizon.

“We gave him a mission,” he said quietly. “Not a mate.”

His voice cracked on the last word.

Then it hardened again.

“Open the line.”

Silas’ POV

The room was empty when the comm device on the bedside table lit up.

He stared at it like it might explode.

It hadn’t buzzed since he’d left Crescent Moon. There were only two wolves who had access to this channel.

And one of them was dead.

He answered.

“Marcus.”

His brother’s voice hit like a slap. Cold. Precise. Familiar.

“You lied.”

Silas exhaled shakily. “I didn’t”

“You didn’t tell us he was your mate.”

Silas turned toward the window, jaw clenched. “I didn’t know.”

“You know now.”

There was a long silence between them. Years of history, of blood, of shared grief pressing against the space where words should be.

Then Marcus said, “You have one week.”

Silas froze. “One week?”

“To finish what you started. We need intel, floor plans, defense routes. Give me a reason not to launch.”

Silas’s stomach twisted. “You’d start a war over this?”

“I’d start a war to bring you home,” Marcus said. “Before he turns you into something you’re not.”

Silas blinked fast. “I’m not changed.”

“You’re hesitating. That’s worse.”

The line crackled.

Then Marcus’s voice dropped tired now. Sad. Deadly.

“One week, Silas. Then we burn everything. Including him.”

The signal cut.

Back in Red Moon

Ethan stood in the hallway outside the east wing, head tilted like he’d heard something he wasn’t supposed to.

He didn’t ask where the transmission came from.

Didn’t question the tension in Silas’s shoulders or the shadows behind his eyes.

But he knew.

And that was worse than suspicion.

Because silence meant trust.

And trust, now, could kill them both.

Noah’s POV

From the command center above the barracks, Noah watched the surveillance playback againframe by frame. He paused it right as Silas picked up the comm.

He zoomed in.

Encrypted Crescent tech.

His lip curled.

“Got you.”

Then he opened a secure file marked PLAN B.

And hit send.

Because some bonds are forged in blood

But others are broken by it.