Chapter 75: Blood and Truth (2)

Kaelen's POV

I stepped closer. Blood dripped from my hair, my hands. Each drop hit the forest floor with a soft patter. "What fugitive?"

Morning sunlight filtered through the canopy above. Golden rays cut across the carnage, making the blood pools gleam crimson.

"An omega female..." His voice cracked. Broke on the words. "Named Seraphine..."

Every muscle in my body locked. The bond flared violently in my chest—hot, sharp, demanding.

What the fuck did he just say?

"She's a traitor from Ravencrest!" The words tumbled out in a rush. Desperate. Trying to save his own skin. "Alpha Damien sent us to bring her back!"

My pupils contracted to pinpoints. Gold fire blazed brighter, washing everything in that harsh glow.

"She betrayed the pack! Stole important intelligence—"

The forest went silent. Even the wind stopped.

Images flashed through my mind. That night in her room. The dagger buried in the floorboards. Her face when I'd pinned her down—terrified but defiant. Her desperate explanation tumbling out between gasps.

"Damien's from Ravencrest and I'm from Silverwood. We were once allies. About a month ago, Damien and his father betrayed the alliance. Traitors inside our pack helped them trap us. My parents were killed protecting me and my sister."

This fucker's story didn't match. At all.

The bond pulsed. Strong. Insistent. I remembered her face when she'd told me. The raw pain that had cracked through her voice. The fear—real, primal fear—that had made her shake.

"We've been running since then. Until I was attacked by that lynx..."

My wolf snarled inside my chest. A deep, visceral sound that vibrated through my bones. Our mate doesn't lie. This piece of shit does.

Rage exploded through me. White-hot and absolute. It burned away everything else—logic, caution, restraint.

I crossed the distance in one stride. My hand shot out, wrapped around his throat. Lifted him off the ground like he weighed nothing.

His feet kicked uselessly. Scrabbled at empty air. His face turned purple immediately, veins bulging at his temples.

Alpha power radiated from me in waves. Crushing. Overwhelming. The kind that made lesser wolves piss themselves and beg for mercy.

The survivor's eyes went wide. Terror flooded them—pure, animal terror.

"Tell. The. Truth." Each word rumbled like thunder.

The trees around us shook. Leaves rained down, rustling as they fell. A branch cracked somewhere in the shadows.

Even Lucian stepped back. His wolf responding to the raw dominance rolling off me in waves. His eyes averted, unable to meet mine.

The intruder's eyes bulged. His body spasmed. Oxygen cut off. Survival instinct overriding everything else—loyalty, orders, fear of his Alpha.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" The words came out strangled, desperate. Broken.

I released him. He crashed to the ground, gasping and retching. Vomit splattered the blood-soaked earth.

"She's... she's a Silverwood survivor..." He choked out between coughs. More vomit. Blood mixed with saliva on his lips. "Marcus... Silverwood's warrior betrayed them..."

There it was. The truth.

A cold satisfaction settled in my chest. Sharp. Final.

"Damien and his father killed her parents. Alpha Matthias and Luna Evangeline..." More coughing. His whole body heaved. "She and her sister escaped..."

"We're ordered to hunt them. The Alpha wants them dead!"

The rage inside me crystallized. Became cold. Precise. Deadly.

My expression went completely calm. The kind of calm that preceded slaughter. The kind that made grown men weep.

My twin pupils shifted—still gold but now they burned with ice instead of fire. Frozen fury. The most dangerous kind.

"Seraphine is Shadowmere now." My voice dropped to barely above a whisper. But it carried absolute authority. The voice of an Alpha who would not be challenged. "She's under my protection. She belongs to my pack."

The survivor started crying. Snot and tears mixed with blood. Pathetic. "Please... I was just following orders..."

His voice broke. Cracked into something pitiful.

"Alpha Damien will kill me..."

"Spare me..."

I looked down at him. Really looked. Saw him for what he was—a coward who'd hunted a defenseless omega. Who'd killed my pack members. Who'd violated my territory.

Pathetic. Broken. Worthless.

I lifted my foot. Placed it on his right shin. Just resting there. The threat clear.

Applied pressure. Slowly. Deliberately. Giving him time to feel it coming.

His leg started to bend wrong. The bone groaned under the weight. A high-pitched sound like wood about to snap.

Then—crack.

The snap was clean. Sharp. Beautiful in its finality.

His scream tore through the forest. Birds exploded from the trees in a rush of wings and panicked cries. Something small scurried through the underbrush, fleeing.

His leg bent at an unnatural angle. Bone pierced through skin—white against red, glistening in the harsh daylight.

I crouched down. Brought my face close to his. Close enough to smell his fear—acrid, sharp. Made sure he saw the gold burning in my pupils. Made sure he understood.

"Go back to your Alpha Damien."

My voice was soft. Conversational. Almost gentle. Terrifying in that gentleness.

"Tell him Seraphine is mine now."

I let the words sink in. Watched them register through his pain.

I stood up. Looked down at the sobbing wreck at my feet. Blood pooled beneath him, spreading slowly across the dirt.

"If he sends anyone else..." I let the words hang. The threat unspoken but clear. "I'll come to Ravencrest myself. And I'll mount his head on a pike at my border."

The image was vivid. Specific. I wanted him to see it. To carry that vision back.

Lucian grabbed the survivor by the scruff. Dragged him like a sack of meat to the boundary line. Threw him across it with enough force to make him tumble.

"Crawl back." I turned away, dismissing him. Already forgotten.

Behind me, I heard him start to drag himself through the undergrowth. His broken leg scraping against roots. Catching on thorns. His sobs fading into the distance, getting quieter with each painful inch.

The forest settled back into silence. The scent of blood hung heavy in the air—metallic and thick.

"Clean this up. Double the border patrols." I gave the orders without emotion. Simple commands. Necessary actions.

Lucian shifted back to human form. Naked. Covered in blood like me. He wiped gore from his face, leaving red streaks across his jaw.

"You sure that was smart?" His voice was measured. Careful. Testing. "Provoking an unknown pack like that?"

I turned to face him. Gold still burning in my eyes. The wolf still close to the surface, not ready to let go.

"This isn't just about protecting Seraphine." The words came out hard. Final. Absolute. "They violated my territory. Killed my wolves. That's an act of war."

I gestured at the carnage around us. Nine bodies scattered across the clearing. Blood everywhere. My pack members dead on their own land. The stench of death overwhelming.

"Damien made his choice when he sent them here. Now he gets to live with the consequences."

Lucian studied me for a long moment. His eyes calculating, reading between the lines. Then he nodded slowly. Understanding. "Understood, Alpha."

I stood in the blood-soaked clearing. Bodies everywhere. The smell of death thick in the air, coating my throat.

The sun climbed higher overhead. Indifferent. Relentless.

Several of my warriors are dead because of her. I need to teach her a lesson.