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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Alpha’s Betrayal: The rejected Luna’s Secret: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

69 Kabanata

CHAPTER 31

The fires burned for two days.We lit them at the southern edge of the forest, one pyre for each of the fallen. Seven warriors. Four women. And a boy too young to know how to hold a blade.I stood among the mourners, wrapped in a black shawl, the scent of smoke clinging to my skin. My hand rested low on my belly, as if to shield the twins from the grief pressing down on us all. No one spoke.The flames crackled high into the morning sky above us, the sky churned between gray and blue, refusing to choose. And the ashes of our dead were taken by the wind. Catherine said a few words over each pyre. I couldn’t tell you what they were. My ears only heard the mothers sobbing. The warriors staring hollow-eyed at the flames. The little boy clutching his father’s sword because his father would never come home to wield it again.The pack had survived the attack. But we would never be the same. I didn’t move until the last pyre burned low and the wind carried the ashes into the trees.In the

CHAPTER 32

I didn’t think the pack house would ever be this noisy after the attack.Laughter and voices spilled down the corridors, the smell of roasted meat and fresh bread drifting on the warm air. For the first time in weeks, I heard music—- a fiddle and a drum from somewhere in the hall, keeping rhythm with the hum of conversation.My mother in law had worked her magic.I stood in my room while she fussed over the fall of my pale blue dress, smoothing the fabric over my stomach as though willing the wrinkles away. My hair had been braided and pinned, and small silver charms of little wolves, moons, and stars that caught the lantern light when I moved were woven into the strands“You look absolutely radiant,” Catherine said, her voice warm but firm, like I wasn’t allowed to disagree.“I look like I’ve swallowed a barrel,” I muttered, though I smiled despite myself.She pinched my chin lightly. “You look beautiful. Allow yourself to be happy tonight okay? Tonight isn’t about plans or patrol sc

CHAPTER 33

When the explosion happened, time seemed to stand still for a second.For a split second, there was silence so sharp that I could hear the sound of my own heartbeat in my ears. The force of the explosion slammed into me like a hurricane, sending chairs and tables and rocks and debris everywhere. I was pushed back with the sheer force of it, and when flying through the air. My back collided with a metal fence with a loud clang, hard enough to rattle my teeth. A metallic clang rang out, and an ear-splitting scream tore through the air.It was only when I tasted blood in my mouth that I realized the scream had come from me.My wolf howled inside my mind, sharp and panicked. The pups. Protect the pups. Pain radiated down my spine as I curled instinctively, cupping my stomach. I tried to move, but my muscles rebelled. Every breath came shallow and ragged, the copper tang of blood mixing with smoke in my nose.I wiped my eyes and tried to see through the cloud of dust in the air. Everythin

CHAPTER 34

Emory’s grip was firm as he slid me into the back seat of one of Sebastian’s vintage two seater cars. I had no idea why we weren’t taking one of the more normal cars, but I guessed Emory just reached for the first car keys his hands could reach. The leather was cool against my overheated skin, but my wolf was pacing restlessly inside me, hackles raised. Something was very, very wrong, and I didn’t want to think that it had anything to do with my babies.Through the windshield, I saw Catherine climbing into her own car. She looked furious, her eyes flashing with the steely calm of a Luna who’d seen too much to panic. She pulled out right behind us as Emory started the engine.“Please,” I rasped, another contraction seizing me. My claws tore weakly at the seatbelt as I arched against the leather. “Hurry.”“We’ll get you there,” Emory said without looking at me. We pulled away from the pack house, gravel spitting under the tires. Catherine’s headlights stayed steady in the rearview mirro

CHAPTER 35

The empty crib stared back at me. It was such a small thing, a bassinet no bigger than a basket, but the sight hollowed me out more than claws ever could. Just hours ago, two squalling, perfect lives had been tucked into it. My pups. My twins. Now there was nothing but the neatly folded blankets they’d been placed on. My wolf lunged to the surface, snarling so violently my gums split with the force of my fangs pressing down on them. The monitor beside me shrieked with my heartbeat, but the sound was drowned beneath her growl inside my skull. Find them! Tear down walls! Burn this place to the ground until they’re in your arms! “Alora—” Catherine’s voice broke through, soft but unsteady. I whipped my head toward her, my vision tinged gold. “Where are they?” Her mouth worked, but no words came out. Fury boiled through me, so hot it felt like it blistered. I ripped at the IV in my arm, ignoring the sting, and ignoring the nurse rushing forward with frantic hands. “Stay in bed, Luna

CHAPTER 36

Four days.It had been four days since my babies had been stolen from me. Four days since I’d smelled their sweet, milky scent. Since I’d pressed kisses to their damp foreheads and whispered promises I hadn’t even been able to keep.Now there was only silence. Silence and restraint.The doctors had ordered me to bed rest after I tore myself open half-shifting in the hospital. Catherine had enforced it. She said I was too weak, that my body was still bleeding and healing, that if I tried to fight I’d collapse or even worse.So they’d bound me with soft leather straps across my wrists and ankles, tied to the bedposts. It wasn’t tight, but it was firm enough to keep me from ripping myself apart in another wild attempt to leave.My wolf raged against them, snarling day and night. Our pups are out there. We should be hunting, tracking them down, and killing anyone in our way. She lunged at the restraints, snapping inside me, but my body had given out and it wouldn’t obey.I lay there, swea

CHAPTER 37

LILITH’S POVAnna had always been a problem.She was small, quiet and forgettable on the surface. She was just a maid, just another servant in Alora’s orbit. But her eyes saw too much. Her ears caught whispers they weren’t meant to hear. And her mouth… her mouth had ruined everything.Anna thought she was clever.She thought she could spy on me, challenge me, and walk freely through these halls like nothing had happened.My lips curled into a smile as I watched her from the shadowed archway of the servants’ wing. She hurried along with her basket of linens. Her head was bowed in dutiful silence as she moved briskly and efficiently as always. Loyal little Anna. Always running to Alora’s side like a lapdog. Always whispering secrets that weren’t hers to speak.If it weren’t for Anna, Alora would be long gone by now. The babies she cared so much about would have been gone a long time ago, and I knew Alora would never be able to live with that reality, and she would follow after them shor

CHAPTER 38

LILITH I had taken extra care to prepare everything. The fire was lit low, the curtains were drawn, and the air was perfumed with crushed lavender and bergamot. On the table, two cups waited, one laced with the white powder I had crushed to dust with the edge of a spoon. I stirred it carefully into the darker cup, watching the swirl disappear. It was a sleeping draught, it wasn’t deadly, just strong enough to make even an Alpha sleep for days. My wolf purred at my feet. He’ll come. He always comes. I smoothed my hair one last time, and checked the angle of the mirror. My reflection smiled back at me. I looked composed and elegant, and nothing like the feverish hunger that gnawed inside me. Sebastian would see poise and calm. He would never know what waited underneath. And then the knock came. It was soft, almost hesitant. I swallowed my thrill and forced my voice into a gentle murmur. “Come in.” The door creaked open, and there he was. Sebastian filled the doorway lik

CHAPTER 39

CATHERINE The hospital room was dim, lit only by a lamp in the corner and the glow of moonlight spilling across the bed. Alora lay turned toward the window, her back half to me, her body still and stiff under the thin blanket. She hadn’t spoken much since the twins were taken.I set the tray I carried down on the table. The clink of the porcelain seemed too loud in the silence.“You haven’t eaten all day,” I said gently, though I knew she wouldn’t answer.She didn’t. Her shoulders rose with one shallow breath, then another.I sighed and pulled a chair closer to the bed. “I’m not here to scold you, sweetheart. I just… I thought maybe you’d want company.”Her gaze didn’t leave the window.We sat in silence for several minutes. I’d learned not to press too quickly; grief had its own timing. Finally, I folded my hands in my lap and tried a different approach.“You know, your mate hasn’t left this hospital since the attack,” I said softly. “He’s been running himself ragged. Searching, que

CHAPTER 40

LILITHThe night wrapped around me like a cloak, thick and quiet, and I smiled at the thought that I didn’t need its protection. I had my own. Still, the black fabric of my hood draped neatly over my head, the hem brushing my cheekbones, my boots whispering against the stone as I slipped out of the compound gates. I didn’t look back. Looking back was for people who feared being caught.I didn’t fear.The guards at the gate barely lifted their heads. They were used to me by now — the grieving sister of their Luna, the pretty shadow who wandered in and out of the pack house at odd hours. If they thought anything at all, it was probably that I was restless and lonely. That I couldn’t quite fit anywhere, and so I drifted.And that was the beauty of it.They underestimated me. They all did. And when people underestimated you, you became invisible.My lips curled in a smile and satisfaction spread all over me.Everything was falling into place.Sebastian’s absence from the hospital, Alora’s

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