Chapter 53 The Mark of Corruption
Levi:
“Let them believe that Levi Kingston has lost his mind.”
Lucas gave a sharp, understanding nod. “I’ll leak the dissent. Misdirected communications. It’ll be believable.”
I looked at Aurora. She was staring at the mark on Jax’s back, her face pale but focused. “Aurora. Can you feel it? The specific energy of that magic?”
She closed her eyes, her brow furrowing in concentration. After a long moment, she opened them. “It’s… cold. Like static. It doesn’t just sit there. It… feeds.”
“Good.” I held her gaze. “I need you to learn its signature. Its taste. I need you to find its source. Can you do that?”
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t hesitate. “I can try.”
On the sofa, Agnes was preparing. She had Lucas bring her a bowl of water and a pouch of herbs from her room. She didn’t speak, her entire being focused on the task.
“Rylan,” I said. He snapped his attention to me. “You have a new job. You don’t leave Jax’s side. Not for a second. If this thing fights back, I need you here.”
He gave a grim nod, moving to stand at the head of the sofa, a solid, immovable guardian.
I looked at Jax, who met my gaze. The pain and shame in his eyes were a physical weight in the room.
“The enemy was never your brother,” I said, my voice low, meant only for him. “They violated your will. They used your honor as a weapon. That is a debt that will be paid in blood.”
His jaw tightened. He gave a single, sharp nod.
Agnes looked up from her preparations, her hands steady. “I am ready. He must be held down.”
Rylan placed his heavy hands on Jax’s shoulders. Lucas moved to his legs. I went to his side, placing a hand on his arm. Not to restrain, but to anchor.
“We are with you,” I told him.
He closed his eyes, bracing himself.
Agnes began to chant, her voice a low, ancient rhythm. She dipped her fingers into the herb-infused water and touched the center of the sigil.
Jax’s back arched off the couch. A strangled cry was torn from his throat. The mark on his back flared a sickly, violent purple.
The hunt for the traitor was over.
The war for my pack’s soul had just begun. And we were not showing mercy.
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Aurora
Jax’s scream tore through the penthouse like something alive.
The lights flickered overhead, the shadows on the walls bending unnaturally as the mark thrashed beneath Agnes’s touch. It pulsed again—bright, violent purple—like a heartbeat trying to burst free.
Rylan swore under his breath and tightened his grip on Jax’s shoulders. Lucas strained at his legs, jaw clenched as the warrior bucked against their hold.
I felt it before I saw it.
The magic.
Cold. Hungry. Wrong. Something rotten. A shiver ran down my spine, and not the good kind. It felt like it was crawling under my skin
It crawled through the air like frost creeping over glass, brushing against my skin with a whispering static that made my stomach twist. My mark flared beneath my collarbone, responding instinctively, heat meeting cold, light meeting shadow.
Agnes’s chant deepened, her voice ancient and rhythmic, vibrating with a power I had only begun to understand.
The sigil fought back.
A shockwave rippled outward. The bowl of herb-water shattered on the floor. Lucas cursed and grabbed Jax harder. Rylan braced with a growl.
Jax let out another sound, part agony, part something worse, something that wasn’t fully his own.
“Hold him!” Agnes warned, her voice sharp.
Levi moved closer, his body a wall of strength beside mine, steadying Jax with both hands now. His jaw flexed, the veins in his neck tight.
“Stay with me, Jax,” Levi commanded, voice deep, resonant, Alpha power thrumming through every word.
Jax’s eyes snapped open, glowing faintly, sickly, wrong.
My heart lurched. The sigil wasn’t just corrupting his will.
It was feeding on his pain.
“Levi...” I whispered, grabbing his arm.
“I see it.” His voice was low and deadly.
Agnes pressed her palm flat over the sigil. The purple light surged, then exploded.
A scream ripped from Jax’s throat that didn’t sound human. I staggered back from the force of it. The air shook. Power slammed into my mark like a blow. My vision flared gold for a split second.
Then, silence.
Not real silence, more like the breath before something collapses.
Jax slumped forward, chest heaving, face drenched in sweat. The sigil burned faintly black now, the unnatural glow gone, replaced by a charred imprint across his skin.
Agnes sagged, grabbing the back of the couch to steady herself. Lucas let go of Jax’s legs, his breath ragged. Even Rylan looked shaken.
Levi didn’t move.
He was still bracing Jax, head bowed, pulse hammering under his skin.
“What… happened?” Jax rasped, barely able to form words.
Agnes exhaled shakily. “It’s weakened. Not gone. But weakened. The corruption has loosened its hold.”
“Can he be controlled again?” Rylan asked, voice hoarse.
“No,” Agnes said firmly. “Not unless he returns to the source.”
My stomach dropped. The source.
The Northern Cliffs.
Levi lifted his head slowly, his expression carved from stone. “Then we cut the path.” His voice was cold enough to freeze steel. “We go to the source before the source comes for us.”
Lucas straightened, rubbing a hand down his face. “We can’t stay here. They’re watching. Listening. With magic like that, they could already know we broke the thread.”
“They know,” Levi said. “Or they will soon.”
The decision settled over him like armor. Heavy. Final.
“We leave tonight.”
I blinked. “Leave? Where?”
His gaze found mine, unwavering, burning, absolute.
“To a place the Council cannot follow.”
My pulse caught. “Levi...”
“This home has become a target,” he said quietly. “A cage. You can’t train here. Jax can’t heal here. And the twins… are not safe here.” His voice broke on the last words.
Agnes nodded. “There are places where their magic cannot see. Not truly. Places older than their reach.”
Lucas’s brow furrowed. “The island.”
Rylan’s breath hitched. “You can’t be serious.”
Levi’s expression didn’t change. “I am.”
“The Council will notice if we disappear,” Lucas warned.
“They expect chaos from us,” Levi said. “So we give them chaos. Rylan, start the misdirect. Lucas, leak the dissent. Agnes, prepare Jax for travel, and Aurora,” His eyes landed on me, the gold in them burning low and fierce. “You stay with the twins. Don’t let them out of your sight.”
My mark pulsed in answer.
“Levi…” I whispered. “This is war.”
“No,” he said, stepping closer. “This is the pause before we strike. And I will not enter the next battle with you untrained.”
Something inside me tightened. A mixture of fear, resolve, and something terrifyingly warm.
The bond hummed softly between us. He straightened, Alpha to the bone again.
“We move at dawn.”