Chapter 13 CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Chapter 13 CHAPTER THIRTEEN**
CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BROKEN VOWS AND BLOOD DEBTS

ZARIAH NIGHTBORNE POV

Lena looked worse than I expected.

They'd chained her to a steel chair in the center of the room, silver burning red welts into her wrists and ankles. Blood crusted her temple. One eye was swollen shut.

Good.

I circled her slowly, letting the silence build, letting her fear ferment.

"You've got nerve showing up here," I said finally.

"I had nowhere else to go." Her voice cracked. "They'll kill me. My brother—they already—"

"I don't care about your brother."

The words came out flat, emotionless. True.

She flinched like I'd struck her.

"Zariah, please. I know I don't deserve—"

"You're right. You don't." I stopped in front of her, crouching so we were eye level. "You poisoned me. Twice. Sold me out. Got people killed. And now you want what? Forgiveness? Sanctuary?"

"No." Tears streamed down her face. "I want to help you destroy them."

I laughed. Cold and sharp. "Help me? You can't even help yourself."

"I know where they're keeping the other Lunas."

The room went silent.

I stood slowly. "What other Lunas?"

"The ones they've been creating. Using your mother's blood. There are seven of them. All under eighteen. All being conditioned to replace you if you prove too difficult to control."

My blood ran cold.

Seven girls. Seven weapons being forged in my image.

"Where?"

"The Black Site. Fifty miles west of here. Underground facility. Heavily guarded." Lena's good eye met mine. "But I have the access codes. The guard rotations. Everything."

"Why would you have that?"

She swallowed hard. "Because I was supposed to oversee their training. Before I—before everything."

I grabbed her throat, lifting her and the chair off the ground. "You knew. You knew they were making child soldiers and you said nothing."

She choked, clawing at my hand. "I was—scared—couldn't—"

"Scared?" I dropped her. The chair crashed to the floor. "Those girls are terrified. Being shaped into monsters. And you were scared?"

"Yes!" She screamed it, raw and broken. "I was terrified! They had my brother in a cage, Zariah! Showed me what they'd do to him if I didn't comply. So yes, I'm a coward. I'm weak. I'm everything you think I am."

I stared at her, this pathetic, shattered thing.

"Where's your brother now?"

"Dead." Her voice went hollow. "They killed him anyway. Three days ago. Said he was leverage they no longer needed."

Silence stretched between us.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

She looked up, shocked. "What?"

"I'm sorry they killed him. Sorry you went through that. But that doesn't change what you did to me."

"I know."

"And it doesn't mean I trust you."

"I know that too."

I studied her for a long moment. Weighing options. Calculating risks.

"Give me the codes. The intel. Everything."

"And then?"

"And then you stay here. In this cell. Until I verify your information is real." I leaned down. "And if it's not? If this is another trap? I'll kill you myself. Slowly."

She nodded. "Fair enough."

\---

Two hours later, I stood in the war room, surrounded by rogues, studying the maps Lena had provided.

The Black Site was exactly where she'd said. Isolated. Fortified. A nightmare to infiltrate.

"It's suicide," Veda said bluntly. "Even with the codes, we'd need thirty wolves minimum. We've got twenty-three, and half of them are injured from the cathedral fight."

"Then we get more."

"From where?"

Good question.

The door opened, and Damien walked in, bloodied but alive.

Every rogue tensed, weapons half-drawn.

I held up a hand. "Stand down."

"You sure about that?" Veda's eyes never left Damien. "He's Romano blood. Could be here to finish what his family started."

"I'm here," Damien said quietly, "because my father is dead."

The room went silent.

"What?" I whispered.

"Lucien killed him. About an hour ago. Snapped his neck in front of the entire pack." Damien's expression was unreadable. "Then declared himself Alpha Don."

"And you?"

"I walked away. Told him if he wanted the throne that badly, he could have it." Damien met my eyes. "I'm done playing their game, Zariah. I'm here to help you end it."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because I brought you thirty wolves who feel the same way." He gestured to the door. "They're outside. Waiting. All of them defected from Lucien's pack. All of them want to fight."

I stared at him, searching for the lie.

But all I saw was exhaustion. And truth.

"Veda," I said slowly. "Check them. Every single one. If even one smells like a plant, kill them all."

She nodded, slipping out.

Damien and I stood alone in the war room.

"I heard about your mother," he said quietly. "How is she?"

"Alive. Barely."

"And Elara?"

"Adjusting." I crossed my arms. "Why are you really here, Damien?"

"I told you—"

"Bullshit. Your father's dead. Your brother's Alpha. You could've consolidated power. Played both sides. Instead you're here, bleeding, offering me soldiers." I stepped closer. "Why?"

He was quiet for a long moment.

Then: "Because I was in love with you."

The words hung in the air like smoke.

"Was?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Am." He corrected, his voice rough. "I know I don't deserve a second chance. Know I betrayed you in the worst possible way. But everything I did, I did because I thought I was protecting you. And I was wrong. So goddamn wrong."

"Yes. You were."

"I know." He looked at me, really looked at me. "But I can still help you. Help you save those girls. Help you burn the Syndicate to the ground. Even if you hate me forever, let me do that much."

I wanted to say no. Wanted to throw him out and never see him again.

But I needed those thirty wolves.

And maybe, just maybe, I needed him too.

"Fine," I said coldly. "But you follow my orders. No improvising. No heroics. And if you betray me again—"

"You'll kill me. I know." He almost smiled. "I'd expect nothing less."

Veda returned, her expression grim. "They're clean. All thirty. No trackers. No plants. Just pissed-off wolves looking for a fight."

I nodded. "Then let's give them one."

I turned to the map, pointing at the Black Site. "We hit them at dawn. Fast and brutal. Get the girls out. Burn the facility. Leave no survivors."

"What about guards who surrender?" One of the rogues asked.

"There won't be any." My voice was ice. "Anyone guarding that place made their choice. And they chose wrong."

The room shifted. Not with fear. With hunger.

These wolves wanted blood.

And I was about to give them an ocean.

"Get some rest," I said. "We move in four hours."

They filed out, leaving me alone with the maps.

Alone with the weight of what I was about to do.

I wasn't just attacking a facility. I was declaring war on the entire Syndicate.

And once I crossed that line, there was no going back.

Footsteps behind me. I didn't turn.

"You should rest too," Elara's voice. "You haven't slept in two days."

"Can't. Too much to do."

"Mom's stable. The medics say she might even wake up tomorrow."

That stopped me. I turned. "Really?"

Elara nodded, tears shining in her eyes. "Really."

Relief crashed through me, so intense it hurt.

"Good," I whispered. "That's good."

Elara stepped closer, studying me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Liar." She smiled sadly. "You're about to lead fifty wolves into a suicide mission to save seven girls you've never met. And you look like you're carrying the weight of the world. So no, you're not fine."

I wanted to argue. Wanted to put up the walls I'd built so carefully.

But this was my sister. My blood.

"I'm terrified," I admitted quietly. "What if I get them killed? What if I'm wrong about the facility? What if—"

"Then we adapt. We survive. We fight." Elara grabbed my hands. "But you're not alone anymore, Zariah. You have me. You have Veda. You have an army. Stop trying to carry everything yourself."

She was right.

When had I become so isolated? So convinced I had to do everything alone?

"Okay," I said softly. "Okay."

Elara hugged me, fierce and tight.

And for just a moment, I let myself feel it.

Then I pulled back. "Get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be hell."

"What about you?"

"I need to check on someone first."

I left the war room and headed toward the cells.

Lena looked up as I entered, hope and fear warring in her eyes.

"Your intel checked out," I said. "The facility exists. Everything matches."

"So you believe me?"

"For now." I unlocked her chains. "But you're coming with us tomorrow. If this is a trap, you die first."

She rubbed her wrists, nodding. "Understood."

"And Lena?" I paused at the door. "If we survive this, if those girls make it out alive, we'll talk about your redemption. Until then, you're on a leash. Understood?"

"Yes, Luna."

I walked out, heading toward the medical wing one last time.

My mother lay still, her breathing steady, machines beeping softly.

I took her hand. "I'm going to save them, Mom. All of them. The girls they made to replace me. I'm going to give them the choice you never got. The choice I almost lost."

Her hand twitched in mine. Just barely.

But enough.

I kissed her forehead and left.

Four hours until dawn.

Four hours until war.

I walked out to the compound yard, where fifty-three wolves waited.

Rogues. Defectors. Outcasts. All of them broken by the system.

All of them ready to break it back.

I climbed onto a stack of crates so they could all see me.

"Tomorrow," I said, my voice carrying across the yard, "we're attacking the Black Site. We're going to free seven girls who've been tortured, conditioned, and weaponized by the same people who tried to do it to us."

Silence. They were listening.

"Some of you will die. Maybe all of us will. But those girls? They're going to live. They're going to have the choice we never did. And that's worth dying for."

A rogue in the back raised her fist. "For the Luna!"

Others joined. "For the Luna! For the Luna!"

The chant grew, echoing through the compound.

And for the first time since waking up in chains, I felt it.

Purpose.

Not just revenge.

Something bigger.

I smiled, sharp and savage.

"Then let's go write our own ending."