Chapter 38: The Betrayal Plant

POV: Lyssa Hart

Lyssa watches from the shadows as Dominic walks beside Aria.

They're not touching. Aren't even particularly close. But there's something between them that Lyssa recognizes immediately. It's the thing she's been trying to deny for weeks. The thing she's been hoping would disappear if she just ignored it long enough.

Dominic is completely focused on someone else.

Aria doesn't even look at him. Doesn't acknowledge his presence. But Dominic's entire body is angled toward her like she's a magnet and he's steel. Like everything else in his world has become irrelevant except for her.

Lyssa's hands curl into fists.

She was supposed to be Luna. She was supposed to be the one beside the Alpha leading Silver Crest. She had the bloodline. The political connections. The power to back it up. Everything she'd trained for her entire life was supposed to be hers.

And then Aria Blackwood came back from the dead and ruined everything.

That night, Lyssa doesn't sleep.

She paces her chamber trying to figure out what to do. Trying to find a solution that doesn't involve watching the girl she replaced take everything from her. Trying to find a way to make this right.

By dawn, she's made a decision.

She sends a message to a Council representative. Just a simple note requesting a private meeting. Within hours, she's riding toward neutral territory with a guard, her heart pounding with the enormity of what she's about to do.

The Council member is waiting in a abandoned warehouse.

His name is Theron. He's massive and scarred and his eyes are completely cold. He looks at Lyssa like she's an insect he might crush.

"You wanted to meet," he says. It's not a question.

"I have information," Lyssa says. She forces her voice to stay steady. "Strategic information about Silver Crest and Blood Moon's alliance. I have troop positions. I have military strategies. I have access to everything Dominic is planning."

Theron's expression doesn't change. "Why would you give us that?"

"Because I want Aria Blackwood dead," Lyssa says. The words come out like venom. "And I want her dead before Dominic realizes what he's losing. I want her executed publicly so everyone knows she wasn't the savior they thought she was."

Theron considers this. Then he nods slowly.

"We can arrange that," he says. "We can promise you her immediate execution upon capture. Before negotiations. Before any grand trial. Before anyone can stop us."

Relief floods through Lyssa.

"There's one condition," Theron continues. "You wear our mark. A Council mark. Permanently. So we can track you. So we can follow you to wherever Dominic and Silver Crest are positioned. So we know exactly where to attack."

Lyssa hesitates for only a moment.

What's a mark compared to everything she's losing? What's a little pain compared to the agony of watching Dominic choose someone else?

"Do it," she says.

Theron produces a small iron brand from a fire. The symbol is complex and ancient. A mark that says she belongs to the Council. That she's their agent. That she's made a deal with demons.

He presses it against her collarbone.

The pain is indescribable.

Lyssa screams. Her whole body convulses. The mark sears into her flesh and she can feel it burning like it's branding not just her skin but her soul. But she doesn't pull away. She doesn't stop him.

Because this is worth it.

This is the price of getting Aria Blackwood executed.

When it's done, Theron examines the mark with satisfaction.

"You're ours now," he says. "The Council can track you anywhere you go. We'll know where Silver Crest is positioned. We'll know their strategies. And when we move, we'll move fast. Before anyone can stop us. Aria Blackwood will be dead before sunset on the first day of battle."

Lyssa touches the mark gingerly. It's still smoking. Still burning. But it's done. She's committed to this path now. There's no going back.

"What about after?" Lyssa asks. "After Aria is dead? What happens to me?"

"You're free to go," Theron says. "You keep your position in Silver Crest. You keep your title. You become Luna like you were always supposed to. And the Council gains a valuable spy in the heart of werewolf society."

It's perfect.

It's absolutely perfect.

Lyssa rides back to Silver Crest with the mark hidden under her clothes. The pain is intense but manageable. The knowledge of what she's done is exhilarating.

That night, she sleeps soundly.

She dreams of Aria Blackwood's execution. Dreams of the girl's face when she realizes she's been betrayed. Dreams of reclaiming her position as Dominic's intended Luna. Dreams of a future where everything goes back to the way it was supposed to be.

She doesn't notice the scouts watching her from the shadows.

She doesn't realize that Dominic's intelligence network has been tracking her movements for days. That they saw her leave Silver Crest. That they have warriors positioned to follow her.

She doesn't know that by the time she wakes up, everything has changed.

Because while Lyssa sleeps, Dominic discovers the truth.

A scout brings him word of her secret meeting. Of the Council mark. Of the deal she's made. And Dominic's face goes completely still.

He loved her once. Or thought he did. Before he realized she was just ambition wearing a wolf's skin. Before he understood what real connection actually looked like watching Aria refuse to need him.

But knowing that she's betrayed Silver Crest. Knowing that she's willing to sacrifice thousands of warriors just to eliminate a rival. Knowing that she's so desperate to keep a position that she'd sell her own pack to the Council.

That's something else entirely.

Dominic calls an emergency war council.

Within the hour, every major strategist in the alliance knows about Lyssa's betrayal. They know the Council will be using her as a tracker. They know their positions aren't secret anymore. They know they have to change everything about their battle plan immediately.

And they know that Lyssa Hart is about to discover that betrayal has consequences.

By dawn, Lyssa wakes to find guards in her chamber.

Not Silver Crest guards. Not her allies. Council guards. Dominic's personal soldiers with expressions that say they're about to execute an order that involves her removal.

She tries to run.

She tries to shift.

She tries to use her wolf strength to fight.

But the mark on her collarbone flares with pain and suddenly she can't move. The Council's magic binds her completely. Her wolf screams inside her skin but she's trapped. Helpless.

Dominic enters the chamber behind the guards.

His face is cold. This isn't the Alpha she's known her whole life. This isn't the man she tried to manipulate. This is something harder. Something that's learned what betrayal costs.

"You sold us to the Council," he says. His voice is completely flat.

"Dominic, I can explain—" Lyssa starts.

"No," he says. "You can't. There's no explanation that justifies what you've done."

He turns to the guards.

"Strip her of all titles," he says. "Remove her from Silver Crest permanently. She's exiled. She's no longer pack. She's no longer welcome in any territory that respects the pack law. She's rogue now. And rogues have no protection."

The guards seize her.

Lyssa screams and fights but the Council mark paralyzes her every time she tries to move. She's trapped between two forces now. The Council who marked her won't let her disobey. Dominic who exiled her won't let her stay.

She's destroyed everything trying to eliminate one person.

And it didn't work.

Aria is still alive.

Aria is still going to fight.

And Lyssa is about to face the exact fate she tried to give the girl she hated.