Chapter 9 The king is here

Chapter 9 The king is here


Chapter Nine

Maxie’s POV

For a heartbeat, the world stopped.

The forest held its breath. The moon seemed to freeze mid-sky. Even my wolf went silent.

Your mate is alive, isn’t she?

Cameron’s words sliced through the night like a blade. Every instinct in me roared to tear him apart, to rip the truth from his mouth before it reached another ear, but I did not move. Not yet. Not while Tiara’s faint scent still clung to my skin.

I kept my expression blank. My jaw locked. My aura cold.

“I have no mate,” I said slowly. “You know that.”

The King laughed softly, circling me like a predator circling a trapped wolf.

“Oh, Maxie,” he murmured. “You forget how long I have watched your pack. I can smell lies the way wolves smell blood.”

He stopped behind me, close enough that I felt the threat in the air shift.

“Something changed tonight,” he continued. “Something stirred. I felt the bond ripple.”

My heart hammered in my chest, but I forced myself to breathe. One breath. One lie. One chance to shift this before it landed on her.

“You feel many things,” I replied. “Most of them hallucinations born from paranoia.”

A low snarl vibrated from his throat. “Be careful, boy.”

I did not flinch.

“I do not hide ghosts,” I said. “And I do not resurrect the dead.”

The King stepped around to face me, his golden eyes narrowing.

“Then why,” he asked, “do I smell her scent on your skin?”

My blood iced.

He knew.

He knew.

He knew.

But he did not have proof. Not yet.

Behind me, deep in the shadows, I knew Tiara and Leo were listening. I could feel her panic through whatever thin thread remained of the bond, even if she could not consciously sense mine. Her fear came through like a trembling echo.

I shifted my stance subtly, blocking the direct line of scent that led toward her hiding place.

Cameron caught the movement.

His smile sharpened. “Interesting.”

Before he could step past me, I moved, fast, planting my body directly in his path.

“You do not enter deeper without my permission,” I said.

He raised a brow. “Are you giving orders to your King?”

“Yes.”

One word. Firm. Final.

The guards bristled, hands gripping weapons, but Cameron only studied me with a cold curiosity, as though he was seeing the war inside me and enjoying every crack.

Then he leaned in. Too close. Too knowing.

“Tell me, Alpha,” he whispered. “If she truly died two years ago… why does your heartbeat react every time I speak her name?”

My hand twitched, and he saw it.

His smile widened, slow and vicious. “Ah. There it is. Your tell.”

I stared straight at him, expression unchanging. “I fear nothing.”

“No,” he said softly. “You fear losing something.”

His eyes glowed brighter.

“Or someone.”

My wolf surged forward, snarling inside my chest, burning through the calm I had forced myself to wear.

Cameron tilted his head. “A mate bond never fully dies, even when severed. Even when you destroy it. Even when she dies.”

A muscle ticked in my jaw.

He stepped back slightly. “I felt a spike of power tonight. A flare of the Moon Mark. Only for a second, but unmistakable. Something ancient woke in these woods.”

He turned in a slow circle, inhaling deeply. “And it came from this direction.”

I stiffened.

Leo stiffened.

Tiara’s scent clung to the air like a fragile note of wildflowers after rain. Faint. Broken. Barely there.

But the King was a lycan of royal blood. Even the faintest whisper would be enough.

He took one step toward her direction.

I moved.

In a blur of motion, I grabbed his arm, forcing him to face me.

“You will not take another step.”

A hush fell through the trees.

Cameron slowly looked down at my hand gripping his sleeve.

Then he smiled.

“You have never touched me before.”

“You have never tried to walk toward your own death before,” I replied.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The night pulsed with danger. My wolf clawed to the surface, begging for release.

Cameron leaned closer, lowering his voice. “If she is alive, Maxie… there is nowhere in this world you can hide her from me.”

I didn’t blink. “Try.”

His eyes flickered with interest. “You would start a war for her?”

“Yes.”

The truth slipped out before I could contain it.

His smile broadened. “Then she lives.”

I cursed under my breath.

Too fast.

Too sharp.

His expression turned thoughtful. “You forget. I saw her once. Years ago. I still remember the light of her aura. A girl with the Moon Mark cannot be concealed forever, not even by death. She will surface. She always does.”

He stepped back slowly.

“Do not play games with me, Alpha. If she is here… I will find her.”

I said nothing.

He looked at me one last time, golden eyes glowing like burning embers. “And when I do, you will kneel. Or you will die.”

He turned and signaled his guards. The entire group disappeared into the trees, shadows melting into deeper shadows.

I waited.

Listened.

Counted the seconds.

Only when the last footstep faded did I release the breath I had been holding.

“Tiara,” I said quietly, turning toward the brush.

Leo lifted her from behind a fallen branch, her face pale, her breathing uneven. She stumbled forward, eyes wide with fear and disbelief.

“I heard everything,” she whispered.

I stepped to her, my hands cupping her face. “Do not be afraid.”

Her voice trembled. “He will kill me.”

“No,” I said. “He will try.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “He wants the Moon Mark. He wants me.”

“He cannot have you.”

Her lip quivered. “But I do not understand why. I do not know what it means. I do not even remember—”

Her voice broke.

I pulled her into my arms, holding her tightly as she trembled. “You will remember,” I whispered into her hair. “And when you do, you will understand why you were hunted, why you died, and why you came back.”

Her hands clutched my shirt as if she feared I would vanish. “Maxie, I am scared.”

I closed my eyes, inhaling her scent, grounding myself in her presence.

“So am I,” I whispered. “But I will fight anything that comes for you.”

She lifted her head slightly, voice small. “What happens now?”

I looked into her eyes, letting her see the truth I could no longer hide.

“Now,” I said, “we run before the King circles back.”

Leo nodded. “To the river cabin. Quiet. Hidden. Safe.”

But I shook my head.

“No,” I said. “Not anymore.”

They both stared at me.

“Tonight changed everything,” I said. “The King suspects. The traitor is active. The rogues are moving. If we hide, they will track us like prey.”

Tiara swallowed. “Then what do we do?”

I brushed a thumb across her cheek.

“We stop running.”

Her breath caught.

I let the words settle before I continued.

“And we start fighting back.”