Chapter 8 She is alive

Chapter 8 She is alive


Chapter Eight

Tiara’s POV

The word betrayed lingered in the air, heavy and cold, settling into the cramped darkness of our hiding place like a shadow that refused to move.

I stared at Maxie, waiting, but he kept his eyes fixed on the crack of moonlight above us, his jaw tight, his breath slow and controlled as if he feared the truth might escape too quickly if he opened his mouth.

“Who?” I whispered.

He didn’t answer.

Leo shifted beside us, uneasy. “This is not the time.”

“It is exactly the time,” I said, stronger than I felt. “Someone tried to get into my room tonight. Someone who knew I was alone. Someone who knew I would believe them.”

My throat tightened as the memory of that false voice echoed through my mind again. “If I am hunted, if I am marked, if I died once already, then I deserve to know why.”

Maxie finally looked at me.

And the look in his eyes made my breath falter.

It wasn’t anger.

It wasn’t fear.

It was guilt.

“Tiara,” he murmured, his voice low and rough, “you were betrayed by someone inside the pack.”

My pulse leapt painfully. “Someone here?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

His gaze held mine. Firm. Unflinching. “Someone you trusted.”

The world tilted.

“I do not remember anyone,” I whispered. “How can I know who to fear?”

“That is why you are not alone,” he said, brushing his thumb along my cheek. “That is why I found you tonight. Why I will keep finding you.”

Leo cleared his throat softly. “Alpha.”

Maxie didn’t look at him. “What?”

“We need to move. The guards are circling back. If they catch your scent again, they will surround this entire ridge.”

He was right.

The King would not give up. Not when he had smelled the faint echo of my aura. Not when he had been hunting that scent for years.

Maxie pulled me gently to my feet. “Stay behind me.”

We crawled out of the crevice, one at a time. The forest air hit my face, cold and sharp. My legs trembled, but Maxie steadied me with a hand at my waist.

The moment his fingers touched my skin, warmth spread through me, deep and familiar, like something my soul recognized even if my mind didn’t.

My wolf exhaled inside me, a soft, aching sound.

But there was no time to focus on the bond.

Not with danger closing in.

Leo signaled for us to follow, leading us through a narrow path between thick trees. The moonlight barely touched the ground. Every sound felt too loud. Every shift in the wind made my heart jump.

Maxie stayed close, his arm brushing mine, his presence a shield that wrapped around me with every step.

When we reached a clearing, he stopped abruptly.

“Leo,” he said. “Take her.”

Leo stiffened. “Where?”

“To the river cabin. Deep enough that no one will sense her unless they’re looking directly for her. Stay hidden until I arrive.”

“No,” I said immediately, grabbing Maxie’s arm. “You are not leaving me.”

He turned to me, eyes shadowed and intense. “I have to. The King is headed this way. If he finds three wolves instead of two, he will know I am hiding something.”

“But I am your mate,” I said before I could think, the truth slipping out instinctively, painfully. “You cannot leave me when he is hunting me.”

His face softened with something that struck me like a blow.

“I know,” he whispered. “And every part of me wants to stay. But if the King sees us together, if he sees the bond forming again, it will destroy everything we have left. He will use you to break me.”

He lifted a hand, cupping my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I need him to believe I am alone.”

A tremor ran through my chest. “And if he confronts you?”

Maxie’s smile was small and sad. “Then I will survive.”

“You cannot promise that,” I said, my voice cracking.

He leaned closer, his forehead nearly touching mine. “I am not promising survival. I am promising I will come back to you.”

My breath hitched.

He continued, voice softer. “You jumped out of a window tonight. You ran into the forest alone. You fought your fear with nothing but instinct and hope. You survived.” His thumb brushed my jaw. “Now let me do the same.”

Leo stepped forward. “We are out of time, Alpha.”

Maxie pulled me into his arms without warning, holding me tightly. His heartbeat thundered against my cheek. For a moment, I let myself sink into him, into the warmth, the safety, the bond pulsing faintly between us.

Then he whispered into my hair, “Trust me.”

He released me. Too fast. Too soon.

My fingers reached for him, desperate, but Leo gently pulled me back.

“Go,” Maxie said, his voice suddenly cold, the Alpha mask snapping back into place. “Now. Before he gets here.”

Leo guided us into the trees. I looked back once, catching the last glimpse of Maxie standing alone in the clearing, his shoulders squared, his eyes fixed in the direction of the approaching danger.

The shadows swallowed him as we slipped away.

My heart thudded painfully with each step. My breath shook.

Then, from behind us, cutting through the silence, came the sound that froze my blood.

Heavy footsteps.

And a voice dripping with cruel amusement.

“Well, well, Alpha Maxie. Out alone tonight? That is unlike you.”

King Cameron had found him.

Leo pushed me behind a fallen tree, his eyes wide. “Do not move. Do not breathe.”

I pressed a hand to my mouth, fighting the urge to run back.

I could hear their voices clearly.

Cameron circled him. “Your scent has been everywhere tonight. Quite careless. Unless you were protecting something.”

Maxie answered, voice steady. “I patrol at night. Nothing unusual.”

“Strange,” the King said. “I smelled fear in these woods. A familiar fear.”

Silence.

Then Cameron’s tone shifted, sharp and suspicious. “And something else. Something I have not sensed in years.”

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Leo grabbed my wrist, his grip tightening.

Cameron exhaled slowly. “Tell me, Maxie. Why does the air taste like the Moon Mark tonight?”

I choked on a breath.

Leo froze.

Maxie did not answer.

The King stepped closer. “Unless, of course, you are hiding a ghost.”

My hands trembled uncontrollably.

A memory flashed. Snow. Blood. A scream. My own voice.

Maxie’s voice echoed through the clearing, low and controlled. “Leave my land, Cameron.”

“Oh, Alpha,” the King laughed softly, “I think something very precious to you is still here.”

Leo’s eyes widened.

Maxie inhaled sharply.

And then King Cameron said the words that made my blood turn cold.

“Your mate is alive, isn’t she?”