Chapter 142 From the Brink pt 2
Duncan
“Routed. We have prisoners in the cells for interrogation, but I’m pretty sure it was just a distraction,” Julian said.
“A distraction.”
“It’s clear the target was Luna Seren, Duncan,” Lucian said. “She was lured into the forest, drugged, and taken while you and Julian were engaged on the other side of the pack. A group of rogues overwhelmed us before we could stop her from running after a pup into the trees.”
“Who would dare touch my Luna?” The words came out low and deep, Conn’s growl rumbling through my chest.
Julian ran a hand through his hair and glanced over at Lucian. With a shrug, he said, “We have suspicions, but no confirmation yet as far as who in our pack turned traitor. As for who wanted Seren? Lucian rescued her from Silver Rain.”
My eyes shot to his. “Alpha Brian?”
“He took her,” Lucian confirmed. “Shot her up with wolfsbane and silver. Somehow, she still managed to keep a mindlink with me. We infiltrated, got her out of the cells, and were almost off territory free and clear.” He took a breath. “Someone saw us and the alarm went up. We had to fight our way out. I was…injured…in the process. Seren’s last gift manifested, taking out the warriors around us, from what I was told. Then we met up with Gideon halfway home.”
“From what you were told? You didn’t see?”
He shook his head slowly, then pulled up his shirt, showing us a pink scar about three inches long on his ribs. “I took a silver blade through the ribs. It should have been a death blow.”
Mom gasped. “That’s why she manifested. She needed to save you.”
He nodded. “That’s the working theory. Gideon gave her enough power to get home, as by the time he reached us, she was spent. Based on what just happened, he gave her what he had left in order to heal you.”
My mind was spinning. This final power made Seren a prize for someone like Alpha Brian. Able to wield all the elements and bring people back from the brink of death? If anyone saw her heal Lucian and took it back to Brian, he’d stop at nothing to get her.
“It’s time. We need to call in our allies. End Alpha Brian. End this infernal trafficking ring. We can’t delay any longer.”
“I’ve let King Cian know Seren has returned. They’re planning on coming in the next few days, as soon as they can get away. We won’t let it stand, son. In the meantime, we need to find out who the traitors are in our pack.”
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to Seren about what happened in the forest here. Hopefully, she’ll be able to shed some light on it when she wakes. Plus, that little skill of hers and Gideon’s will come in handy when we interrogate the rogues,” Lucian said.
“Fine.”
I tightened my arms around Seren once more, careful of the way her body slumped against mine. She felt too still. Too fragile. Not like the fierce, stubborn wolf who had faced down fate itself without flinching.
She was taken from under my protection. I almost lost her.
Not to a stronger alpha. Not to destiny.
To my own failure.
If I had died, she would have shattered. Instead, she nearly destroyed herself dragging me back from the brink.
The guilt sat heavy in my chest—heavier than the wounds that had put me in that bed.
The door opened behind me, and I forced my expression back into something steady.
Nurse Tara stepped inside with a tray of food. “I’ll just set this here for you, Alpha.” She smiled. “It’s good to see you awake.” She set the tray on the table beside the bed and slipped back out of the room, the door clicking softly shut behind her. Silence settled again. Not the suffocating void I’d just escaped, but the heavy, waiting kind.
Seren stirred faintly against my chest, her breathing evening out into the deep rhythm of healing sleep. Gideon lay in the bed parallel to ours, his face pale but peaceful. They looked too vulnerable. Too mortal.
Conn shifted restlessly in my head. ‘We must protect her. This isn’t over.’
‘No,’ I responded. ‘It’s not.’ And this time, I would not be the one caught unprepared.