Chapter 46: CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Matt’s POV

The night split open with silence.

One moment, I was asleep. Next, my chest was burning.

A violent jolt dragged me from sleep, my heart pounding against my ribs like it wanted to break free. The bond, the one that tethered me to Hellen, flared inside me, then dimmed so sharply it nearly stopped my breath.

“Hellen?” I whispered into the darkness, reaching through the link.

Nothing.

Panic crawled through my veins. I sat up, claws half unsheathing, my wolf thrashing under my skin. Her scent was faint, muted as though something had wrapped around it. It was like trying to breathe underwater.

I gripped the edge of the bed until the wood cracked under my hand. No. Someone was tampering with the bond.

I shot up, pulling a shirt over my head and heading for the door. But before I made it to the hall, a wave of dizziness hit me so strongly I stumbled. The mark on my neck, the one that connected me to her, throbbed, glowing faintly gold, then dimmed again.

My wolf snarled. “They’re cutting her off.”

I didn’t know who “they” were yet, but deep down, I already did.

By morning, the council chamber felt colder than usual. Every elder sat with their robes drawn tight, eyes darting between one another. And there they were, Laura and the Healer, standing side by side like twin serpents dressed in grace.

“Alpha,” Elder Rowan began, his tone careful, diplomatic. “The matter of the Luna’s… health has become pressing. The pack grows restless.”

“She’s recovering,” I said sharply.

The Healer bowed slightly. “Of course, Alpha. But recovery can take many forms. The Luna has been… unstable of late.”

My jaw locked. “Unstable?”

Laura stepped forward, voice soft, sympathetic. “You’ve been under immense pressure, Matt. No one doubts your strength. But we must face the truth, Hellen isn’t well. She’s been seen wandering at odd hours, speaking to shadows, and avoiding her duties. The pack worries.”

Lies. Every word dripped poison. But what made it worse, what made it unbearable, was how easily they slid into the cracks of my uncertainty.

I hadn’t spoken with Hellen in two days. I’d been told she was resting. Every time I asked, the Healer said she was too weak for visitors.

And now… the faint flicker of our bond. The distance. The doubt.

“She’s my Luna,” I said, my voice low, dangerous. “You forget your place.”

Laura didn’t flinch. Her gaze held mine, soft, concerned, but unyielding. “We only want to protect the pack… and you.”

For a moment, silence ruled the hall. Then I felt the subtle pull in her words, the magic hidden behind them. Suggestion. Influence. It clawed at my thoughts, wrapping them in fog.

Maybe they were right. Perhaps I was blinded by emotion. Maybe...

No.

My wolf roared inside me, snapping through the haze.

The room shook as my dominance erupted. Tables rattled. The torches on the walls flared brighter. Every elder bowed their heads under the force of it, even Laura, though she tried to mask her tremor with a forced smile.

“Enough,” I growled, the word vibrating through the chamber. “The Luna’s position is not up for debate. Any who questions it will answer to me.”

I turned and walked out, my pulse thundering. But even as I left, I heard Laura’s voice whisper behind me, low, barely audible:

“For now.”

I slammed my study door behind me.

The room smelled of paper, ink, and fury. I gripped the desk, closing my eyes. For a second, I tried to summon the bond again to feel her heartbeat through mine. It flickered once, twice… then faded.

I saw her face in flashes, her laugh, the way her eyes softened when she said my name, the warmth of her hand against my chest. But even those memories felt… blurred. As if someone had reached into my mind and smeared them with shadow.

What’s happening to me?

My wolf howled in my head. She’s in danger. You’re letting them silence her.

I slammed my fist into the desk. “Then why can’t I remember her clearly?”

There was no answer, only the pounding in my head and the faint whisper of another voice, one not my own.

“She’s the weakness, Matt… the reason your pack suffers. Let her go…”

I froze. The voice was feminine. Soft. Familiar.

Laura.

My breathing turned ragged. I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to drive it out. Magic. They’d done something to me. The Healer’s work. Subtle. Poisonous.

A sharp knock sounded. Before I could respond, the door opened.

Paul stood there, eyes dark and jaw tight.

“You look like hell,” he said, stepping in without invitation.

“I’m fine,” I muttered.

“Liar.” He crossed his arms. “The council’s been whispering again. Laura’s feeding them stories, twisting things. You can’t let them turn this into a coup.”

I met his gaze, frustration rising. “You think I don’t know that? I can barely sense Hellen anymore. It’s like someone’s buried our bond under stone.”

Paul frowned. “That’s not normal. Not unless…” He trailed off, eyes widening slightly as he studied my neck. “Matt, your mark. It’s fading.”

I looked in the mirror behind him, and he was right. The once-golden mark that bound me to my mate was now dulled, faintly gray.

“They’re breaking it,” he said grimly. “And you’re letting them.”

The words hit like a blow.

“I’m not...” I began, but before I could finish, anger surged, raw and uncontrollable. My claws slid out halfway. My vision tinted gold.

Paul didn’t back down. “Then prove it. Find her. Protect her before they erase her from you completely.”

I took a step forward, snarling, “You think I don’t want to?”

“Then do it!” he shouted back.

The air between us snapped like a live wire. I could have struck him. My wolf wanted to. But just as fast, the fury turned inward, choking me instead.

I stepped back, chest heaving.

Paul’s expression softened. “You’re losing yourself, brother. Don’t let them take both of you.”

And then he left me in the silence that followed one heavy enough to drown in.

I didn’t know how long I sat there, staring at the desk, before I noticed it.

A folded parchment lay half-tucked beneath one of the reports. I pulled it free, frowning.

The handwriting is familiar. Delicate, yet firm. Hellen’s.

My breath caught as I unfolded it.

Matt, if you find this, it means the lies have already reached you. The Healer and Laura have bound the sacred mark in blood and deceit. They feed on your doubt to weaken our bond. The mark of betrayal lies beneath the eastern temple. Follow it before it consumes everything. Trust no one. Not even the council.

My hands trembled slightly as I read. Every word cut through the fog like a blade. The faint warmth of her energy lingered on the page, and for the first time in days, I felt her again, faint but discernible.

My wolf surged forward, snarling in relief and rage.

“She’s alive,” I breathed, clutching the note. “And they’ve been poisoning us both.”

The room seemed to pulse around me. The mark on my neck flared once more, bright gold for a split second before settling. I could feel her now. Weak, but there.

I stood, the paper crumpled in my fist.

No more hesitation. No more doubt.

Laura. The Healer. The council’s whispers. It all fit now, the manipulation, the lies, the sleepless nights, the fading bond. They had planned this from the start.

But they’d made one mistake.

They’d underestimated what an Alpha becomes when his Luna is threatened.

The moon hung blood-red above the treetops when I left the packhouse. The forest wind was sharp, cutting through my shirt as I followed the faint trace of Hellen’s scent.

The closer I got to the temple grounds, the thicker the air became heavy with magic, the wrong kind. The soil reeked of burnt herbs and blood.

And then I saw it.

The same crimson symbol Hellen had described the Mark of Betrayal carved deep into the earth. But this time, it was glowing, spreading. Like veins of molten fire crawling outward.

The ground trembled softly beneath my boots.

Someone was completing the ritual tonight.

I crouched, letting my claws drag through the dirt, tracing the edges of the mark. My wolf snarled inside me, ready to break free. The air was thick with the scent of Laura’s perfume and the metallic tang of blood magic.

My hands clenched into fists.

“They think they can take her from me,” I whispered, voice trembling with fury. “They think they can break us.”

The mark pulsed once, and for an instant, I heard Hellen’s voice echo faintly through the bond:

Matt… don’t let them finish it.

That was all I needed.

My eyes glowed gold, then darker burning amber, the color of war.

I stood slowly, every muscle alive with purpose. The forest around me seemed to shrink back under the force of my dominance.

“They wanted a monster,” I growled. “Now they’ll see one.”

I turned toward the packhouse, the red light of the ritual reflecting off my skin like fire.

And with every step, my rage grew sharper until nothing remained but vengeance.

Tomorrow, the pack would wake to an Alpha reborn.

And by dawn, blood would answer betrayal.