Chapter 49 The Brother's Shadow
Fernando pushed to his feet slowly, blood still dripping from the gash in his thigh, but his eyes burned with a fire that silenced the hall. Guards rushed forward, swords drawn, circling Vagus where he knelt clutching his chest.
"Hold him," one guard barked. "Take his head."
Vagus looked up, eyes wide with shock and fury, hand scrabbling for a fallen dagger.
"Stop," Fernando said quietly.
The guards froze. Vagus paused, breath ragged.
"Leave him alone," Fernando continued. "Let him walk from this hall without a scratch. His banishment remains. He leaves the pack forever, but unharmed."
The hall went utterly silent. Darius staggered forward, sword still in hand, face twisted in disbelief.
"What kind of judgment is that?" Darius demanded. "He tried to kill you. He poisoned you. He led this attack. And you let him walk free?"
Samael rose from where he had fallen, axe gripped tight, eyes blazing. "This is madness. Let me end him."
Fernando turned to Darius, voice steady despite the pain. "I promised our father I would never stain my hands with Vagus's blood. The bond of brothers remains. He is my blood, even in betrayal. I will not break that vow."
Darius threw his hands up. "A vow? To a dead man? While your living pack lies in ruins?"
Vagus laughed weakly from the floor. "Even now you cannot kill me, brother? Father's ghost still holds your leash?"
Samael roared and charged, axe raised high. "You die now!"
Fernando moved faster than his wounds should allow. He stepped between Samael and Vagus, catching the axe haft mid-swing with one hand. The impact jarred his bones, but he held.
"No," Fernando said.
Samael strained against him. "Move, Alpha. He deserves death."
Fernando twisted the axe from Samael’s grip and drove his fist into the gamma's jaw. Samael staggered, eyes wide with shock, then crumpled to the floor unconscious.
"Darius," Fernando said. "Take care of him."
Darius knelt beside Samael, checking for breath. "You knocked out your own gamma to protect that scum?"
Fernando turned to Vagus. "Go. Leave this hall. Leave the pack. If you ever return, the vow breaks and I will kill you myself."
Vagus stood slowly, still clutching his side where blood seeped between fingers. "You will regret this mercy, brother."
He turned and limped toward the doors. No one moved to stop him. He pushed them open and vanished into the night.
Fernando’s gaze swept the hall and caught movement near the side exit. Corvin and Sabine slipped toward the shadows, Rolf close behind.
"Guards," Fernando called. "Hold them."
The remaining loyal wolves surged forward, seizing the traitors before they could flee. Corvin struggled briefly, staff raised, but a guard knocked it from his hand.
"What is this?" Corvin demanded. "We served the pack!"
"You betrayed it," Fernando said. "Only Vagus leaves without a scratch. Not you."
Sabine spat at his feet. "You let him go but condemn us? Hypocrite!"
Fernando ignored her. "Throw them into the cells. Strip them of rank. They will answer for every death here."
The guards dragged them away, the traitors cursing and kicking.
Fernando stood alone in the center of the hall, blood pooling at his feet, and walked away without another word.
Darius watched him go, then turned to the unconscious Samael. "Wake up, you fool. The Alpha needs us."
The great hall lay in ruins. Broken tables, shattered benches, blood pooling in every crack between the stones. The torches still burned, but their light felt weak, as though even fire mourned. Bodies of loyal wolves and traitors alike were being carried out in silence. The living moved like ghosts among the dead.
Fernando walked the length of the hall, sword still in his hand, eyes scanning every shadow for lingering threats. His thigh bled steadily, the wound from Vargus’s claws deep and angry. His shoulder throbbed where the claiming bite had reopened. He ignored all of it. The pack needed its Alpha standing.
The main doors creaked open slowly.
Mira stepped through first, one arm supporting a fragile figure wrapped in a torn gray cloak. The woman’s auburn hair hung in matted strands over a face pale as moonlight. Her body trembled with every step. Her left leg ended below the knee in a crude, blood-crusted stump wrapped in filthy bandages. She leaned heavily on Mira, each breath a shallow rasp.
They crossed the threshold.
The woman’s strength gave out. Her knees buckled. She collapsed to the stone floor with a soft, broken cry.
Fernando’s sword fell from his hand and rang against the floor.
He ran.
His boots pounded across the hall, scattering broken glass and spilled ale. He dropped to his knees beside her, arms wrapping around her thin frame, pulling her tight against his chest as if the world itself might try to take her again.
“Liana,” he whispered, voice cracking like ice under spring sun. “Liana.”
She lifted a trembling hand and brushed the tears from his cheek with fingers cold as winter. “I am here, brother. I am with you now. Everything is fine.”
Fernando buried his face in her hair, holding her so tightly her ribs creaked. His shoulders shook with silent, wrenching sobs that tore from the deepest part of him.
“I thought I lost you,” he rasped. “I thought they took you forever.”
Liana rested her forehead against his, her own tears falling onto his blood-streaked armor. “They tried. They cut. They chained. But I am home.”
He pulled back just enough to look at her face, to memorize every bruise, every scar, every line of pain etched there. “How did you survive?”
“Mira found me,” Liana said, voice barely above a whisper. “She came with the hidden cohorts. She carried me out herself.”
Fernando turned to Mira, eyes wet but fierce. “Take her. Treat her. Do whatever you must. Save my sister.”
He tried to stand, lifting Liana in his arms. His legs shook. Blood loss, poison, exhaustion, grief, all of it crashed down at once. His vision tunneled.
Liana clutched his tunic. “Fernando!”
He collapsed to one knee, then fully to the floor, still cradling her against his chest like a shield.
Mira shouted for guards. “Help me! The Alpha is down!”
Two guards rushed forward and carefully took Liana from his arms. Fernando’s fingers clung for a heartbeat longer before falling limp.
“Keep her safe,” he rasped, voice fading. “Please.”
Then darkness claimed him completely.