Chapter 74 The Root (Part 2)

Chapter 74 The Root (Part 2)
The next few days, King Mavros and his men moved quietly to keep watch over Beta Lief, who was slowly betraying the pack.

Mavros had never imagined that the man he had known since boyhood, his right hand, his most loyal companion through every battle and every hard‑won victory, would ever turn against him like this. For all the years he had led the Obsidian Fang Pack, through every shift in fortune and every difficult choice, Lief had never once questioned his authority, never once stepped out of line, never once stood against his rule.

This was the first time in all those years that he had chosen to walk a path of his own—one that led straight away from the brotherhood they had shared and toward enemies who would see everything they built torn apart.

“King, we all know how much Beta Lief means to you. You have known him longer than any of us, but personal loyalty cannot blind us to what is happening right before our eyes,” Gamma Fengk said gravely. It was rare to hear him speak with such unflinching bluntness, and the fact that he spoke this way now only proved how grave the danger truly was. “We cannot simply stand by and let him follow this path he has chosen. Every step he takes now is putting every single member of this pack at risk—our families, our homes, everything we have sworn to protect.”

King Mavros’s jaw tightened as he stared down at the photographs spread across the table. They showed Beta Lief meeting in secret with a hooded figure draped in a long, dark violet robe that hid every feature, making it impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman. And in the clearest shot of all, the figure was pressing a small vial filled with glowing violet liquid into Lief’s hand.

“What could possibly be going through his mind?” Delta Gun murmured. “We have always stood together. We have never hidden anything from one another… why now? Why this?”

A deafening silence fell over the room. No one had an answer—only questions that cut deeper with every passing second. Then, suddenly, a sharp knock rang out against the wood of the door.

Gamma Fengk and Delta Gun moved instantly, their hands sweeping across the desk to gather up the photographs, shoving them into a leather folder and closing it tight. They would not let anyone—not even someone they trusted—see what they had uncovered, not until the king decided what must be done.

Once everything was put away and out of sight, Mavros cleared his throat.

“Come in,” he called coldly.

They all tensed, half‑expecting the man himself to step through the door—Beta Lief, acting as if nothing had changed, as if he had not been dealing in secrets and danger behind their backs. But when the door swung open, Mavros’s brow furrowed in surprise. It was not Lief standing there. It was his own brother—Mivron.

King Mavros cast a meaningful glance toward Gamma Fengk and Delta Gun. They understood immediately, bowing their heads briefly before turning and filing quietly out of the private study, leaving the two brothers alone.

Mavros turned his gaze back to Mivron. “What are you doing here?”

Mivron settled himself onto the empty sofa without waiting for permission, leaning back comfortably against the cushions as if he had every right to be there.

“You already knew, didn’t you?” he asked pointedly.

Mavros’s brow furrowed deeper. “Knew what? What are you talking about?”

“About Lief.”

Just hearing that name was enough to make Mavros stiffen where he sat, his full attention snapping instantly toward his brother.

“How did you find out?” Mavros asked quietly, suspicion and hurt warring in his voice.

Mivron let out a bitter chuckle. “Come now, brother. Whispers have been winding through the halls of the fortress for weeks now. But lately? They have grown too loud, too consistent to ignore. And from what I have seen… It looks as though Lief wants us to hear them. He is doing this on purpose.”

“On purpose?” King Mavros repeated.

Mivron reached for the bottle of fine liquor resting on the table, pouring a measure into a glass with slow movements before he continued.

“We both know exactly what kind of lycan Lief has always been. That is precisely why you chose him as your Beta—because he is careful, precise, and thorough in his work. He never leaves loose ends. He never lets his tracks be seen. If he truly wanted to hide what he was doing… Do you honestly believe he would let us catch him so easily? Do you think he would slip up, leave witnesses, or let scouts stumble upon him by accident? He is not careless, brother. Not ever. Which means all of this… it is all part of something far bigger. He is not just hiding something from us. He is sending a message. And he is doing it because he wants us to know—before he makes his final move.”

The words hung in the quiet room, turning over in Mavros’s mind like a key unlocking a door he had never wanted to open.

Mavros could not bring himself to speak after hearing his brother’s words. Mivron had never spoken to him this way ever since Coriander left the fortress. He had been gone most of the time, and even Mavros had no idea what kept him occupied—though to be honest, he had never bothered to ask.

But Mavros never underestimated his younger brother. Even when they were just children, Mivron had always been the sharper, more thoughtful one who saw the bigger picture. Mavros was more likely to act on impulse and raw emotion, while Mivron always considered every angle before making a decision. That said, there was no denying Mavros was the stronger of the two physically—he was more than capable of defending the Obsidian Fang Pack single-handedly if need be.

Mavros looked at Mivron gravely. “Do you have any idea what his next move will be?” he asked.

Mivron set the rock glass down on the table. “That is exactly why I came. I saw him—and I know what he plans to do next.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He is conspiring with the Silverpine Pack…” Mivron revealed calmly.

“What? That can’t be true!” King Mavros exclaimed in disbelief.

Beta Lief had always despised the Silverpine Pack—especially their Alpha, Donald Hanger. To hear that he was working alongside them was utterly unthinkable. Mavros might have believed it if he’d named almost any other pack, but Silverpine? It was impossible. Simply impossible.

As the days went by, the day no one expected finally arrived. The greenhouses that the members of the Obsidian Fang Pack had built with their own hands suddenly went up in flames, and Beta Lief openly displayed the act before Mavros and everyone else, without the slightest attempt to hide it.

Panic spread instantly among the lycans gathered nearby, confusion and alarm erupting like wildfire itself. The massive greenhouses were already engulfed in flames. Glass shattered with deafening cracks, sending shards flying through the smoke, while the precious grains, vegetables, and medicinal herbs they had relied upon to survive the coming cold turned to ash right before their eyes. Everything they had worked together to secure was vanishing in searing heat.

“You have gone too far, Lief!” Mavros thundered.

It was the tone he had used only in the gravest moments—one that in all their years together had always made Beta Lief lower his gaze, pause, and remember who stood as king and who had stood beside him through every trial.

But today was nothing like the past. Where once that voice would have made Lief flinch with concern or hesitation, now only a cold smirk spreads slowly across his lips. He looked back at Mavros as if the king he had once revered were nothing more than a stranger standing in his way.

“This is exactly what it takes to finally wake this goddamned pack up!” Beta Lief roared back, bitterness pouring from every word as if years of suppressed resentment had finally burst free. “If you had only listened to me from the very start, if you had held to the iron rule that built us, none of this would ever have happened! You have let yourself become far too soft, far too weak in my eyes—blinded by mercy, by love, by some foolish dream that kindness alone can keep us safe! And because of that… because you refuse to see what is truly needed… I believe it is finally time I showed you exactly why you made me your Beta!”

That night would forever be etched into history as the moment the Obsidian Fang Pack tore itself apart—the first time in generations that lycan turned against lycan, brother turned against brother, under the banner of King Mavros Warren Grimville. Loyalists stood firm beside their king, while those who had been swayed by Lief’s dangerous promises rallied to his side; shouts clashed with the roar of fire, steel rang against steel, and the ground drank the blood of kin who should have fought only beside one another.

And it was also the night Beta Lief fell—struck down by Mavros himself in a blow delivered not out of vengeance but out of the terrible necessity of ending a war his oldest friend had started.

The pack watched in stunned silence as Lief crumpled, and in that moment they believed it was over—believed the traitor was gone, and order could slowly be restored. But what none of them knew… what remained hidden beneath the smoke and sorrow… was that they had only seen what they were meant to see. Beta Lief was gone that night—or so they all thought…

End of Flashback