The Wolf Beneath The Roses

The battlefield stretched before us like a sea of blood. Smoke curled into the dark sky, swallowing the moonlight as thousands of vampires and werewolves clashed beneath it. The sound of steel striking steel echoed across the valley, mixed with snarls, screams, and the thunderous roar of magic being unleashed.

I watched from the raised platform overlooking the battlefield, my fingers resting loosely against the hilt of my sword.

“Look at them.”

I couldn't hide the satisfaction in my voice.

Our army had pushed the werewolves back almost three miles in less than an hour.

Their eastern formation had already collapsed.

Their southern flank was surrounded.

And our strongest battalion was advancing toward their command center.

“We'll be celebrating in the palace before sunrise.”

Beside me, Silas remained strangely quiet.

I glanced at my younger brother.

He was watching the battlefield too, but unlike me, there was no excitement in his eyes.

Only that faint, unreadable smile.

I frowned.

“What?”

His eyes shifted toward me.

“Nothing.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You've been staring at me for the past minute.”

His smile widened.

“You're enjoying yourself.”

“Of course I am.”

I gestured toward the battlefield.

“We've spent six months preparing for this. Their army is cornered. Their supply routes have been destroyed. Their king is trapped behind his own forces.”

I turned toward him.

“Relax, brother. We've already won.”

Silas raised an eyebrow.

Then he smiled again.

Oddly.

There was something about that smile that made the back of my neck prickle.

But it disappeared almost immediately.

I dismissed it.

Silas had always been difficult to read.

Perhaps that was simply the way he was.

I turned back toward the battlefield.

A horn sounded in the distance.

Our soldiers roared.

The enemy line broke.

I smiled.

Victory was within reach.

Or so I thought.

---

Something was wrong.

I realized it almost twenty minutes later.

The enemy forces that had been retreating suddenly stopped.

Then they turned.

Not toward our main army.

Toward us.

“Commander!”

I turned sharply.

A soldier came rushing toward me, blood covering half his face.

“What happened?”

“They've breached the eastern formation!”

My expression hardened.

“That should be impossible.”

“We're being attacked from behind!”

I stared at him.

“Behind?”

He nodded frantically.

“Werewolf forces. Hundreds of them.”

My blood ran cold.

I looked toward the eastern side of the battlefield.

The formation that had been retreating moments ago had split apart.

From the smoke emerged thousands of werewolves.

They weren't retreating.

They had been waiting.

Waiting for us.

“Sound the retreat.”

The commander beside me looked confused.

“Your Highness?”

“Now!”

The horn sounded.

But the battlefield had already descended into chaos.

Our soldiers were surrounded.

The enemy wasn't simply attacking us.

They knew exactly where every one of our formations was positioned.

They knew where our strongest soldiers were.

They knew where our weakest defenses were.

They knew everything.

I drew my sword.

“Get Silas.”

The commander stared at me.

“Your Highness?”

“Find my brother!”

Before he could respond, something slammed into the platform.

The wooden structure shook violently.

I jumped down just as a werewolf lunged toward me.

I swung my sword.

The blade sliced across his chest.

He fell.

Another came from my left.

I ducked beneath his claws and drove my sword into his stomach.

But there were too many.

Far too many.

“Protect the prince!”

Someone shouted.

I fought my way through the chaos, searching for Silas.

My eyes scanned every face.

Nothing.

Where was he?

“Silas!”

No answer.

A vampire soldier stumbled past me, his throat torn open.

Another fell beside him.

My grip tightened around my sword.

This wasn't a battle anymore.

It was a slaughter.

And someone had led us straight into it.

An insider.

There was no other explanation.

Someone had given the werewolves our plans.

Our formations.

Our numbers.

Everything.

I refused to believe it.

Until I saw the enemy commander give an order.

Our western forces immediately came under attack.

Exactly where they were weakest.

My stomach dropped.

Someone had betrayed us.

I fought harder.

I had to get back to the main formation.

I had to find Silas.

But before I could reach it, something struck me across the back.

Pain exploded through my body.

I crashed onto the ground.

My sword flew from my hand.

I tried to push myself up.

A boot slammed against my back.

My face hit the dirt.

A blade pressed against my throat.

“Don't move.”

I froze.

Around me, the sounds of battle seemed to fade.

I could hear my own breathing.

Heavy.

Uneven.

I stared at the ground.

Blood dripped from my fingers.

My blood.

For the first time that night, the reality of our defeat settled over me.

We had lost.

I had lost.

The Vampire Prince.

The heir to the throne.

Kneeling in the dirt with a sword against my throat.

My heart pounded.

Then I heard footsteps.

Slow.

Unhurried.

Coming from behind me.

I knew that walk.

My chest tightened.

No.

It couldn't be.

The footsteps stopped.

I lifted my head.

Silas stood several feet away.

Alive.

Unharmed.

Not a single drop of blood stained his clothes.

Relief washed over me for half a second.

“Silas…”

His eyes met mine.

And he smiled.

That same strange smile.

The one I'd seen before the battle.

The one I'd dismissed.

My relief vanished.

I looked around.

The werewolves surrounding me weren't attacking him.

They weren't even pointing their weapons at him.

They simply watched.

Waiting.

My heart began to pound for an entirely different reason.

Silas walked closer.

“Brother.”

His voice was calm.

Far too calm.

I stared at him.

“What…”

My throat tightened.

“What are you doing here?”

He tilted his head.

“Isn't it obvious?”

I looked at the soldiers around him.

Then back at him.

“No.”

His smile widened.

“You really don't understand.”

He stopped directly in front of me.

I stared up at him.

For the first time in my life, I didn't recognize my own brother.

“Silas…”

He crouched down.

His face was close to mine now.

“You always were too trusting.”

My heart stopped.

I swallowed.

“What did you do?”

Silas chuckled softly.

“What do you think?”

I looked past him.

The werewolf soldiers stood completely still.

None of them looked surprised to see him.

None of them treated him as an enemy.

My stomach twisted.

The pieces began falling into place.

The battle plans.

The ambush.

The eastern formation.

The western attack.

Our exact positions.

My expression changed.

“You…”

Silas's smile disappeared.

“You finally figured it out.”

I shook my head.

“No.”

He stood.

“You lost because you trusted the wrong person.”

I stared at him.

“You betrayed the kingdom.”

“No.”

His eyes darkened.

“I betrayed you.”

The words struck harder than any sword could have.

I remembered every time I'd defended him.

Every time Father had compared us.

Every time the court whispered that Silas was more calculating, more ambitious, more suited to rule.

I'd always laughed.

I'd told them they didn't know him.

I'd told them Silas loved me.

I'd told them—

My stomach turned.

“How?”

Silas tilted his head.

“What?”

“How could you do this?”

For the first time, anger flickered across his face.

“You still don't understand.”

He rose to his feet.

“I didn't do this to you.”

My brows pulled together.

“Then who did you do it to?”

Silas looked down at me.

“You're still thinking like a prince.”

His voice was cold.

“I was thinking like the future king.”

My heart seemed to stop.

Future king.

The words echoed inside my skull.

Future.

King.

I stared at him.

Then everything became painfully clear.

The throne.

The crown.

The court.

The endless whispers about succession.

I had never seen Silas as a rival.

Never.

I had loved him too much to imagine he could ever see me as one.

A laugh escaped me.

It was small.

Broken.

I didn't recognize the sound.

“So that's it?”

Silas didn't answer.

“You wanted the throne.”

Still nothing.

“You could have asked.”

My voice trembled.

“You could have told me.”

I swallowed against the ache burning in my throat.

“I would have given it to you.”

That finally made him pause.

For one second, his expression shifted.

Then it hardened again.

“No, you wouldn't.”

“I would have.”

“You wouldn't.”

“I would have!”

The words tore out of me.

My chest heaved.

I couldn't understand why he couldn't believe me.

How could he?

Had I ever given him a reason to think I would deny him?

I had spent my entire life protecting him.

Defending him.

Choosing him.

And somehow, none of it had been enough.

Silas turned away from me.

“Take him.”

The sword at my throat pressed harder against my skin.

I stared at my brother as the soldiers grabbed my arms.

“Silas!”

He didn't

stop.

“Silas!”

He kept walking.

“You can't do this!”

He glanced over his shoulder.

Our eyes met one final time.

There was no hesitation in his expression.

No guilt.

No regret.

Only cold satisfaction.

“Goodbye, brother.”

He turned away.

And this time, I didn't call his name.

I simply watched him disappear into the smoke.

The battlefield roared around me.

Men screamed.

Steel clashed.

Blood soaked the earth.

But none of it mattered anymore.

Because the person I had trusted most in this world had just destroyed me.

The enemy hadn't captured me.

My own brother had handed me over.