Chapter 139 Trust Leaves Patterns

Chapter 139 Trust Leaves Patterns
~ Duno's POV ~

I looked through the photographs spread across the table while the ancient pages remained open beside them. Every image showed Caelen and Allene smiling together beside the lake as though nothing in the world could reach them.

I studied each picture longer than I should have. The closer I looked, the more I understood why ordinary attacks had continued to fail.

Their bond had become stronger instead of weaker. Every hardship I had helped create had only driven them closer together.

I pushed the photographs aside and picked up the ritual again. The worn pages carried writing copied from forgotten Moonbound records.

I had already read the opening passages several times during the night. This time I forced myself to examine every sentence without allowing my anger to distract me.

The ritual did not promise an easy victory. It demanded conditions that seemed almost impossible to create.

I reached the section describing the true cost of the ritual. The explanation immediately changed everything I thought I understood.

Neither mate could die before the ritual was completed. Death would only strengthen what remained instead of breaking it.

I continued reading until I reached the next requirement. My hands tightened around the pages before I realized what they demanded.

Absolute trust had to be broken first. Without that, the ritual would never succeed.

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes for several moments. That single condition destroyed every plan I had considered until now.

Violence would accomplish nothing. Threats would accomplish nothing.

Kidnapping had already failed once. Politics had failed as well.

Their bond had survived betrayal, public judgment, endless arguments, and Magnus's madness. It had even survived the mountain house.

I finally accepted something I had refused to admit before. Brute force would never separate them.

If I wanted to destroy them, I had to make them destroy each other. That was the only path the ritual allowed.

I stood and walked toward the window overlooking the abandoned industrial district where I had established my new base. The empty streets suited my thoughts better than crowded territory ever could.

Caelen always believed strength meant protecting the people beside him. That belief had become his greatest advantage.

Now it would become his greatest weakness. He would never suspect that I had stopped trying to defeat him through open conflict.

His relationship would become the battlefield instead. Every step I took from this point forward would be aimed at trust instead of blood.

I returned to the table and picked up one of the photographs again. Allene smiled naturally in every image.

She had no idea someone had watched her the entire evening. Neither did Caelen.

That pleased me more than I expected. They had finally lowered their guard.

I pressed a button on the secure phone lying beside the documents. Within minutes, three people entered the room.

None of them were wolves. That was exactly why I had chosen them.

The first specialized in cyber surveillance. The second built private intelligence networks across several countries.

The third had spent years uncovering secrets wealthy corporations believed impossible to expose. They worked for money instead of loyalty.

"I didn't call you here for another attack," I said. "I'm finished wasting resources on violence."

The cyber specialist folded his hands across the table. His expression remained completely professional.

"Then what do you need?" he asked.

"I want information," I replied. "Every message, every routine, every weakness they don't realize they have."

The intelligence broker looked toward the photographs before speaking. He immediately understood who I meant.

"You want continuous surveillance," he said. "Not assassination."

"Correct," I answered. "I want their lives examined down to the smallest detail."

The investigator nodded slowly while considering the request. He seemed more interested than surprised.

"People always reveal something eventually," he said. "Trust leaves patterns."

"I want those patterns," I replied. "Find every opportunity to make them question one another."

The three specialists exchanged brief glances before agreeing. None of them asked why the assignment mattered so much.

That was another reason I preferred professionals over mercenaries. They completed contracts without unnecessary questions.

After they left, several of my remaining followers entered the room carrying supply reports from different safe houses. They immediately noticed the photographs still spread across the table.

One of them frowned before setting the reports aside. He hesitated only briefly before speaking.

"We thought our next move would be against Caelen," he said. "Why are we still focused on Allene?"

Another follower nodded in agreement. The question clearly bothered more than one of them.

"We've already lost enough people," he said. "Shouldn't we concentrate on weakening the Alpha instead?"

I looked from one face to another without answering immediately. None of them understood what I had finally realized.

"You still think they're separate problems," I said. "They're not."

The room remained silent. Every person waited for me to continue.

"Caelen's strength no longer comes from his title," I explained. "It comes from the life he built with her."

One of the younger followers shook his head slightly. His confusion remained obvious.

"She's only one woman," he said. "Why does everything keep coming back to her?"

I laughed quietly before placing the ritual pages back onto the table. The sound carried no humor.

"Because she changed everything without trying," I answered. "She exposed the truth I spent years refusing to see."

None of them interrupted me. Even those who disagreed continued listening.

"I believed people feared me because they respected me," I admitted. "I convinced myself fear was enough."

I picked up another photograph showing Caelen standing beside Allene. Neither of them looked concerned about who might be watching.

"Then she arrived," I continued. "People followed Caelen willingly."

I stared at the photograph until the edges bent beneath my fingers. The truth remained impossible to escape now.

"They stayed because they trusted him," I said. "Not because they feared him."

Those words tasted bitter even as I spoke them aloud. Accepting them felt worse than losing Dravik itself.

"I built loyalty through pressure," I continued. "He built loyalty through choice."

The room stayed completely quiet. None of my followers argued because none of them could deny what had happened.

"If their love falls apart," I said, "everything built upon that trust begins falling with it."

My followers finally understood. I could see it in their expressions.

This had never been only about revenge anymore. It had become something much deeper.

I no longer wanted Caelen's position. I wanted him to experience the same emptiness that had consumed my own life.

The secure phone vibrated across the table before anyone else could speak. Every person in the room looked toward it.

The screen displayed no name. It only showed the encrypted contact that had already sent me the ritual.

I answered immediately without saying anything first. The familiar distorted voice spoke before I had the chance.

"You've read the ritual," the stranger said.

"I have," I replied. "I understand what it requires."

There was a brief silence on the line. Then the stranger spoke again with far greater seriousness.

"Do not mistake its purpose," the voice said. "The ritual exists for a reason beyond your revenge."

"I'll use it when the time comes," I answered. "Nothing more."

Another short silence followed. When the stranger finally spoke again, every word sounded like a warning instead of advice.

"If you harm the Moonbound before the Second Seal opens," the voice said, "you will destroy everything we have planned."