Semua Bab Fated By War: Bab 21 - Bab 30

Aria's POVThe three packs assembled at our northern border looked like an execution squad. I recognized their banners: Silvercrest, Ironwood, and Shadowpeak. Council allies sent to deliver a message written in blood.Alpha Thorne of Shadowpeak stepped forward, his scarred face twisted into a sneer. "Kael Brennan. You have one chance to undo your foolishness. Surrender the Thornwood siblings and submit to Council authority. Do this, and Nightshade will be welcomed back into the fold.""And if I refuse?" Kael stood tall beside me, every inch the Alpha despite being outnumbered."Then we remove you as Alpha and install someone more... reasonable." Thorne's gaze slid to the wolves behind us. "Any volunteers want to challenge for leadership? The Council promises protection and resources to whoever brings Nightshade back in line."Silence. Not one wolf stepped forward."Disappointing," Thorne muttered. "Then we do this the hard way. You have until sundown to evacuate civilians. After that,

The compound looked like a graveyard. Bodies scattered across scorched earth, blood mixing with ash, the acrid smell of smoke choking the air. We had won, but victory tasted like poison.Twelve dead. Twenty-three wounded. And Luna had escaped into the night with the retreating Council forces."We should pursue her," Dante said, appearing at my side. His face was grim beneath the blood and soot. "She knows too much about our defenses. Every day she stays free is another day she can betray us.""With what forces?" I gestured at our exhausted wolves. "Half our fighters can barely stand. The other half are tending the wounded or burying the dead.""Then tomorrow. We hunt her down before she reaches Council territory." Dante's voice carried the cold certainty of someone who understood revenge. "She chose her side. Now she faces the consequences."Aria limped toward us, favoring her left leg. "We have bigger problems than Luna right now. The Council will regroup and come back stronger. We n

Kael's POVLuna stood at the northern border like a ghost returned from the dead. No weapons, no armor, just torn clothes and fresh bruises marking her face. She looked like she had been through hell and barely escaped."This is a trap," Silas said beside me. "She comes crawling back the moment we are vulnerable? Too convenient.""Maybe." I studied my cousin through the fence separating pack territory from neutral ground. "Or maybe she is exactly what she claims. Someone with information we need.""She betrayed us," one of the warriors growled. "Led the Council straight to our door. We should shoot her where she stands.""No." Aria's voice was firm. She stood on my other side, her expression unreadable. "If she knows what Dante is planning, we need to hear it. After that, we can decide if she lives or dies."Luna's eyes found mine across the distance. "I know you have no reason to trust me, Kael. But I am not your enemy. I never was.""You brought the Council to slaughter us," I calle

Kael's POVI read my father's words three times before the meaning truly sank in. Each reading felt like another betrayal, another layer of lies peeling away to reveal something worse underneath.The person who poisoned me did so because I asked them to.I am dying, Kael. Have been for months. Heart condition, genetic, incurable. Vera confirmed it after extensive testing. I had six months at most, each day bringing more pain and weakness.I could not let the pack see their Alpha waste away. Could not show vulnerability when the Council was circling like vultures. So I chose a different death. One that looked like murder. One that gave you a clear enemy to unite against.I asked someone I trusted to help me. To poison me slowly enough that it appeared natural at first, then suspicious later. To let Dante Thornwood take credit for my death so you would have a villain to rally the pack against.Was it manipulation? Yes. Was it cruel to the person who loved me enough to grant this mercy?

Lucian’s POVThe first sound I heard was metal, a gate, not the driveway gate, something smaller, closer. It rattled like a bad tooth and then stopped, deliberate.I didn’t think so. That was the thing: there was no time to think. I rolled off the settee, boots on, hand finding the pistol by instinct. The wound in my side ached; the bandage was a hot thumb of pressure, and I could taste iron anyway. Pain didn’t matter. Not if blood could be used as a distraction.The house smelled like damp stone and spilled coffee. The kind of smell that settles when people are afraid and try to act normal. The monitors in the hall blinked at me, a dozen tiny suns. One of the feeds went grainy and then went black. Not a failure — a cut.I heard movement outside: soft, methodical. Men with gloves. A shovel would have sounded like a trumpet tonight. They knew how to be quiet.“Get men,” I said into the phone clipped to my belt. No answer. The lines were skinned. Someone had sympathy for a blackout.I m