Chapter Sixty-Three: The Empty Return

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Empty Return


Morning came cold and sharp. Faith hadn’t truly slept — she’d dozed in David’s arms while the fire sank into embers, but her mind had never let go of the image of those silver eyes in the trees.

By dawn, the patrols returned. All but one.

Daniel’s party did not come back.

The yard filled with low, anxious voices as David strode out from the Hall, his presence scattering the whispers. Faith followed at his shoulder, her pulse heavy in her throat.

“Scouts,” David ordered, his tone clipped. “Follow their trail. Bring me word.”

The search took hours. Faith stood near the eastern gate when the first scout returned, mud streaked across his boots, his eyes grave.

“We followed them through the foothills,” he said. “Daniel’s trail ran strong, then vanished. Not faded — cut. Like someone carried him off. And the ground…” He hesitated.

“What about the ground?” David snapped.

“The soil was stained with strange scents. Not ours. Wolves, but not Rainfall. Metallic, sharp. Orell.”

Faith’s heart dropped into her stomach.

David’s chest rose and fell like a storm gathering. His hands flexed at his sides, claws threatening to break through his skin.

“And Daniel?”

“No body,” the scout said quickly. “No blood either. Just… gone.”

David’s growl rolled through the square, low and dangerous. Faith reached for him instinctively, her fingers brushing his arm, grounding him before the fury could consume him whole.

But the true blow came an hour later.

At the northern gate, the sentries shouted. A single wolf approached under no flag of truce — a female, silver-furred, lean, her posture calm though her paws trod on enemy soil. She wore Orell colors draped across her shoulders, a sash of red and black.

The sentries bared their teeth, but David was already striding forward. Faith kept pace with him, every nerve screaming caution.

The female wolf shifted just before the gate, standing tall and bare in her skin, though unashamed. Her eyes were cool, detached.

She spoke one sentence.

“Your brother for your Luna.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

David’s entire body went rigid. His wolf pushed against his skin, his aura so thick it pressed down on everyone in earshot. The sentries bristled, baring fangs, waiting for his command.

Faith’s heart hammered. Not from fear for herself — but because she knew what Divine was doing.

This wasn’t a trade. It was a trap.

David’s voice came out as a snarl. “Where is he?”

The messenger only tilted her head. “Alive. For now. But not for long. Bring her to the river pass at moonrise, and you’ll see him again.”

Faith stepped forward before David could explode, her voice cutting the air. “And if we don’t?”

The female’s mouth curved into the smallest hint of a smile. “Then you’ll hear his screams before the Blood Moon sets.”

David lunged a step closer, his claws sliding free, but Faith caught his arm. “David.”

He froze, the fury in his eyes so hot it nearly burned her.

The messenger seemed pleased by his reaction. She bowed her head slightly, mockingly. “Choose wisely.”

Then she shifted back into wolf form, sleek and silver, and vanished into the treeline before anyone could move.

The yard erupted into shouts, but David’s roar silenced them all. He turned, eyes glowing like wildfire, and stalked back toward the Hall. Faith followed, ignoring the whispers that buzzed like insects around them.

Inside, the fury broke free. David slammed his fists onto the table, the wood cracking beneath the force. “She thinks I’ll hand you over like coin. She thinks I’ll….” He stopped, choking on his own rage. His hands shook with the effort of holding himself back.

Faith stood across from him, her voice steady though her insides twisted. “This is what she wanted. To force your choice, to make you reckless.”

“She has my brother,” David snarled. “And she dares threaten my mate.” His eyes cut to her, wild. “Faith, I swear on every bone in my body, she will pay in blood.”

Faith met his gaze, unflinching. “Then don’t give her what she wants. Don’t let her decide how you fight this.”

The silence between them was taut, vibrating with the weight of his anger and her resolve.

Finally, David turned away, his shoulders rising and falling with deep, ragged breaths. “If she harms him…”

“She won’t kill him yet,” Faith said softly. “Not if she thinks she can use him.”

David looked at her then, eyes blazing. “This isn’t a trade. It’s war.”

And Faith knew — Divine had just shifted the game.

The Blood Moon was not yet done painting the sky in red.