All Chapters of Returning in Reverse After Betrayal: Chapter 111 - Chapter 120

252 Chapters

Chapter 111 The Catch

We set it up carefully.False manifests showing a “critical shipment” of Moonbane crystals arriving in three days. Route details. Everything a cult spy would need to plan an ambush.Then we waited.I was on watch from a hidden spot overlooking the main depot. Kael is on my left. Marcus is on my right. Liana and a team of scouts were scattered around.The night was quiet. Too quiet.“Maybe they won't bite,” Marcus whispered.“They'll bite,” Kael said. “The bait's perfect. Moonbane is precisely what they'd want to break our defenses.”“If they even know we're baiting them,” I added.An hour passed. Two. The camp settled into sleep.Then I felt it—a shift in the air.“Movement,” Liana's voice came through the comm rune. “East side. Two figures. Heading for the depot.”“Everyone hold,” Kael ordered. “Let them get inside. We take them alive.”I watched two shadows peel away from the dark. They moved with trained stealth. One tall, one shorter. Both in dark cloaks.They reached the depot do

Chapter 112 The Snake in the Den

All twelve Alphas were there. Their seconds too, and key advisors. The tent felt too small. The air was thick and heavy. You could taste the tension.“Let me get this straight,” Alpha Thorne said. He leaned forward on the table, knuckles white. “You’re telling us there’s a traitor. Somewhere in this camp. Among thousands of wolves. And we have three days to find them?”I kept my voice steady. “That’s what the message said.”“Or it’s a lie,” Raina cut in. Her eyes were sharp. “Meant to make us paranoid. Classic divide-and-conquer.”“Probably,” I agreed. “But we can’t assume it’s false. Not with our people at risk.”I looked down at the map spread between us. “We segment the camp. Each pack vets its own. Run checks on anyone near leadership or sensitive areas.”“That’ll slow us to a crawl,” Corwin said. He rubbed his face. “We’re already swamped. Processing freed prisoners, moving supplies, organizing transports home. This’ll gridlock everything.”I met his gaze. “If there’s a traitor a

Chapter 113 Lies and Chains

I still held Cole’s body when Liana returned. She was dragging someone in chains. Her face was hard.“Got the other one,” she said.She yanked the hood off.It was Maya. One of Helena’s healer trainees. Just twenty. Sweet-faced. Quiet. Always shy in meetings.Now she was sobbing. “Please. I didn’t want to. They have my sister. They said they’d kill her if I didn’t help.”I laid Cole down and stood. My legs felt weak. “Where’s your sister?”“I don’t know. Somewhere. They took her months ago, before Moonfall. They said if I helped, they’d let her go.”“And you believed them.”“I had to!” Maya’s voice broke. “She’s all I have left. Our pack is gone. Our parents are dead. It’s just us. What else could I do?”I looked at her—young, terrified, used. Both victim and traitor.“Lock her up,” I said. “Gentle restraints. No harm. And find out if her sister is real. If she’s alive.”Marcus stepped closer. “And if she is?”“Then we get her back.” I glanced at Cole’s body. “We show Maya what real m

Chapter 114 Shattered Trust

The camp stretched out below us—thousands of wolves sleeping in tents and under makeshift shelters. They trusted us to keep them safe. They believed in the peace we’d promised.And somewhere among them, more traitors waited.“Three days,” I said, the memory sharp in my mind. “Derek said three days until betrayal. That was yesterday.”Kael stood beside me, his gaze sweeping the darkened camp. “So we have two left. Or he was lying about the timeline. Either way, we push harder. Move faster.”“The Alphas won’t like it. More lockdowns, more scrutiny—they’ll say we’re strangling the camp.”“I don’t mind what they like.” The words came out hard, edged with an anger I hadn’t meant to show. “The cult is inside our walls. We’re not safe. I won’t let more wolves die because we were too soft to do what’s necessary.”Kael turned to me. In the moonlight, his face was grave. “Don’t let this change you, Sophia. Don’t become what you’re fighting.”“I’m not.”“You are. I can feel it. The anger. The su

Chapter 115 Throne and Shadow

The council tent was packed. Twelve Alphas, their Betas, and key advisors—all crammed into a space meant for half. The air was thick with tension and the scent of wolves forced into close quarters.I took my seat at the head of the table, Kael beside me. Some Alphas didn’t bother hiding their displeasure at the arrangement.“Let’s begin,” I said. The low chatter died. “We’re here to discuss the formation of the Northern Kingdom. Kael and I have a proposal.”“Before that,” Alpha Thorne interrupted. He leaned back in his chair, the picture of calculated insolence. “We need to address the elephant in the room.”Kael’s voice was dangerously calm. “Which is?”“Your legitimacy.” Thorne smiled, all teeth. “You walked away from the throne two hundred years ago. Left your responsibilities. And now, after one big battle, you want it back?”“I earned it back,” Kael said, every word precise. “By bleeding alongside your warriors. By facing Seraphine when most of you were ready to cut deals. By—”“

Chapter 116 The Night Visitor

That night, sleep wouldn’t come. Again.At midnight, I gave up. I slipped out of the tent. Kael stirred but didn’t wake—for once, exhaustion had pulled him deep under. Good. He needed it.The camp was quiet. Guards at their posts. Campfires burned low. Everything looked normal. Except it didn’t feel normal. The air felt charged. Watched.I walked the perimeter, nodding to the guards, checking defensive positions. Everything was in order. But that feeling—like eyes on the back of my neck—wouldn’t fade.Near the eastern edge, I found Marcus. He was doing the same thing, pacing slowly, his gaze scanning the dark tree line.“Can’t sleep either?” he asked, not looking at me.“Too much in my head.” I fell into step beside him. “You feel it?”“Feel what?”“Like we’re being watched.”Marcus was quiet for a long moment. “Yeah. I feel it. Half the senior warriors do, too.” He finally glanced at me. “But there’s never anyone there when we look.”“Thea said no dark magic.”“I know. Which means ei

Chapter 117 The Weight of the Crown

I called an emergency meeting at first light. Core team only: Kael, Marcus, Helena, Thea, and Erica. No Alphas, not yet. We needed to understand the threat ourselves first.“First Feeders?” Thea breathed the words like a curse when I finished explaining. Her face paled. “That’s… that’s a children’s tale. A myth to scare pups.”“The woman said they’re real. And waking up.”“Who was she?” Helena asked, her healer’s mind seeking facts.“I don’t know. She claimed to be a messenger. From the goddess herself.” I turned to Thea. “Is that even possible?”Thea’s expression was deeply troubled. “In theory, yes. The oldest texts speak of divine agents—messengers who walk the mortal world to guide or warn. But they’re supposed to be rare. So rare that most scholars think they’re symbolic.”“Well, I just met a very real, very literal one. And she gave us a deadline.” I looked at each of them. “Six months. Has anyone ever heard of these ‘First Feeders’ outside a story?”Kael spoke, his voice low and

Chapter 118 The confident

“Tell me.”“You and Kael, you’re good people. I actually believe you want what's best.” He finally met my eyes.“But good intentions don't stop tyrants from rising. History is full of kings who started noble and ended monstrous.”“Then stop us if we go that way,” I said.“That's literally what the charter allows.”“Words on paper.” His voice was bitter.“When you have an army and divine power, words don't matter much.”“They do to me. I know you don't trust me yet. That's fine. But give us a chance to earn it. That's all I'm asking.”“Three days. I'll give you my answer then.”He left.Kael appeared at my shoulder.“Think he'll come around?”“Maybe. Or perhaps he'll be the opposition we need to keep us honest.”“Always the optimist.”“One of us has to be.”That afternoon, I found Thea in the archive tent, surrounded by texts that looked older than civilization.“You look like hell,” I said, handing her tea.“Thanks. You're too kind.” But she took the tea gratefully.“I've been cross-re

Chapter 119 The Sacrifice Before Dawn

The sun dipped below the mountains, painting the sky in streaks of bloody red.I stood on the edge of camp, staring at the horizon where Willowbrook lay—now a graveyard, thanks to the Dream Eater.My hands shook, not from cold, but from a fear that had settled deep in my bones. Erica’s arm was still bandaged. The purple toxin had faded, but it wasn't gone.Helena’s warning echoed in my head: it might leave permanent damage to her sight.“Thinking about her?” Kael’s voice came from behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back against his chest. His warmth seeped through my armor, a welcome contrast to the chill that had little to do with the evening air.“Who else?” I leaned into him, closing my eyes.“I should’ve seen it coming. Should’ve mapped all the seals faster. We knew they were connected.”“It’s not your fault.” He kissed th

Chapter 120 The Dream-Hunt

Dawn broke, cold and colorless.The camp was a ghost of its usual self, empty of all but the essential guards. The rest of us stood assembled at the tree line bordering the western meadow.Warriors in tight formation, faces set in grim masks. Helena pressed the finished amulet into Erica’s hand—a simple silver chain from which hung a teardrop of captured moonlight, a Moonbane crystal wrapped in silver wire. It pulsed with a soft, steady rhythm.Marcus stood at the front of the strike team, his greatsword resting on his shoulder, his eyes scanning the mist-shrouded field.“Ready?” Kael’s voice was low, meant only for my ear, as he squeezed my hand.I looked at Erica, who gave me a tight, confident nod. I looked at the warriors, at the determined set of Raina’s jaw, and at the silent, watchful presence of Thorne’s rearguard on the camp walls behind us.“Ready,” I said, the word feeling both too s

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