Chapter 38 CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Chapter 38 CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Matt's POV

The forest was alive with chaos. The night wind tore through the trees like an angry spirit, and I could hear Laura’s heartbeat ahead of us, frantic, irregular, desperate. Her scent was thick in the air: fear mixed with that same floral note she used to mask deceit. My wolf wanted to tear through her lies, to end the chase once and for all.
“Hellen, to the left,” I commanded through the link, my voice low and edged. She darted wordlessly into the shadows, her movements swift and sure. For the first time in weeks, she didn’t move like someone broken. Her energy thrummed, wild and real. The Luna was awake, truly awake, and it made my chest tighten with something I couldn’t name.
Laura’s figure flashed between the trees. I caught glimpses of her pale cloak, her hair whipping behind her as she stumbled through the mud. She wasn’t heading toward safety, she was running toward the border.
“Don’t let her cross it!” I barked, breaking into a sprint. My claws extended halfway before I forced them back; I couldn’t risk losing control. The forest blurred, my lungs burning with fury and adrenaline.

Then, suddenly, silence.
The sound of her steps vanished.
I skidded to a halt beside a fallen log, scanning the shadows. “She’s here,” I muttered. My senses flared, I could smell blood.
Hellen appeared from the darkness, her eyes glowing faintly gold. “She’s hurt,” she said, crouching to inspect the dirt. “But this scent...” She stopped mid-sentence, confusion knitting her brow.
I knelt beside her. The blood trail was thin, but familiar. Not Laura’s.

My gaze followed the droplets until something glinted in the moonlight, a pendant. I picked it up, turning it over in my palm. The symbol carved into it sent a cold rush through me.
The healer’s crest.

“Why does she have this?” Hellen asked, her voice trembling with equal parts rage and disbelief.
I clenched my jaw. “Because she wasn’t running from the healer.” I looked up toward the border, where the forest thinned into mist. “She was running to her.”
Hellen’s breathing quickened. “They’re working together.”
My thoughts turned sharp, ruthless. “Then they’ve made their choice.”

The wind picked up again, carrying the faint echo of a howl, distant, fading. We’d lost her trail. Hellen’s expression hardened, but I could see the fire behind her eyes. The Luna I thought I’d lost was standing right in front of me.
“Let’s go,” I said finally, pocketing the pendant. “This isn’t over.”

The pack mansion was in uproar when we returned. The council had gathered, grim faces, accusing eyes. Two guards were dead by the west gate, their throats torn out.
Councilman Darik was the first to speak. “Alpha, the blood leads from the healer’s quarters to the woods. You’re hiding something.”
My patience was gone before he finished. “Choose your next words carefully.”
He sneered. “The pack deserves transparency. The Luna’s illness, the disappearances, now the deaths you’ve failed to control your own house.”

I stepped forward, letting my aura flare. The energy pulsed through the room, thick enough to make even seasoned warriors bow. “Say that again,” I growled, my voice low but lethal.
He tried to hold his ground, but the tremor in his hands betrayed him. “The council will not...”
I was already in front of him before he finished, my hand gripping his throat. His feet lifted an inch off the floor as I leaned close, my voice a snarl. “You will not question your Alpha in front of his pack.”

The silence that followed was heavy. I could hear hearts pounding, fear-scent everywhere.
“Enough!” Paul’s voice cut through like thunder. “Put him down, Matt.”
I did, shoving Darik back into his chair. My hands were still shaking. Not from anger, from what lurked beneath it. The creeping edge of something darker, something I couldn’t explain.
Paul stepped forward, eyes steady on mine. “We’ll handle this outside.”

I didn’t argue.
The night air hit cold against my sweat-soaked skin as we stepped out into the courtyard. Paul crossed his arms, studying me. “You’re losing it.”
“I’m controlling it,” I snapped.
“Barely. You nearly killed a councilman in front of witnesses.”
“They were questioning my authority.”
“They were testing it,” he said evenly. “And you gave them exactly what they wanted , proof that you’re cracking.”
I turned away, jaw tight. “You don’t understand...”
“I do,” he interrupted. “You’re trying to hold this pack together while the people closest to you keep stabbing you in the back. But if you fall apart now, they win.”

I exhaled, the breath shaking as it left me. He wasn’t wrong. But understanding didn’t make it any easier.
After a long silence, Paul placed a hand on my shoulder. “Take a breath before you destroy everything you’re trying to protect.”
Then he walked away, leaving me alone in the dark with my thoughts.
Later that night, I found myself outside Hellen’s chamber again. The door was slightly open, just like before. I hesitated before pushing it wider.
She was asleep, or pretending to be. Her hair spilled over the pillow, moonlight catching on the faint scars along her neck. For a moment, all the fury drained out of me. I just stood there, watching her chest rise and fall.
I moved closer, each step softer than the last. The scent of her filled the room, faint lavender, the same one that used to cling to our sheets before everything fell apart. My hand hovered above hers, but I didn’t touch her.

“I almost lost you,” I whispered. “And maybe I still will.”
She stirred slightly, her lips parting as if she might wake. My throat tightened. There were so many things I wanted to say, the truth, the guilt, the way every wall I built cracked when I looked at her.
But I swallowed it all. Alphas didn’t confess weakness. Not even to their mates.
I turned toward the door. That’s when I saw it, a folded note on the bedside table. My name written in her handwriting.
I hesitated, then picked it up. The scent was fresh. She must’ve written it while I was gone.
The note was short, almost too calm for what it contained:
“If you’re reading this, then you’ve started to see it too.
They’ve been poisoning us both.
Trust no one, not even those who claim to serve the pack.
The healer’s magic runs deeper than you know.
Follow the shadows, not the light.”
At the bottom, a faint symbol was drawn , the same as the one on the pendant.
I froze.

My vision dimmed for a moment, like the world itself recoiled. The words poisoning us both echoed in my head.
I reached for the pendant in my pocket , and the moment my fingers brushed it, a jolt ran through my arm. My wolf howled in pain, staggering backward inside my mind. It wasn’t just a trinket. It carried magic. Dark, invasive magic.
I dropped it immediately, breathing hard. My pulse pounded like thunder.
The edges of the note shimmered faintly, and as I stared closer, I saw it. The faint outline of runes. Spells. Curses.
Whatever this was, Hellen was right. We weren’t just victims of betrayal. We were targets of something ancient.
By dawn, I hadn’t slept. My reflection in the mirror didn’t look like an Alpha, it looked like a ghost wearing his skin.
I rolled up my sleeve. Faint, dark veins pulsed beneath the surface, spreading slowly, like poison in the blood.
The healer. The pendant. The note.

It all pointed to one truth.
Something inside me was changing.
I clenched my fists until my knuckles bled. “You wanted to play with darkness,” I whispered, staring at my reflection. “Then I’ll show you what real darkness looks like.”
I slipped the note into my coat, grabbed my blade, and stepped out into the hallway.
The storm outside had broken, rain pelting against the walls like the world itself was warning me. But I didn’t care.
If Laura and the healer thought they could control an Alpha through magic, they’d soon learn what it meant to challenge one who’d already lost everything worth protecting.
Because now, I wasn’t fighting for order.
I was fighting for vengeance.
And I’d burn every shadow in this cursed pack until the truth stood in the light.