CHAPTER 56: Pack's Betrayal

Kael’s grip on the dagger tightened, his silver eyes blazing with rage as he glared at Mara. "Why are you doing this?" His voice was low, sharp, barely containing the fury bubbling beneath the surface.

"The Lunari will destroy us all—our kind, your kind. Do you not see that?"

Mara scoffed, her lips curling into a cruel smile. "Our kind?" she repeated mockingly, taking slow, deliberate steps forward. "Do you truly think I am one of you?"

A chill crawled down Kael’s spine.

Mara tilted her head, amusement glinting in her dark eyes. "You're just as dumb and foolish as I expected." Her voice dripped with venom. "I have never been, and will never be, one of your kind."

Kael's breath caught. "What...?"

Mara let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. "And you truly never noticed?" She sighed dramatically. "No, I suppose you wouldn’t. Self-absorbed, arrogant, blind—just like all the others before you."

She took another step forward, the Blood Moon casting eerie shadows across her face. "I have waited for this moment. I have waited to watch your kind burn. To watch the scales finally tip and balance be restored."

His muscles tensed. "What are you talking about?"

Mara’s smile widened.

"Your kind doesn't even know my kind exists."

Kael's heart pounded. Her kind?

Mara’s expression darkened, eyes gleaming with an ancient fury. "Your kind used us. Discarded us like we were nothing. Ignored our warnings, then blamed us when the world turned against them. As if, had they listened to prophecy, it still wouldn’t have happened."

Kael clenched his jaw, pieces of the puzzle falling into place, but he didn’t want to believe it.

"You…" His voice was tight. "You're a Seer."

Mara’s laughter echoed through the battlefield. "Not just any Seer." She spread her arms, the power in the air thickening. "I am Mera’s twin sister."

The realization struck Kael like a physical blow.

She had been inside his pack all along.

She had lived among them, walked beside them, disguised as a werewolf.

A spy. A traitor.

And he had never even noticed.

His stomach twisted. "You infiltrated my pack…"

Mara smirked. "Of course I did."

She took another step closer, her voice dripping with mockery. "I have been there all along, ensuring my sister’s plan would work flawlessly. And you? You were too dumb and self-centered to ever see it."

Kael’s fingers curled into fists.

The air around them crackled with energy.

But before he could act, movement stirred behind him.

A rustling. A shift.

He turned sharply, eyes scanning the battlefield.

His pack. His warriors. His wolves.

They stood still, watching him with unreadable expressions.

Then, one of them stepped forward.

Hunter.

His Beta.

And in his eyes, Kael saw something he had never seen before—betrayal.

Kael’s blood turned to ice. "What is this?"

Hunter lifted his chin, his voice firm. "She has promised us a life."

Kael felt the ground shift beneath him. "What?"

Another wolf stepped forward. A warrior Kael had fought beside for years. "A world where we are free," the wolf said, his gaze steady. "Where we don’t die for someone else’s mistakes."

Kael’s chest tightened. "You would betray your own pack?"

Hunter’s eyes gleamed. "I would rather live in a world where I am not forced to kneel to another’s rule."

Kael swallowed, disbelief flooding his veins. "And you think aligning with her will give you that freedom?"

Hunter shrugged. "It’s better than this."

Kael’s hands trembled with rage. His wolves—his brothers—were turning against him.

Mara let out a pleased hum. "You see, Kael?" she purred. "You were never as powerful as you thought. Even your own people doubt you."

Kael’s heart pounded.

He looked at his wolves. Looked at the Lunari, the monstrous form that had once been Aria. Looked at Mara, the Seer who had orchestrated everything.

He was outnumbered.

Outplayed.

And the Blood Moon was still rising.

Mara lifted her hand, and the earth trembled beneath them once more.

"This is the end of your reign, Alpha."

Kael’s grip tightened around the dagger.

He would not go down without a fight.

Even if it meant facing them all alone.