Chapter 26 FRACTURES

Chapter 26 FRACTURES
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The territory did not sleep after Draven’s visit. By sunrise, exhaustion hung over Blood Moon like fog.

Warriors rotated through patrols with tired eyes. Pack members whispered nervously outside cabins. Even the forest itself felt tensed and quieter than usual, as though the mountains were holding their breath.

Anna stood near the council fire wrapped in one of Chris’s jackets, watching wolves move anxiously through camp. She felt their fear more deeper than ever.

Draven had poisoned something the moment he stepped into their territory.

“Hey… you need food.”

Anna glanced up as Steve handed her a plate of roasted beef and corn. She accepted it absently. “Thanks.”

“You’re absentminded Anna.”

“What?”

“You’re staring into space, mentally carrying the emotional trauma of an entire pack.”

Despite everything, Anna huffed a quiet laugh. Steve sat beside her heavily, rubbing exhaustion from his face. “How bad is it?”

She knew what he meant. The bond. The emotional connection.

Anna hesitated before answering honestly. “Worse than before.”

Steve’s expression darkened. “I can feel people questioning things now,” she admitted quietly. “Not openly. But it’s there.”

“Tyler and his little fan club?”

“It’s more than them.”

Steve cursed under his breath.

Anna looked toward the patrol gates where younger warriors argued quietly among themselves.

“They’re scared,” she whispered. “And scared people want someone to blame.”

Steve followed her gaze grimly. “Yeah.”

Before either of them could continue, raised voices erupted near the training grounds. Anna instantly recognized Tyler’s voice.

“You saw him yourself!” Tyler shouted. “Draven walked right up to our borders and nobody stopped him!”

Several younger wolves stood gathered around him now, visibly worked up. “We should’ve attacked.”

“And gotten slaughtered?” another wolf snapped back.

“At least we wouldn’t look weak.” Tyler countered immediately.

Anna felt the emotional tension spike immediately.

Steve stood with a sigh. “Fantastic. Exactly what we needed this morning.”

By the time they reached the group, Chris was already there. His expression was carved from stone.

The arguing stopped instantly when he approached. Tyler crossed his arms stubbornly. “We’re just talking.”

“You’re undermining discipline,” Chris corrected.

“We’re asking questions.”

“No,” Chris said sharply. “You’re spreading fear.”

Tyler’s jaw tightened. “People are already afraid.”

Anna stepped closer carefully, sensing the tension escalating again.

Chris remained calm outwardly, but she could feel his wolf straining beneath the surface now. Draven’s appearance had affected him more deeply than he wanted anyone to know.

“We are strengthening defenses,” Chris said firmly. “Nobody leaves territory alone. Patrol routes are changing effective immediately.”

“And when Draven comes back?” Tyler challenged. “What then?”

Chris’s eyes hardened. “Then he dies.”

The words silenced everyone, not because of volume but of certainty.

For the first time since meeting him, Anna heard genuine murderous intent in Chris’s voice. And apparently… so did the pack.

Tyler lowered his gaze first. “Understood, Alpha.”

But Anna still felt unrest simmering underneath the submission.

Chris dismissed the gathering shortly afterward, but the tension lingered long after the younger wolves dispersed.

“You threatened him,” Anna said quietly once they were alone.

Chris rubbed a hand across his face tiredly. “He needed reminding.”

“He’s angry, not disloyal.”

“For now...” Chris said looking away. The coldness in that response unsettled her.

Anna touched his arm gently. “Chris…”

His expression softened instantly at her touch. No matter how furious or overwhelmed he became, she could pull him back simply by touching him.

“You didn’t sleep either,” she noticed softly.

Chris was silent, that answered enough. Before she could press further, Steve suddenly reappeared carrying a folded map and looking grim.

“We found tracks near the western ridge.”

Chris straightened immediately. “Draven?”

“Maybe.” Steve spread the map across a nearby table. “But there’s something else.”

Anna stepped closer. She saw several patrol routes had been marked in red.

“That’s the healer route.” Anna mouthed, her eyes widened in shock.

Steve nodded darkly. “Someone’s been watching supply movements.”

Chris’s expression turned lethal instantly.

“A spy,” Anna whispered. This time nobody denied it. Spies meant trust was already broken somewhere inside Blood Moon.

“Only inner pack members know those routes,” Steve muttered.

Chris’s jaw flexed sharply. “Keep this quiet for now.”

“You think that’s smart?” Steve asked carefully.

“I think panic helps Draven, we don't want that.”

Steve didn’t look convinced, but nodded anyway.

Anna stayed quiet, deep inside, her instincts screamed the same terrifying truth — Draven wasn’t just attacking the Blood Moon Pack physically.

He was dismantling them emotionally first and it was working.

That night, the atmosphere around camp worsened further. A fight nearly broke out between two patrol groups over accusations of negligence. Several wolves refused to rotate shifts together.
The pack was beginning to divide slowly. Anna felt all of it relentlessly through the Luna bond.

By evening, the emotional pressure pounding against her mind became unbearable. She escaped into the forest alone without realizing how far she’d wandered until the sounds of camp disappeared completely.

The woods felt colder and darker.

Anna leaned against a pine tree, breathing shakily as she tried to quiet the overwhelming flood of emotions.

“You shouldn’t wander alone.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin. Chris emerged from the shadows moments later looking frustrated and worried.

“You scared me.”

“You scared me,” he corrected immediately. “I’ve been looking for you for twenty minutes.”

Anna sighed tiredly. “I just needed some peace and quiet.”

Chris approached slowly. “And you thought disappearing into the woods during a possible security breach was a good idea?”

“Okay, when you say it like that, it sounds stupid.”

“It was stupid.”

She glared weakly at him. “You’re very comforting lately.”

Chris exhaled, some frustration melting from his face. “Sorry.”

Anna looked away toward the dark trees. “Everything feels wrong.”

His expression softened instantly. “The bond?” he guessed.

She nodded.

“I can feel the pack falling apart emotionally,” she admitted quietly. “It’s like everyone’s carrying fear so loudly I can barely think.”

Chris stepped closer. “Why didn’t you tell me it was getting this bad?”

“Because you already have enough on your shoulders Chris.” Anna regretted the words immediately when guilt crossed his face.

“Hey,” she said softly, reaching for him. “That wasn’t fair.”

Chris covered her hand with his instantly. “You’re part of those shoulders now,” he murmured. “You don’t carry this alone anymore.”

Emotion tightened painfully in her chest. She loved him so much it frightened her sometimes.

“I had another dream earlier,” she admitted quietly.

Chris stiffened immediately. “What did you see?”

Anna hesitated. “Blood Moon burning again,” she whispered. “But this time…” Her voice faltered slightly. “This time I couldn’t find you.”

Chris’s grip on her hand tightened hard enough to almost hurt. “Don’t.”

Anna looked up at him, his eyes looked terrified.

“You’re not allowed to talk like that,” he said roughly.

A sad smile touched her lips. “You sound like you can control fate by arguing with it.”

“I’ll fight fate too if I have to.”

The seriousness in his voice nearly broke her. Anna stepped into his arms immediately, holding him tightly beneath the dark forest canopy.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then Chris quietly said against her hair:

“If something happens…”

Anna pulled back instantly. “No.”

“Anna…”

“No.” Her voice shook now. “Don’t start talking like goodbye already exists.”

Chris stared at her painfully, that terrified her more than any nightmare. He was preparing for war now.

A sudden howl ripped through the forest. They both froze and listened. The hotel came again, it wasn't a patrol signal, it sounded like someone in pain.

Chris’s head snapped toward the eastern ridge immediately, another howl follo
wed. Closer this time.

Steve’s voice suddenly echoed through the woods from somewhere near camp:

“Chris!”

The urgency in it made Anna’s blood run cold. Chris grabbed her hand instantly and ran towards the camp.