Chapter 37 Enemies Within
“You think you can kill me here? Now?” Derek’s voice stayed level, even though fury scorched through every inch of him.
Silas’s lips twisted into something smug and rotten. “I think I already destroyed you once.” His hands ignited. Dark magic thickened in the air, coiling like living smoke, condensing into something sharp enough to tear through flesh and bone. “Doing it again will be easy.”
He struck.
The blast ripped across the clearing, vicious and fast, aimed straight for Derek’s heart.
It never reached him.
A burst of gold carved through the darkness. Amanda stepped from the shadows, her shield erupting between Derek and the attack. The magic slammed into the barrier and shattered like glass.
Silas’s entire face twisted. “What?”
Amanda’s voice was soft, but every syllable cut like a blade. “Miss me?”
Silas stared, stunned for the first time. He hadn’t sensed her. Hadn’t smelled her. Hadn’t even imagined she might be lurking just beyond the grove.
Then realization hit him.
His expression shifted from confusion to horror.
“You…” he breathed, eyes darting between them. “You set this up.”
Derek didn’t deny it.
The wards snapped awake. Blue-white sigils flared around the grove, lighting the trees with cold fire. Silas’s magic became visible to everyone, the shadows around him writhing and twisting as the corruption underneath crawled into the open.
Warriors watched from the treeline, murmurs rippling through them. Owen. Victor. Riley. Others. Dozens. Watching. Witnessing.
Silas’s true nature laid bare.
“It’s over,” Derek said, stepping forward. His voice was calm, but the finality in it was a blade. “You’re done.”
Silas’s expression didn’t break. It snapped. Rage cracked into something wild, unhinged.
“Over?” He laughed, the sound jagged and desperate. “You think catching me off guard changes anything?”
His hands flared again, the dark energy gathering faster this time, volatile enough to scorch the air.
Derek moved.
He closed the distance in a blink, and his fist crashed into Silas’s jaw. The blow was brutal, fueled by years of betrayal.
Silas staggered, blood spraying from his mouth before he caught himself. Too fast. Too steady. And then he unleashed himself.
Dark energy erupted outward, uncontrolled, lashing in all directions.
Derek dived aside, the magic scorching past and burning straight through his shirt. The heat stung, but he ignored it.
They collided again, and this time there was nothing elegant about it. No spells. No precision. Just raw, ugly combat. Fists, elbows, grappling. The kind of fighting they’d once practiced together like brothers.
Only now, neither held back.
Derek’s rage sharpened every strike. Three years of humiliation. Three years of pain. Three years of thinking his best friend stood beside him.
All lies.
Silas fought like a cornered animal, desperation twisting his movements. He was skilled, but Derek had something stronger than training.
Purpose.
Amanda circled them, her hands glowing, waiting for an opening. Silas’s gaze flicked toward her even as he struggled against Derek.
“You,” he spat, blocking a punch. “You’ve ruined everything. He was supposed to stay broken!”
“He was never broken,” Amanda said. Her voice carried fire. “Just bound. And I’m freeing him.”
“Over my dead body!”
Silas shoved Derek off and spun toward Amanda, unleashing a barrage of dark tendrils.
Amanda’s shield flared, catching most. But one slipped through and slammed into her shoulder.
She gasped and staggered.
Derek’s roar tore through the grove, primal and furious. His wolf surged against the curse, clawing for freedom.
He launched himself at Silas, slamming him into the ground. His fists rained down like thunder.
“Don’t. Touch. Her.”
Each word hit harder than the last.
Silas tried to fight, but Derek’s fury drowned him.
Amanda forced herself upright, teeth clenched against the burning pain in her shoulder. “Derek! Stop!” she called out, her voice slicing through the haze of rage. “We need him alive. We need answers.”
Derek froze, fist still in the air. His chest heaved. Slowly, he pulled back.
Silas lay beneath him, face bloodied, breath ragged, but very much conscious.
“You want answers?” Silas coughed, blood bubbling at his lips. “Fine. Ask.”
Amanda stepped closer, pressing a hand to her wound. “Tell him everything. Who hired you? Who planned this?”
Silas laughed. Bitter. Metallic. “You want the truth? Fine. I’ll give you the whole ugly picture.”
He looked straight at Derek. “Lucian Kingswell contacted me three years ago. Before your ritual hunt. He wanted Nightfang weakened. Vulnerable. Easy to swallow when he was ready to absorb it into Emberfang.”
Derek stilled entirely. “Lucian… Amanda’s father?”
“The very same.” Satisfaction flashed in Silas’s eyes. “And wait. There’s more.” He turned his gaze toward Amanda. “Lena was promised to me as my Luna once Derek was eliminated. This marriage”, he sneered, “was a setup. You were meant to keep him docile. Monitored. Make sure he didn’t rebuild what we were destroying.”
Derek’s head snapped toward Amanda. She went pale.
"Did you know?" he asked quietly. Too quietly. The kind of quiet that meant danger. "Were you part of this from the beginning?"
"No!" Amanda cried. "I didn’t know. I swear, Derek, I didn’t…" Her voice cracked. "I only found out yesterday."
Silence crashed over them.
"Yesterday," Derek repeated. His jaw clenched. "And you didn’t tell me?"
Tears filled her eyes. "I was scared. I thought it would ruin everything. I thought you wouldn’t believe me. Or that you’d think I was part of it."
"So you stayed silent while I trusted you?" His voice was soft but sharp enough to cut.
Amanda flinched.
Silas laughed weakly on the ground. "Trouble already? How sweet."
Derek kicked him in the ribs. Silas wheezed.
"Shut up."
But the doubt was already there. Growing.
Amanda saw it. Felt it. And it broke something inside her.
Silas coughed and smiled. "Ask your father. He’ll tell you everything himself."
Amanda froze.
Silas’s eyes gleamed. "He’s here."
The clearing went silent.
Derek turned. Amanda followed his gaze.
Figures walked out from the shadows beyond the grove.
Lucian Kingswell led them. Tall. Cold. Perfectly dressed. His face held no guilt, only calculation.
Beside him walked Lena, her beauty still striking, though her eyes glinted with something sharp and triumphant.
And behind them stood more than twenty warriors. Armed. Prepared.
Amanda’s stomach twisted. "Father?"
Lucian looked at Silas on the ground, then at Derek. Finally, his eyes settled on Amanda. There was no warmth there. Only disappointment. And something cruel.
He gave a small smile.
"I’m sorry it came to this, Amanda," he said calmly. "You were never meant to matter."
And the world fell out from under her.
Something inside Amanda cracked.