Chapter 6

"I love you too, Rachael." I heard him tell me that. His comments should have made me pleased, but instead they made my heart skip a beat. 

This was happening too quickly; before I could even comprehend what Kelvin was saying, the scene was destroyed by a loud explosion. They were trembling walls. The Tavern was filled with the surge of heat and distant screaming. Kelvin's instincts took control right away. He shoved me behind him, muscles taut like a coiled predator. "Stay here," he ordered, his crimson eyes flashing.

"No!" I grabbed his arm. "I’m coming with you." He didn’t argue, just gave me a sharp nod. Without wasting another second, we ran outside. The eastern wing of the Tavern was engulfed in flames. Smoke billowed into the night sky, thick and suffocating. The acrid scent of burning wood mixed with something worse—blood. The growls of Lycans rumbled through the air, low and menacing. Their silhouettes moved in disciplined formation, their yellow eyes glowing like embers. "An attack?" I asked, my pulse hammering. Kelvin’s gaze darkened. "No. A warning." Before I could ask what he meant, something rolled across the ground and stopped at my feet.

A severed wolf’s head.

My stomach lurched.

The sight was grotesque—fur matted with blood, lifeless eyes staring into nothing. A parchment was tied around its neck. Kelvin snatched it and read aloud:

"You can hide her, but you can’t keep her. The outcast belongs to us. Return her, or the bloodshed begins."

The world seemed to tilt.

Kelvin crushed the paper in his fist. His entire body vibrated with rage. "Mike."

I swallowed hard. They knew I was alive. The Crimson Moon Pack wasn’t just watching. They were coming. Kelvin turned to his warriors, his voice sharp. "Double security. No one enters or leaves without my command." A sick feeling crawled up my spine as I stared at the severed head. "Mike killed his own wolf to send a message." Kelvin nodded, his expression unreadable.

A slow, steady burn of anger replaced my fear. "I’m not running," I said. "If they want me, they’ll have to fight for me."

For a brief second, something flickered in Kelvin’s gaze—pride, maybe. Then his expression hardened.

"They won’t take you," he promised.

A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the night.

Kelvin and I spun toward the sound. We sprinted back into the Tavern. In the dim corridor, the nurse who had attended me lay sprawled on the floor, blood pooling beneath her. Deep claw marks marred her abdomen, her breaths shallow.

Kelvin dropped to his knees. "Who did this?"

She gasped, her body trembling. With great effort, she lifted a weak hand and pointed toward the Tavern’s interior.

"In…side…” Then her arm went limp.

Kelvin scooped her up effortlessly. "Get the healer!" he barked,my heart pounded, it was clear someone attacked her from inside.

Which meant only one thing, there was a traitor among us here. Kelvin placed the nurse on a cot as the healer rushed in, working fast to where she was. Her blood had soaked the sheets as the woman groaned weakly, it was clear she was dying.

I turned to Kelvin with frights in my voice. "We need to find the traitor. Now, so that we won't encounter another dead body."

His crimson eyes gleamed with cold fury in them. "I already have a suspect."

Before I could ask who, the door slammed open. A Lycan guard stumbled in, panting heavily. "Prince Kelvin! The prisoner escaped!"

As mentioned by that name, I froze from where I was. "What prisoner?" Kelvin’s face darkened, his eyes were stuck at the guard. "A rogue wolf we captured two days ago. He had intel on Mike."

Dread curled in my gut hearing those words. "And now he’s gone."

Kelvin’s expression was carved from stone. "He didn’t escape." As he said those words

My mouth went dry, I am confused now. "What do you mean?" He suddenly smiled.

"Someone let him out, he can't escape without any one's help.”

The realization hit like ice water, he was right, the cell was heavily built, meaning someone must have helped him escape. Mike had a spy inside the Tavern. The Crimson Moon Pack knew I was alive.

And now, a rogue wolf was carrying information straight back to them.

"Who do you suspect?" I asked him as I turned to him, my voice steady despite the fear curling in my chest. Kelvin’s jaw clenched as he was staring at God knows what "A few names come to mind." He paused.

I felt a gust of wind howling through the broken windows speedily. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled back. Kelvin exhaled sharply and turned to the guard. "Gather the warriors. Now."

The moment we stepped outside, a small army of Lycans was already waiting, assembled. Their eyes flicked between us and the smoldering wreckage of the Tavern’s eastern wing. With both hands shoved behind his back, Kelvin’s voice was razor-sharp as he spoke. "We have a traitor in our midst" he paused.

Murmurs spread through the warriors like wildfire as everyone of them were seen talking to the other person. 

He raised a hand, silencing them. "Someone freed a prisoner. Someone sent a message to the Crimson Moon Pack and Someone is working against us." He completed his words, looking at his face you could tell he was angry.

The tension was suffocating. Kelvin’s voice dropped to something quieter, deadlier.

"If you’re the traitor, know this—" he paused, his crimson eyes gleaming under the firelight.

"You’ve already lost." He dropped.

The wind picked up, carrying the scent of blood and betrayal. And as I stood there, my skin prickling with unease, I knew one thing for certain.

The traitor was watching and right in the midst of the armies he was there. Somewhere in the shadows, they were waiting for the right moment to strike and I pray Kelvin would be able to detest who he is.