All Chapters of The Crippled Alpha’s Hidden Luna: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The Truth Under His HandsPOV: LucienI pushed past the last guard who finally stepped aside after I stared him down long enough that he understood I would not leave without seeing Erwin. The heavy iron door creaked open and the dim torchlight from the corridor spilled into the small cell. I stepped inside and the door closed behind me with a final clang that echoed in the narrow space.He sat on the stone floor with his back against the wall, with his knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them. His head rested against the wall and his eyes were closed but I knew he was not sleeping. His breathing was too careful and too controlled. Bruises darkened his cheekbone and a thin cut above his eyebrow still looked fresh. His shirt was torn at the shoulder and dirt streaked his arms. He looked smaller than I remembered, thinner and more fragile in this cold place.The moment I stood in front of him the bond hit me like a physical force. It surged through my chest down my spine and into eve

Blood Was the Answer POV: LucienI walked Mila back to the holding cell myself. The guards tried to take over but I stopped them with one look. No one touched her. Not anymore. She stayed quiet the entire way. Her steps were slow and careful. Her shoulders stayed hunched forward as if she expected the walls to close in at any second. When we reached the cell door I told the guards to stay outside. I stepped in with her and closed the iron bars behind us.She stood in the middle of the small space. Her arms wrapped around herself. She looked smaller than before. The bruises on her cheek had darkened. The cut above her eye had stopped bleeding but fresh blood still stained the collar of her torn shirt. She kept her eyes on the floor.I stayed close. Too close. I could not help it. Every time she shifted even an inch my body reacted. The bond pulled tight between us. My wolf paced inside my chest restless and angry. I watched her breathe. I watched the way her fingers trembled when she

The Hunt POV: Lucien“Tell me again what the guard at the east gate said last night,” I asked Marek quietly as we walked the outer corridor together, keeping our voices low enough that the echo wouldn’t carry.Marek matched my pace and answered without turning his head. “He said Darius spoke to him personally after midnight, told him to report any unusual movement near the holding cells, claimed it was on the Alpha’s direct order, but the Alpha never mentioned it in council.”I nodded once and kept walking. “And the servant who brought the poisoned water tray?”“New face, transferred from the lower kitchens three days ago, no one remembers requesting the move.”“Good. Keep watching both of them. Do not approach. Just watch.”Marek gave a small bow and slipped down a side passage while I continued toward the great hall alone. My leg ached with every step but the pain stayed in the background, unimportant compared to the clarity settling inside my mind. Over the last two days I had st

The Second SnarePOV: DariusI watched from the upper balcony as the iron door opened and Erwin walked out into the morning light, with his head down, shoulders straight, the picture of a servant who had narrowly escaped death. The guards stepped aside without a word and a few servants paused in their duties to stare, then hurried away when they noticed my shadow above them. The pack murmured that justice had been corrected, that the witness had come forward at last, and that the boy was innocent after all. Outwardly I kept my face calm, and folded my arms, with a neutral expression. But Inside, my blood boiled.Lucien had done this. My brother had reached in and pulled the noose from around the servant’s neck before it could tighten. Humiliation burned in my chest, sharp and fresh. That quiet, scarred cripple had outmaneuvered me, had protected a nothing from the lower halls like it mattered. Erwin should be ashes by now. Instead he walked free, and every step he took reminded me ho

A Brother’s Shadow POV: LucienThe morning briefing dragged on longer than necessary. As the elders spoke in circles about border patrols and grain stores while the council chamber got filled with the low hum of their voices. Commands had already been given earlier in the antechamber for double patrols on the outer walls, full inventory of the east armory by midday, and for eyes on the new kitchen transfers. Marek had left to carry them out and everything was in motion.Suddenly I felt a sharp pain slice through the center of my chest without warning. It came fast and deep, stealing my breath and balance. The room tilted as my hands gripped the edge of the table to keep from falling forward. The pain flared again, hot and bright, then flashes followed. I saw Mila’s face, pale, with eyes wide, and shadows closing in around her. My wolf roared inside, feeling restless and furious, while clawing at my ribs and lungs. Something was wrong. She was in a dark place. Afraid. The bond pulled