Chapter 39 The Traitor Revealed

Chapter 39 The Traitor Revealed


Walking through the great hall that morning, heads turned. Not with suspicion. Not with curiosity. Something else. Warriors nodded as I passed. Servants met my eyes and smiled. Even the elders, gathered for their morning meeting, inclined their heads.

Elder Dorna stepped directly into my path.

I braced myself. Prepared for more questions about my place, my humanity, my right to stand beside their Alpha.

Instead, she bowed her head.

"Luna." Her voice carried. "The pack owes you thanks. You found our child. You stood with our Alpha. You've proven yourself."

I stared at her. "I don't understand."

"Mira's father spoke this morning. Told everyone how you tracked his daughter through the bond. How you refused to stay behind. How you carried her home." Dorna met my eyes. "I was wrong about you. We all were."

Behind her, others nodded. Warriors I'd healed. Servants I'd worked beside. Pack members who'd watched me for weeks with cold eyes.

Now those eyes were warm.

"I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll accept our apology." Dorna's voice softened. "Say you'll stay. Be our Luna. Really be our Luna."

I looked at them. At these wolves who'd doubted me, questioned me, made me feel like an outsider. And now, because I'd found one little girl, they were ready to welcome me.

"Yes." My voice came out rough. "I'll stay. I'll be your Luna. All of it."

Dorna smiled. Actually smiled. "Good. Now go. Your Alpha's looking for you."

I found Garrick in his study, but he wasn't alone.

Calder stood before his desk, his face grim. Papers spread across the surface. Maps marked with locations I didn't recognize.

"What happened?"

Garrick looked up. Through the bond, I felt his rage. Cold and focused and barely controlled.

"Marrick." He held up a letter. "We searched his quarters thoroughly. Found more than payments. Found correspondence going back months. Patrol routes. Supply shipments. Weak points in our defenses." His jaw tightened. "He's been feeding Harker information since winter."

I crossed to him, took the letter. Read words that made my blood run cold. Dates. Times. Numbers of warriors. All of it detailed, precise, devastating.

"Mira's kidnapping?"

"Planned. Executed using information he provided." Garrick's voice was ice. "They knew exactly when she'd be alone in the garden. Exactly how long before anyone noticed. Exactly which route to take."

The betrayal went deeper than I'd imagined.

"Where is he now?"

"Cells." Calder's voice was rough. "Waiting for judgment."

I looked at Garrick. Through the bond, I felt his war. The Alpha demanding blood. The man understanding impossible choices. The leader who had to do what was right for the pack.

"What will you do?"

"Confront him. One more time." He stood, moved around the desk. "Come with me."

The cells were cold and dark.

Marrick sat on a stone bench, his head in his hands. He looked up when we entered. His eyes were red-rimmed, his face haggard.

"Alpha." His voice cracked. "Luna."

Garrick stopped before the bars. "Explain it again. All of it."

Marrick's shoulders sagged. "They took my granddaughter. Six months ago. She was visiting her mother's family in the east. Harker's men grabbed her." Tears streamed down his face. "They said if I didn't help them, they'd send her back piece by piece. I had no choice."

"You could have come to me."

"She was already dead by then." His voice broke. "They killed her two months ago. Sent me her finger in a box. And I kept feeding them information because I didn't know how to stop. Because I was terrified and broken and I couldn't see any way out."

The silence stretched.

Garrick's hand found mine. Squeezed. Through the bond, I felt his grief. His understanding. His rage, directed not at Marrick but at Harker. At the man who'd created this nightmare.

"Mira's kidnapping," Garrick said. "You gave them the information that made it possible."

"Yes." Marrick's voice was barely a whisper. "And I'll carry that guilt to my grave."

"You'll carry it in exile."

Marrick looked up. "Exile?"

"Our laws demand it. Treason, even with mitigating circumstances, cannot go unpunished." Garrick's voice was steady. "You'll leave Ridge territory by nightfall. Never return. If you do, you'll be killed on sight."

Marrick nodded slowly. "I understand."

"Go. Now. Before I change my mind."

Marrick stood. At the cell door, he paused. Looked at me.

"You're good for him." His voice was quiet. "For the pack. I see that now. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner."

Then he was gone.

That night, the pack gathered in the great hall.

Garrick stood on the dais, and I stood beside him. The bond hummed between us, steady and warm.

"Marrick is gone." Garrick's voice carried. "Exiled for treason. The information he passed to Harker will cost us. We'll need to change patrol routes, rotate schedules, tighten security."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"But we have something Harker doesn't." Garrick turned to me. Took my hand. "We have a Luna who tracked our missing child through the mate bond. Who refused to stay behind when danger called. Who's proven herself worthy of this pack."

He pulled me closer.

"Anika is my mate. She's your Luna. And she's here to stay."

The hall erupted. Cheers this time. Real cheers. Warriors pounding fists on tables. Servants clapping. Children jumping up and down.

I stood there, stunned, as the pack celebrated. As they accepted me. As I became, finally and completely, one of them.

Garrick pulled me into his arms.

"See?" His voice was warm. "I told you they'd come around."

I laughed. Actually laughed, the sound swallowed by the noise around us. "You did."

He kissed me. Right there, in front of everyone. Letting them see. Letting them know.

When we broke apart, the cheering got louder.

"Tonight," he murmured against my ear, "we celebrate."

"Tonight," I agreed, "we celebrate."

We walked through the crowd together, hands clasped, bond humming. Pack members stopped us at every turn, offering congratulations, thanks, welcome. I accepted it all, let it wash over me, let it heal the last wounds of being an outsider.

Hours later, when the hall finally emptied, Garrick led me to his rooms.

"You're really theirs now." He pulled me close. "Mine and theirs. Completely."

"Scared?"

"Terrified." But he was smiling. "Happy terrified."

I rose on my toes and kissed him. "Good. Me too."

He lifted me, carried me to bed, laid me down like something precious. The bond blazed between us, hot and urgent and full of love.

"I love you, Luna."

"I love you too, Alpha. Now show me."

He did.