Chapter 169

Rovak's POV

Pain. Blinding, white-hot pain shot through my shoulder with each desperate stride. My leg dragged behind me, the silver burn on my calf making each step torture as I stumbled through the dense forest.

Behind me, the screams of my brothers and sisters in arms still echoed in my ears. Fourteen warriors—all dead or captured. What should have been an easy victory had turned into a massacre.

My breath came in ragged gasps as I forced myself to keep moving. Blood soaked through my shirt, warm and sticky against my skin. How many hours had I been running? Two? Three? Time blurred together in a haze of pain and desperate survival instinct.

A flash of memory struck me—the elderly woman's face transforming into a snarling warrior, silver nets descending from the trees, the sickening sound of my packmates' howls as the silver burned into their flesh. I'd barely escaped, only managing to flee when the one they called Alpha Ethan turned to assist another warrior.

"It was a trap," I whispered, my parched throat making the words scrape like sandpaper. "How could the intelligence be so wrong?"

Through the trees ahead, I could make out the edge of Bloodclaw headquarters' stone walls. My heart leaped, a surge of hope giving me a final burst of energy. Kassak needed to know what happened. We'd been outmaneuvered, outplanned.

Twenty more yards. Ten. Five.

I collapsed to my knees at the perimeter, chest heaving, vision swimming. With trembling effort, I centered myself, focusing on the Alpha bond that connected all Bloodclaw wolves to our leader.

The familiar warm red flow of energy trickled through my consciousness as I reached out through the mental link. Alpha... ambush... we were defeated...

Just as I felt Kassak's presence acknowledging the connection, the link abruptly severed, like a door slamming shut in my face. I gasped, the sudden disconnection jarring my already weakened state.

I tried again. And again. Each attempt met with the same wall of silence.

That was strange. He never blocks the pack bond.

Using the rough bark of a nearby pine, I hauled myself to my feet. My leg threatened to buckle beneath me, but I gritted my teeth and staggered forward. If I couldn't reach Kassak through the bond, I'd do it in person.

The guards at Kassak's private quarters—named Damon and Silas—straightened as I approached. Their expressions shifted from boredom to alarm at my bloodied appearance.

"I need to see Alpha Kassak," I gasped, swaying on my feet. "Immediately. It's an emergency."

"Luna Riley has given orders that Alpha is not to be disturbed," Damon replied, his voice cold and formal. "For any reason."

I felt a surge of desperate frustration. "Our warriors are dead! All of them! It was a trap—the 'elders' and 'women' were Pine Shadow fighters in disguise. There were silver nets waiting for us."

The guards exchanged uneasy glances, but neither moved.

"The Alpha must know," I pleaded. "This information can't wait!"

Silas's jaw tightened. "Orders are orders, Rovak. You'll have to wait."

"I'll wait here then," I conceded, slumping against the wall opposite the door. "But as soon as they're... finished, I need to speak with Alpha Kassak."

The guards returned to their positions, though their postures remained tense. I slid down the wall until I sat on the floor, my injured leg stretched out before me. The silver burn had turned the skin black around the edges, a sickening sight that made my stomach lurch.

As I waited, my mind sifted through the events of the mission. Something about it all felt wrong. The intelligence we'd received had been precise—too precise. The exact location of the supposedly vulnerable group, the timing of the patrol gaps, all of it had led us perfectly into that clearing. And Riley's insistence that we needed fewer warriors...

Could it have been deliberate? The thought crept in, unwelcome but persistent. Riley had only been with us for a short time. She'd appeared suddenly, claimed to be Kassak's mate, and immediately began providing information about her former pack.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. The silver poisoning was making me paranoid. Riley was our Luna now, marked and mated to our Alpha. Such thoughts were dangerous, bordering on treasonous.

Hours seemed to pass. The pain in my shoulder had dulled to a persistent throb, which worried me more than the sharp agony had. Silver poisoning was progressing, numbing me before it would eventually kill me.

Finally, unable to wait any longer, I lurched to my feet. "I don't care what she ordered. This is about the survival of our pack!"

I shoved past Damon, catching the larger Beta off guard. Silas reached for me, but I ducked under his arm, lunging for the door handle.

Before I could touch it, the door swung open from the inside.

Riley stood in the doorway, wrapped in a blood-red silk robe. Her hair was tousled, lips swollen from obvious activities. But her eyes—something in them seemed off, nothing like the warm devotion she usually displayed around other pack members.

"Well, well," she said, her voice dripping with something I couldn't quite place. "The warrior returns."

I looked into her eyes, searching for concern about the failed mission, but saw only coldness. No questions about the other warriors. No worry about the pack's safety.

"Luna," I began formally, despite my urgency, "the mission failed. It was an ambush. The others are dead or captured."

Riley's lips curved into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "How unfortunate. And yet here you are, having abandoned your brothers and sisters to save yourself."

The accusation hit like a physical blow. "I didn't abandon them! I came to warn the Alpha! We need to regroup, plan a counterattack—"

"Kneel," Riley commanded suddenly, her voice sharp.

"What?"

"I said kneel," she repeated. "That's your punishment for disturbing your Alpha and Luna during our private time."

With the guards watching, I had no choice. Slowly, painfully, I lowered myself to one knee, then the other.

Riley's smile widened, something like triumph gleaming in her eyes. "Now kiss my toes," she ordered, extending one foot toward me. Her toenails were painted blood-red, matching her robe. "Show proper respect to your Luna."

This was beyond inappropriate—this was Riley flaunting her power while our packmates lay dead. In that moment, the suspicion that had been forming crystallized into certainty. No true Luna would act this way after learning of a devastating defeat.

"You knew," I whispered, the realization dawning. "You knew it was a trap."

Riley's expression hardened. "Kiss my foot, dog, or face the consequences."

I chose defiance.

With a surge of strength born from desperation, I shoved her foot away and struggled to my feet. "No. This isn't right. You sent us into that trap. You're working with Moonshade!"

Riley's eyes widened in mock fear. She let her robe fall open, exposing her naked body, and collapsed to the floor with a theatrical cry. "Kassak! Help me!"

Heavy footsteps thundered from within the bedroom, and Kassak appeared in the doorway, wearing only a pair of hastily donned pants. His eyes took in the scene—his naked mate on the floor, me standing over her.