Chapter 16 No time

Chapter 16 No time


Chapter Sixteen

Maxie’s POV

The Moon Chamber shook so violently that dust rained down from the fissure above, falling in thin drifting sheets that caught the silver light before dissolving on the glowing floor. The entire mountain seemed to groan under the pressure of Cameron’s aura pressing against the stone passage behind us. Leo kept his stance firm at the entrance, body angled forward as if he were physically holding back the King with nothing more than his posture and the sheer force of his will.

Tiara stood in the center of the chamber, her breathing shallow, her eyes unfocused. The crescent mark over her chest glowed brighter than ever, filling the chamber with golden light that pulsed in slow, powerful waves. Her memory was returning piece by piece, and each piece brought its own kind of pain.

“Tiara,” I whispered, stepping close and touching her arms. “Listen to me. You are safe here.”

She looked up at me with eyes shining from fear and something else. Something like heartbreak. “He killed me,” she said. “Marcus killed me.”

Hearing her say it was like reliving the night all over again, only this time it came wrapped in her voice, trembling and raw. I lifted my hands to her cheeks, holding her face gently.

“Yes,” I said. “But you were not supposed to know that until your mind was ready.”

“Why?” She pulled back slightly, the glow around her flickering. “Maxie, why would anyone want to hide the truth from me? Why was I not allowed to remember?”

The pain behind her words tore through me with brutal precision. I wanted to answer. I wanted to tell her everything. But the truth was jagged and heavy and built from choices made to protect her, choices I could not undo even if I wished to.

Leo turned his head slightly, voice tense. “We do not have time for this. The King is forcing his way through the second corridor. I can feel it.”

Another violent pulse rippled through the stone, making the symbols etched in the floor tremble with a faint hum.

Tiara’s hands curled into fists. “No,” she said. “I want answers. I want to know why I died. I want to know why I was brought back. And I want to know why you kept secrets from me.”

Her voice cracked on the last word, and the chamber seemed to respond. The runes on the walls glowed brighter, swirling around her in thin ribbons of silver.

I took a slow breath, forcing myself to speak. “I kept the truth from you because the truth nearly killed you once. You asked me not to start a war. You begged me to keep the peace. You thought your death would destroy the pack if the truth came out.”

Tiara stared at me with disbelief. “I asked you to lie?”

“You asked me to protect them,” I said softly. “And you asked me to protect you from becoming the cause of a war.”

She shook her head slowly, overwhelmed. “Why would I care about that when I was dying?”

My chest tightened. “Because that was who you were. You always put others first. Even when you should not have. Even when it cost you your life.”

Another tremor shook the chamber, louder this time. The sound of cracking stone echoed like thunder down the passage.

Leo stepped back from the entrance. “Maxie. He is almost here. We need to move.”

Tiara flinched at the sound, blinking rapidly. “Marcus is dead. So who is the traitor now? Who helped him? Someone had to open the borders. Someone had to let him slip through without being noticed.”

Leo’s eyes flicked to me, a question forming behind his gaze.

Tiara noticed. She turned back to me, confusion and fear mixing into something sharper. “Maxie,” she whispered. “Do you know who it is?”

“No,” I said. “Not for certain.”

“But you suspect someone,” she said. “Tell me.”

I hesitated.

Her voice dropped. “Tell me.”

The truth scraped at my throat. “One name came up after your death. A name I refused to believe.”

“Whose?” she pressed.

I closed my eyes for a moment. “Cyrus.”

Tiara jerked slightly. “Your Beta?”

Leo’s hands clenched at his sides. “We never had proof,” he said. “Never anything solid. Only coincidences. Only patterns.”

Tiara looked stunned. “Cyrus helped me train. He always brought food to my cottage. He stayed beside me during the winter storms when Maxie was away. He was always kind. Why would he ever betray me?”

I swallowed hard. “Because he was in love with you.”

The words hung in the air between us, painful and heavy. Tiara blinked, confusion clouding her eyes. “He never said anything.”

“He did not need to,” Leo said. “Everyone knew.”

“No,” Tiara whispered. “I would have seen it.”

Sometimes people do not see what they do not want to see. I wanted to say that, but the words stayed trapped in my chest.

Instead, I said, “Cyrus adored you. He worshiped you even. He would have followed you anywhere.”

“Then why bring Marcus into our borders?” her voice trembled. “Why would he help someone kill me?”

Leo answered this time. “Because Marcus promised him something.”

Tiara looked at him with dread. “What?”

“A way to break the bond,” Leo said quietly. “A way to sever you from Maxie.”

Tiara took a step back as if struck. “Break the bond?”

“Yes,” I said. “Cyrus thought if the bond broke, you would be free to see him the way he saw you.”

Her voice shook. “But I did not return his feelings.”

“No,” I said, meeting her gaze. “You did not.”

The chamber shifted again with a rumble so deep the floor vibrated under our feet. A crack splintered across the wall where the fissure opened to the sky, letting in a sharp beam of moonlight that illuminated Tiara fully.

The mark on her chest glowed brighter, turning from gold to silver to white hot light right before our eyes.

Leo stepped back quickly. “Maxie. She is fully awakening.”

Tiara’s breathing quickened. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” I said, stepping toward her, “that everything you buried is coming back.”

She pressed a hand against her chest. “It hurts.”

“I know,” I said, catching her shoulders. “Let it come. I am right here.”

She leaned into me weakly, her head falling against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her steady as the chamber filled with brilliant light.

The visions came fast now.

I could see it in her face as her eyes widened, her lips parted in pain, her body shivering as memory after memory returned like shards of ice.

She whispered the fragments aloud.

“The snow… the betrayal… the ring… Cyrus yelling at Marcus… me running through the forest… someone dragging me back… me screaming your name…”

My heart lurched painfully. “You were calling for me?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “I thought you would save me. I thought you would hear me. I thought you would come.”

I closed my eyes, my breath catching. “I was too far. By the time I arrived, you were…”

Dead.

The memory stabbed me like a blade every time I thought about it.

Tiara lifted her head slowly. “I am remembering something else.”

“What is it?” Leo asked from behind me.

“Marcus said something before he killed me.” Her hand trembled as she touched the glowing mark. “He said… ‘you were supposed to be mine, not his.’”

The blood drained from my face.

“That was why he killed you,” Leo said, voice low. “Not for power alone. Not for politics. Not for the Moon Mark.”

Tiara’s voice broke. “But because of Maxie.”

Her pain hit me harder than any blow ever had.

Before I could respond, a blast of golden light exploded down the corridor. A voice echoed through the chamber like rolling thunder.

“Found you.”

Cameron.

Leo stepped into position instantly. “Maxie. We need to move. Now.”

The corridor behind him cracked open and golden aura filled the space like liquid fire.

Tiara grabbed my arm with both hands, her eyes wide with terror. “Maxie. I do not want to die again.”

“You will not,” I said fiercely. “Not while I can breathe.”

The chamber trembled from another blast.

Leo shouted. “Go. The back passage. Take her.”

I spun Tiara toward the far wall where the exit glowed faintly with enchanted light. The runes responded to her presence, shifting, unlocking, calling her forward.

“Tiara,” I said, cupping her face. “I am with you. Every step. I am not letting anyone take you again.”

Her lip trembled. “Promise me.”

“I swear it.”

She nodded and stepped toward the glowing entrance as the chamber behind us erupted in a storm of gold and silver. I grabbed her hand, pulling her with me.

Behind us, Cameron roared.

“TIARA.”

His voice carried so much power the walls cracked.

She stumbled, knees buckling. “He knows my name.”

I caught her before she fell. “He knows too much. But he does not have you.”

Leo’s voice rang behind us. “Run. I will hold him for as long as I can.”

Tiara turned her head weakly. “Leo…”

“Go,” he shouted. “I am not losing both of you.”

The chamber shook. Stone fell. Light burst across the floor.

I pulled Tiara through the glowing entrance.

The wall sealed behind us with a final crash, shutting out the King’s rage.

The new tunnel was narrow and pitch black except for the faint silver glow coming from Tiara herself. Her mark illuminated the space like a guiding star.

She turned toward me, breath trembling, voice barely a whisper.

“Maxie. What happens now?”

I reached for her hand and gently intertwined my fingers with hers.

“Now,” I said, “we run for our lives.”

“And after that?” she asked.

The corridor ahead pulsed with unknown danger.

But I looked at her with absolute truth.

“After that,” I said, “we take back everything that was stolen from you.”