Chapter 36 CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Chapter 36 CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Matt’s POV

The night reeked of smoke and betrayal.

I ran through the chaos, boots crushing the burning grass, my wolf clawing beneath my skin. The training grounds where our pride was burning. Flames tore through the wooden posts, warriors shouting orders drowned by the roar of destruction.

“Get them out!” I barked, shoving a wounded guard toward Paul. “Contain the east side now!”

The air was thick with panic and ash, but beneath it all, I caught her scent. Sweet. Familiar. Wrong.

Laura.

I turned sharply, scanning through the haze. My instincts flared, every nerve on edge. The fire wasn’t an accident. It was a message.

A trap.

Paul appeared beside me, his arm bleeding, his expression hard. “We’ve got rogues breaching the southern gate, our own guards turned on us!”

Rage thundered through me. “Inside our borders?”

He nodded grimly. “Someone opened them.”

I didn’t need to ask who. The healer’s apprentices were among the fallen, eyes glassy, bodies stiff. The scent of dark herbs clung to their skin, poisoned magic.

I tore through the flames, my mind a storm. The smoke blurred my vision, but my instincts sharpened. Something was wrong deeply, dangerously wrong.

Then I saw it.

The forest line behind the field was pulsing with a faint, unnatural glow—like veins of shadow spreading across the ground. I felt my wolf stir, growling low. The energy radiating from that spot wasn’t natural. It was dark magic—the healer’s doing.

I sprinted forward, ignoring Paul’s shout behind me. The closer I got, the heavier the air felt. My breath shortened, my heart thundering. The black mist swirled like a living thing, creeping over the soil.

“Alpha, stop!” one of the warriors yelled. “It’s spreading!”

Too late.

The mist lashed outward, a ripple of shadow striking one of the guards. He screamed a sound that would haunt me before his body turned rigid, his veins blackening.

“Back!” I roared, pulling the others away. “Fall back!”

Paul caught up, his eyes wide. “What the hell is this?”

“The healer,” I said through clenched teeth. “She’s unleashed something… tied to Hellen’s blood.”

Paul froze. “You’re saying this curse came from her?”

“No,” I growled. “Through her.”

And that was when I realized this wasn’t just a curse. It was a message.

A declaration of war.

We returned to the hall with what remained of the squad. Half of them carried the injured; some didn’t make it past the gates. The scent of blood lingered in the air.

The council was already gathered, their voices rising like angry hounds.

“This began after the Luna’s illness!” one of them shouted. “You can’t deny the pattern, Alpha!”

“Maybe she’s the source...”

The sound of my fist slamming against the table silenced them. The oak cracked under my strength.

“You will not speak her name in accusation again.”

The room froze. Power surged from me, sharp and suffocating. Even the guards at the door flinched under the pressure. My wolf pushed against my skin, ready to tear apart anyone who dared utter another word.

The council elder swallowed hard. “Alpha, the pack is terrified. The forest burns, warriors die, and now… curses?”

I leaned forward, voice low and cold. “And you think blaming my Luna will make you safer?”

No one answered. The silence was thick with fear.

Paul stepped forward, his tone steady but wary. “Matt. We need to find the healer. Fast. Before the pack turns against her.”

I met his gaze. He was right, but my fury was louder than logic. “Then we start with Laura.”

The healer’s quarters were empty and abandoned. Her herbs, scrolls, and enchanted potions were gone. But there was one thing left behind.

A symbol.

It was carved into the wooden table deeply, deliberately. A mark shaped like two moons overlapping, one dark, one light. My stomach turned.

I’d seen it before.

When Hellen was unconscious, her wrist bore the faint trace of that same mark, so faint I thought it was a scar.

My hand trembled slightly as I traced it. “She bound us.”

Paul frowned. “Bound you? How?”

“Through blood.” My voice was a whisper. “She tied my life to Hellen’s.”

He stared at me, disbelief clouding his face. “If that’s true, then if she...”

“Dies,” I finished, “I die with her.”

The truth settled like lead in my chest. I wasn’t just fighting for her anymore. I was fighting for both of us.

And for the first time since becoming Alpha, I felt fear not for the pack, not for control, but for her.

That night, the world felt quieter, as if holding its breath.

I found myself standing by the garden, moonlight casting silver shadows on the path. Hellen sat by the fountain, her hair loose, glowing faintly under the night sky. She looked different, stronger.

When she turned, our eyes met, and for a moment, the chaos, the fire, the betrayal, everything faded.

“You shouldn’t be up,” I said, my voice softer than I intended.

“I could say the same,” she murmured. “But you never rest, do you?”

Her smile was faint but real. It hit something deep inside me.

I walked closer, the air thick between us. “There’s something you need to know.”

Her brows furrowed. “What?”

I hesitated. How do you tell the woman you love that your lives are chained together by dark magic? That every breath she takes decides your fate?

“She tied us together,” I finally said. “The healer. Your blood min,e it’s one now.”

Hellen’s eyes widened, disbelief flashing across her face. “You mean...”

“If you die,” I said quietly, “I go with you.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. Her hands trembled slightly before she looked away. “Then we both fight.”

I almost smiled. That was her. Even after everything strong, defiant, burning.

“Hell,” I muttered, half to myself, “I never stood a chance against you.”

Her lips parted slightly, her gaze softening. For a heartbeat, I almost said the words I’d buried under duty, fear, and pride.

I love you.

But before I could, the heavy doors of the hall burst open. A warrior stumbled in, blood staining his armor.

“Alpha,” he panted, “we found her.”

My muscles tensed. “Found who?”

“Laura,” he said. “She’s alive. Hiding in the northern ruins.”

Paul appeared behind him, breathless. “It’s a trap,” he warned.

I didn’t care.

A calmness settled over me, not peace, but purpose. I turned to Hellen, cupping her face gently. “Stay inside. Lock the doors. Trust no one but Paul.”

“Matt...”

I shook my head. “I’ll end this.”

She nodded slowly, though fear flickered in her eyes.

I turned toward the warrior. “Gather the pack’s best. We move before dawn.”

As I stepped out, the moon hung blood-red above the horizon, lighting the world in crimson. My wolf growled, the sound rumbling deep in my chest.

I welcomed it.

Tonight, I wasn’t just the Alpha. I was vengeance.

And before the next dawn, blood would answer blood.