Chapter 17: Survival

Chapter Seventeen

Tiara’s POV

The hidden passage stretched ahead of us in a long winding path, the air thick with ancient magic and the faint hum of runes buried deep within the stone. The further we moved away from the Moon Chamber, the larger the corridor became, widening into a tunnel that seemed to breathe with every pulse of light from my mark.

Maxie’s hand remained tightly wrapped around mine, grounding me whenever the memories surged too fast or whenever the trembling in my legs threatened to pull me down. I leaned against him for strength, for balance, for everything I had forgotten how to be.

Behind us, the sealed barrier shook as if something massive slammed against it.

The King.

Cameron had reached the chamber, and he would not stop until he tore through every wall to reach me.

My voice came out barely above a whisper. “Maxie. Leo cannot hold him forever.”

“I know.”

“Do you think he will survive?”

Maxie stopped walking for a moment, his jaw tightening. His breath clouded faintly in the cool air of the tunnel, his expression darkening in a way that scared me.

“I do not know,” he said quietly. “But Leo knew the risk when he stepped between us and the King.”

“That does not make it easier,” I whispered.

“No. It does not.” He lowered his head slightly. “Leo would rather die than let Cameron touch you.”

We began walking again, faster now. My fingers trembled around Maxie’s hand. The guilt sat heavy in my chest.

“This is all because of me,” I said softly. “If I had not run that night. If I had remembered faster. If I had not returned…”

“Do not,” Maxie cut in, tightening his grip. “Do not blame yourself for the choices of monsters. You did nothing wrong.”

I shook my head. “I caused a war.”

“You were the victim of one,” Maxie corrected. “You did not cause anything.”

We rounded a bend and the tunnel shifted downward in a long slope, the stone turning from smooth silver to rough granite. My legs trembled, but Maxie placed a hand on my lower back to steady me, his touch warm and reassuring.

The moment his hand touched me, another memory surfaced.

Snow. Blood. A shout. Someone grabbing my wrist. A voice whispering my name in a tone filled with hatred disguised as devotion.

I stumbled forward with a sharp gasp.

Maxie caught me instantly. “Tiara. Talk to me. What did you see?”

I pressed a hand to my forehead. “I saw the moment he grabbed me. I heard Marcus whisper something before he pulled me through the trees.”

Maxie’s voice dropped into a dangerous low rumble. “What did he say?”

“He said,” I whispered, “that the Moon Mark was wasted on me.”

Maxie’s entire body went still.

Leo had once said Marcus feared the power of marked wolves. But this was deeper. This was personal.

Maxie brushed a thumb along my cheek, his eyes softening even though I saw the storm behind them. “You were not wasted on anything. You were meant to be stronger than all of us.”

I leaned into his touch, needing the warmth, needing the steadiness.

Another distant crash echoed behind us.

The entire tunnel shook.

“Maxie,” I whispered. “He is breaking through.”

“I know.”

“And Leo…”

“Leo will fight until he breathes his last,” Maxie said. “But we cannot go back for him. If we do, Cameron will trap us all.”

I wanted to argue, to insist we turn back. But deep inside, I knew Maxie was right. And Leo had known it too when he told us to run.

We continued forward as the air grew warmer, the stone turning smoother again. The tunnel sloped upward suddenly, and Maxie lifted me over a broken patch of rubble, holding me close as we navigated the uneven ground.

“Maxie,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not letting me face this alone.”

His breath brushed my ear as he held me safely against his chest. “I left you once. I will never do it again.”

A sharp ache hit my chest. “I remember that night,” I whispered. “A little.”

Maxie tensed.

“What do you remember?”

“That we fought,” I said, closing my eyes to steady myself. “That you said something about protecting the pack. And I told you I was tired of being hidden.”

Maxie exhaled slowly. “We argued. Yes. I told you the King was watching. That your mark was attracting attention and that you were not safe outside the borders.”

“I wanted freedom,” I said. “I wanted to prove I was more than a burden.”

“You were never a burden,” he said quickly. “You were the only thing in that pack worth protecting.”

My breath caught.

“Marcus overheard,” Maxie continued. “He saw you upset. He followed you into the forest. I thought you needed space. I thought you just needed time to cool down.”

“And I ran straight into him,” I whispered. “Straight into danger.”

The guilt in Maxie’s expression deepened. “I should have gone after you sooner. I should never have left you alone.”

I reached for his hand, intertwining my fingers with his.

“We both made mistakes,” I said. “But someone else caused this. Someone else built the trap.”

“Cyrus,” Maxie said quietly.

“Yes,” I whispered.

The tunnel finally opened into a wide cavern, filled with soft blue light from glowing moss spread across the ceiling. The cavern floor dipped into a crystal pool that reflected the shimmering light back up in gentle waves.

I gasped softly. “I know this place.”

Maxie nodded. “This is the lower sanctuary. The water here is connected to the Moon Chamber. It resonates with the magic in your mark.”

Leo had once mentioned this place in passing during training, but in my memory, the details were blurred, as if covered in fog.

“It is beautiful,” I whispered, stepping forward. The air was warm around the pool, soothing. The water glowed faintly, rippling as if it sensed my presence.

Maxie watched me carefully. “We stop here for a moment. You need to regain your strength before we continue.”

“But Cameron…”

“This passage has its own protections,” Maxie said. “He cannot reach us yet.”

I inhaled slowly and let the warmth of the cavern settle around me. The air felt soft on my skin, calming the tremors still lingering in my body.

Maxie stood beside me, his presence steady and protective. I looked up at him, studying his face, the worry etched between his brows, the tension in his shoulders.

He had carried the weight of my death for two years.

Not knowing the full truth.

Not understanding why someone would betray him so deeply.

And now, the truth was unraveling in fragments.

“Maxie,” I said quietly. “What happened after I died?”

His eyes darkened. “Everything fell apart. The pack almost collapsed. Wolves lost faith in the ranks. I lost my mind for months.” He swallowed hard. “I searched the forest every night for your killer. Even after Marcus died in the war, I kept searching.”

“But Cyrus…”

“I did not want to believe it,” he whispered. “He was my Beta. My brother in everything except blood. If he betrayed us, it meant the entire pack had cracks I never saw.”

I touched his arm gently. “You are not responsible for the choices of others.”

“I am responsible for the pack,” he said. “And for you.”

“You could not have predicted this,” I said. “I did not see his feelings either.”

Maxie’s jaw tightened. “He hid them well. And he hid many other things.”

I stared at the glowing water, my reflection soft and distorted in its surface.

“Maxie,” I whispered. “What do we do now?”

He stepped closer, placing a hand on my waist, steadying me once more. His touch made my breath catch, the bond pulsing faintly between us.

“We keep moving,” he said. “We find the traitor. We stop him before he reaches you again. And we find a way to end Cameron’s obsession before it destroys everything.”

“And Leo?” I whispered.

He closed his eyes briefly, pain flickering across his expression. “If he is alive, we will find him. If he is not…” His voice broke slightly. “He died protecting you.”

Tears rose in my eyes. “I do not want more people to die because of me.”

Maxie cupped my cheek gently. “They die because of the King’s greed, not because of you.”

Another tremor rippled through the cavern. The water stirred, glowing brighter.

“He is close,” Maxie said. “We need to move.”

He took my hand again and led me along the edge of the pool toward another narrow path carved along the stone wall.

Just as we reached it, I stopped abruptly.

“Maxie,” I whispered. “I remember something else.”

He turned to me sharply. “What?”

I swallowed hard.

“The night I died… I told someone a secret.”

Maxie stiffened. “What secret?”

“I told them,” I said slowly, “that I felt something changing in me. That my mark was waking fully. That my wolf was different from others.”