Chapter 139: Faint Glimmer

Chapter 139: Faint Glimmer
Magnus’s POV

The night blurred around Magnus until the shadows seemed to be all he could see at the edges of his eyes. He tried to move forward, but every muscle screamed. It felt like the wolfsbane clawed through his veins like fire, burning his throat every time he breathed.

He could feel his wolf fading, the beast retreating deep inside as if trying to hide from the toxin eating through their blood.

Across the clearing, Xavier wasn’t faring any better. The Beta staggered, one knee sinking into the dirt, his black fur soaked in blood. His breathing was shallow, and each exhale came out like a growl torn in half.

“Beta Xavier,” Magnus rasped through the pack link, though his voice was faint. “You still with me?”

Xavier turned his head slightly. His silver eyes dimmed, but they were still as sharp as ever. “Barely,” he answered. It looked like that single word carried everything he felt at that moment.

Magnus tried to laugh but ended up choking on blood instead. He soon fell to his knees, coughing violently, the taste of iron thick on his tongue. His claws dug into the ground.

“I think…” he panted, “I think I’m finally out of jokes.”

Xavier managed a short chuckle. “Now I see you’re dying, Magnus…”

Slowly, they both sank further into the dirt, shoulders shaking violently. The hunters were gone now. The battle was finally over. But so was their strength—though not their will.

At that moment, Magnus could feel his body giving up bit by bit. The change pressed against him on instinct. The wolf couldn’t hold the form anymore. It wanted to let go.

And so, after one last aching breath, his towering frame began to shrink and twist. Bones cracked, and the fur receded. He shifted back into his human form, his bare skin streaked with his own blood and dirt.

“Shit,” he murmured as he stared at himself.

Now, the air felt too cold, too raw against the wounds that still burned like open fire. He looked to the side and saw Xavier already collapsed on the ground beside him, also human now.

The Beta’s chest rose and fell slowly, blood pooling beneath him, his hand gripping the dirt as if the world might slip away if he let go.

“Hell of a fight,” Magnus croaked, his voice small in the surrounding silence. “Guess we didn’t win this one, huh?”

Xavier coughed, a weak laugh escaping him. “We didn’t lose either.”

Magnus turned his head to look at him. The moonlight caught Xavier’s face. He already looked so tired, but still stubbornly calm despite everything.

“You really think that?” Magnus asked.

Xavier’s eyes flicked toward the trees where Samuel had vanished. “He’s hurt worse. He’ll bleed before he gets far.” His voice trembled. “But don’t worry. Next time, we finish it.”

Magnus tried to smile, but it faltered. His throat ached. “You always say ‘next time,’ but what if there’s no next time, Beta Xavier? What if…” He paused, clenched his jaw, and just looked away.

The silence that followed was thick enough for them to hear the rustle of nearby birds. Xavier didn’t answer immediately. He was probably thinking the same.

Even the river nearby whispered, the wind moving softly through the leaves, as if the forest itself were listening.

Magnus couldn’t help but stare at the stars—the endless stretch of them beyond the treetops.

“I really wanted to find her, Beta Xavier,” he whispered, his voice almost breaking. “Just once. To tell her I’m sorry for… for not being enough. For not saving her. For—”

“Stop.” Xavier’s voice cut him off gently. “You didn’t fail her.”

Magnus’s eyes burned, and he laughed bitterly. “Feels like I did. She’s gone. We’re lying here dying in the dirt. If that’s not failure, I don’t know what is.”

Xavier turned his head toward him, his face softening despite the ache. “You’re still breathing, aren’t you? That means you haven’t failed yet.”

Magnus blinked, and for a moment, he didn’t have words. Then, faintly, he smiled. “You’re one stubborn bastard, you know that?”

“Yeah,” Xavier said, his tone dry, though his voice wavered. “Someone has to keep you alive.”

The two of them lay there in silence for a while. The fight had stripped away everything. All that was left was the need to rest and sleep—and regret. And a sliver of something neither could quite name.

Magnus’s hand fell to the ground beside him, his fingers brushing the dirt. He could feel his pulse slowing, his eyes dimming little by little.

“You think…” he muttered softly, “you think Meredith’s looking at the same sky right now?”

Xavier didn’t answer right away. He exhaled slowly, his eyes fixed on the stars.

“I hope so,” he said at last. “And I hope she’s thinking of us too.”

Magnus smiled faintly. “Then I’m good with that.”

Their voices faded as the wind passed over them. The bright moon hung above, cold and watchful. The two wolves lay side by side, staring at the same endless sky they believed their Luna once watched too.

And then, slowly, darkness began to take them both.



Alexander’s POV

The dark forest swallowed their footsteps whole.

Alexander ran first, leading the way. His lungs burned, his breath loud in his ears. Behind him, the two warriors followed close, half-stumbling through the brush.

Even here, the air was thick with the bitter stench of wolfsbane. He could still hear the clash of blades echoing faintly in the distance—the fight they’d left behind.

And every step he took away from it tore at his gut.

“Beta Xavier ordered us to fall back,” one of the warriors gasped, trying to keep pace. “But—”

“I heard him,” Alexander snapped, his voice tight. His chest ached, not just from running, but from the weight of guilt. “I also heard the sound of dying men and felt Xavier and Magnus’s weakening wolves. And I know we have to go back to them.”

The warriors exchanged quick glances, but neither argued. They knew him well enough. When Dr. Alexander decided, it was final.

They pushed through the trees until the smell hit first—burnt flesh. And then they heard something worse—silence.

The clearing opened before them like a wound.

Bodies of hunters lay everywhere. The ground churned and blackened, trees scarred with claw marks. The river nearby glinted under the moon, red where the current met the soil.

And at the center of it all—two figures lying motionless in the dirt.

“Oh my…” Alexander breathed, his voice breaking on the words. “No...”

He sprinted forward, dropping to his knees beside them. Magnus lay sprawled half on his side, naked, bloodied, his chest rising in uneven breaths. Xavier was beside him, just as still.

Alexander’s hands moved on instinct. He pressed his ear to Xavier’s chest, relief flooding him when he heard the faint rhythm of a heartbeat.

“He’s still alive,” he said hoarsely. He turned, doing the same for Magnus. “So is he.”

“Doctor,” one of the warriors said, kneeling beside him, “what do we do?”

“What do we do?” Alexander snapped, his eyes blazing. “We must save them, that’s what!”

He yanked open the satchel slung over his shoulder, hands shaking as he pulled out gauze, salve, and a small vial of dark liquid.

“Please hold him still,” he ordered one warrior, pointing to Magnus. “This is going to burn...”

He poured the antidote over Magnus’s wounds. The Gamma jolted violently, groaning as the liquid hissed against his skin.

“Damn it…” Magnus’s eyes fluttered open. “Wha… what’s happening?”

Alexander leaned close. “You’ll be fine now. But please don’t move yet, Gamma Magnus…”

Magnus blinked at him, chest heaving. When his gaze finally cleared enough to see the doctor’s face, he weakly pushed against the warrior’s grip. “Where’s… Xavier?”

“Here,” Alexander said. “He’s here, too. Just breathe, okay? We’ll retreat now…”

But Magnus was already shaking his head. “No.” His voice was desperate. “We have to find her. We still have to find my Little Wolf.”

Alexander’s chest tightened. “But—”

“I’m not leaving this forest without her!” Magnus barked, trying to sit up on his elbow. The warrior holding him struggled to keep him down. “She’s close, Alexander. I can feel it. Please, just let me—”

Alexander gripped his shoulder hard, forcing him to meet his gaze. “Listen to me, Magnus Langley.” His voice was sharp, almost a growl. “If you try to stand right now, you’ll die before you take ten steps. You’ve both lost too much blood. Your wolves can’t heal under wolfsbane poisoning.”

Magnus’s breath hitched. He furrowed his brow and clenched his fists. “You can’t command me to just stop,” he said. “We want her and she needs us…”

“I know,” Alexander said softly, his tone breaking just slightly. “I know. But she wouldn’t want you dying for her, Magnus…”

For a moment, Magnus said nothing. Then, slowly, his head dropped, the last of his strength leaking out of him. “Damn you,” he muttered. “You always sound too much like Xavier and everyone else.”

Alexander gave a small smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He quickly turned to the warriors. “Now lift them carefully. One each. We’re getting them home…”

“But, Doctor,” one of them hesitated, glancing around the clearing, “what if the hunters come back?”

“Then we’ll deal with it when it happens,” Alexander said firmly, already packing his supplies. “Right now, our Beta and Gamma are dying. We save them, or everything we’ve done tonight means nothing.” He then looked around suddenly. “Besides, it looks like they’ve already killed them all…”

The two warriors obeyed without further questioning him. They each crouched and lifted their wounded leaders—one carrying Xavier, the other Magnus. Both men groaned but didn’t resist.

As they began the long walk back toward the border, Alexander looked once more over his shoulder at the bloodstained clearing.

The moonlight shone on the torn ground where the battle had ended, and for a brief, terrible second, Alexander thought he saw something. A faint glimmer of movement among the trees, like the shimmer of hair in the wind.

He blinked, and it was gone. Maybe it was just the wind. Or maybe, just maybe… she’d been there all along.