Chapter 20 20

Chapter 20 20
CHAPTER TWENTY

THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL

ZARIAH NIGHTBORNE POV

Time slowed to a crawl.

Damien stood in the doorway, federal agents flanking him, guns drawn and aimed directly at me. Not at Lucien. Not at the Council members who'd committed actual crimes.

At me.

"Damien?" My voice came out strangled. "What are you doing?"

His expression was unreadable, cold in a way I'd never seen before. "Zariah Nightborne, you're under arrest for corporate espionage, fraud, and conspiracy to commit terrorism."

The words didn't make sense. Nothing made sense.

"You bastard," Veda snarled, stepping in front of me. "You lying, traitorous bastard."

"Stand down," one of the agents ordered. "All of you. Hands where we can see them."

The rogues behind me tensed, ready to fight. But I raised my hand, stopping them.

Because I needed to understand. Needed to hear him say it.

"Why?" I asked quietly, my eyes locked on Damien's. "Why go through all of this? The penthouse, the legal help, sleeping with me? Was it all just to get me here?"

Something flickered across his face. Pain. Regret. But his voice remained steady. "You were always going to end up here, Zariah. I just made sure it happened on my terms."

Lucien laughed from his seat, slow and mocking. "Oh, this is beautiful. Better than I could've planned myself."

"Shut up," Damien snapped at his brother, then turned back to me. "The evidence against you is substantial. The flash drive you're holding? It doesn't just contain Council crimes. It contains your crimes too. Every illegal business deal. Every pack law you've broken. Everything."

My hands trembled. "You set me up."

"I did what needed to be done."

"For who?" My voice rose. "The Council? Your brother? Yourself?"

"For all of us!" His composure cracked slightly. "You were going to get yourself killed, Zariah. Walking in here with some suicide mission, thinking you could take down the entire Council single handedly. This was the only way to stop you."

"By arresting me?"

"By saving your life!" His voice echoed through the chamber. "Even if you hate me for it. Even if you never forgive me. At least you'll be alive."

Understanding crashed over me like ice water.

This wasn't betrayal. This was protection.

Twisted, manipulative, infuriating protection.

"You son of a bitch," I whispered. "You think locking me up saves me?"

"It keeps you away from them. Away from this war that will kill you." Damien's jaw clenched. "I made a deal with the federal government. Full immunity in exchange for evidence against the Council. They get their arrests. You get to live. It's the only way."

"I didn't ask you to save me."

"I know." His eyes held mine, and I saw everything he wasn't saying. The love. The desperation. The willingness to become the villain if it meant I survived. "But I'm doing it anyway."

Lucien stood slowly, his smile vicious. "How touching. But there's one problem with your little plan, brother."

Damien turned. "What?"

"You think the federal government is here for the Council?" Lucien laughed. "They're here for her. The Luna Code. They've been trying to get their hands on it for years. And you just gift wrapped it for them."

The color drained from Damien's face. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you poor, naive fool." Lucien walked closer. "The agents you contacted? They're not federal. They're private contractors. Funded by the Syndicate. And the moment they take her into custody, she disappears into a black site facility where they'll drain every drop of Luna blood from her body."

I watched Damien's world shatter in real time.

"No," he breathed. "No, I verified their credentials. I checked everything."

"You checked what we wanted you to see." Lucien's smile widened. "Did you really think I wouldn't have contingencies? That I wouldn't know about your little arrangement?"

Damien spun toward the agents. "Is this true?"

The lead agent smiled. It wasn't friendly. "Mr. Romano, I'm afraid you've been misinformed about the nature of our operation."

"You lied to me."

"We did what was necessary." The agent gestured to his team. "Secure the Luna. Kill anyone who resists."

Everything happened at once.

The rogues attacked. Agents opened fire. The Council chamber erupted into absolute chaos.

But I didn't move.

I stood frozen, staring at Damien, watching him realize he'd delivered me straight into the hands of the people who wanted to destroy me.

"Zariah!" Veda screamed. "Move!"

A bullet grazed my shoulder, snapping me back to reality. Pain exploded white hot, but I was already moving, diving behind an overturned table.

Damien was fighting now, his wolf emerging as he tore into the fake agents with brutal efficiency. But there were too many of them.

Kael appeared beside me, blood streaming from a cut on his forehead. "We need to get you out of here!"

"Not without my people!"

"They're already dead if we stay!" He grabbed my arm, yanking me toward a side exit.

But Lucien blocked our path, fully shifted, a massive brown wolf with murder in his eyes.

"Going somewhere, little Luna?" His voice was distorted but understandable. "I don't think so."

He lunged.

Kael intercepted him, their bodies colliding with bone crushing force. They rolled across the floor, a tangle of fur and fangs and violence.

I ran for the exit, but another agent tackled me from behind. We hit the ground hard, my head cracking against marble.

Stars exploded across my vision.

"Got her!" The agent shouted. "I've got the Luna!"

Strong hands yanked me up, zip ties cutting into my wrists. I tried to fight, tried to phase, but my head was spinning, my body not responding properly.

"Zariah!" Damien's voice, desperate and broken.

I looked up to see him fighting his way toward me, taking bullets, ignoring pain, focused only on reaching me.

But he was too late.

The agent pressed something cold against my neck. A syringe.

"No!" Damien screamed.

The plunger depressed.

Liquid fire shot through my veins. Not wolfsbane. Something else. Something that made my wolf howl and retreat deep inside me, hiding from whatever poison they'd just injected.

My legs gave out.

The world tilted.

Through blurring vision, I saw Damien finally reach the agent holding me. Saw him tear the man's throat out with his bare hands.

But it didn't matter.

I was already falling, darkness rushing up to meet me.

The last thing I heard was Damien's voice, raw with anguish.

"I'm sorry. God, Zariah, I'm so sorry."

Then nothing.

\---

I woke to silence.

Not the comfortable silence of safety. The heavy silence of captivity.

My eyes opened slowly, adjusting to dim light. I was in a cell. Small. Steel walls. No windows. A single door with no handle on this side.

And I couldn't feel my wolf.

Panic seized my chest. I reached for her, for that presence that had been with me since my first shift, and found nothing. Just empty space where she should be.

"She's not gone." A voice spoke from the shadows. "Just suppressed. The serum they gave you blocks the shift. Temporary, but effective."

I turned my head, ignoring the spike of pain, and saw her.

A woman. Mid forties maybe. Elegant features. Dark hair streaked with silver. And eyes that looked exactly like mine.

"Who are you?" I croaked.

She stepped closer into the light, and my breath caught.

Because I knew that face. Had seen it in old photographs my adoptive father kept hidden.

"My name is Selene," she said softly. "And I'm your biological aunt. Your mother's sister."

The world tilted again. "That's impossible. My mother said she had no family left."

"She lied." Selene crouched in front of me. "Because I'm the one who helped your father sell you to the Syndicate. I'm the one who told them about the Luna Code in your blood. And I'm the reason your mother cursed you."

I stared at her, trying to process the magnitude of that confession.

"Why?" The word barely made it past my lips.

"Because I wanted what she had. The power. The bloodline. The destiny." Selene's expression was cold. "She was always the chosen one. The special daughter. The Luna heir. And I was nothing. Just the spare. The backup in case she failed."

"So you destroyed her life? Sold me?"

"I tried to take what should've been mine." She stood. "But you survived. Thrived even. Became everything I couldn't. And now here we are. The last two Luna bloodline carriers alive. And only one of us is leaving this facility."

My blood ran cold. "What are you talking about?"

"The Syndicate doesn't just want to study you, Zariah. They want to transfer your Luna Code to me. Replace the cursed, uncontrollable heir with a loyal, stable alternative." Selene smiled. "The procedure is scheduled for tomorrow morning. By sunset, I'll have your power. And you'll be dead."

She walked toward the door, then paused. "For what it's worth, I am sorry. You were magnificent. But this world was never meant for someone who couldn't be controlled. You were doomed from the start."

The door opened. Closed. Locked.

Leaving me alone in the darkness, trapped and powerless, with less than twenty four hours to live.

And somewhere above me, Damien was probably searching.

Probably tearing the city apart trying to find me.

The man who'd tried to save me had delivered me straight to my death.

I laughed. Actually laughed.

Because of course this was how it ended. Not in battle. Not in glory.

But in a cell. Alone. Betrayed by everyone I'd ever trusted.

The Luna who was supposed to change everything.

Reduced to nothing.