Chapter 35

Jules.

He wanted to end her before she could reveal all he had done. I couldn’t let that happen. With little thought, and with my captors distracted, I struggled harder against their hold, broke free from their grasp, and threw myself in front of Aurora. Pain exploded in my shoulder as the knife embedded itself deep into my flesh. It was deep; the swell of pain was horrible.

The force behind the knife made me stumble and I collapsed. I moaned in agony as I turned to check on Aurora. Her eyes could have fallen out of her sockets with how wide she had widened them. She stared on soundlessly, a tremor shaking her form.

Chaos erupted. "Guards!" Lance called for them as he rushed to my side, trying to staunch the bleeding.

But the imposter had seen that he had missed his mark and moved swifter than Lucianne would have ever managed, even with her grueling training. He moved like a leopard, swift. But the exit was blocked by both Logan and Raphael. I felt hopeful that he would have nowhere to run, but I was wrong. He launched himself towards the window, his movements a blur.

He changed his form as the glass shattered. In a black cloak that hid his ankles and a mask made of obsidian that concealed his entire face, he was just as the legends had described. It was the Silent Reaper. Raphael swung into action, but he was quicker, which was a shock. He was not a man but a creature of death. One that could not be caught or escaped from. Despite the chaos and attempts to stop him, he deftly escaped, disappearing into the night. Raphael looked down from the window, his crimson eyes glowing like rubies in the sunlight.

He let out a growl that resonated throughout the entire room, echoing in the walls.

Raphael's body tensed, his muscles coiling as he prepared to leap out the window after the Silent Reaper. His eyes, glowing brighter, were fixated on the rapidly disappearing figure. His hands began to shift, claws emerging as his rage threatened to overtake him.

"Raphael, no!" Logan's voice cut through the chaos. He moved swiftly, grabbing Raphael's arm and yanking him back from the edge. "You can't go after him like this."

Raphael snarled, his wolf fighting to break free. "Let me go, Logan. He needs to pay for what he's done!"

Logan's grip tightened. "Think, Raphael. It's a trap. If you go after him now, you'll be playing right into his hands. We need to be smart about this. His men will be around. You can handle him, but can you handle his horde?"

Raphael's eyes flickered between human and wolf, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Slowly, reason seeped back into his gaze, and he forced himself to calm down. He shook off Logan's hand but didn't make another move toward the window.

"Fine," he spat, his voice still rough with anger. "But we will hunt him down."

"Of course, we will," Lance agreed, his hand still on my knife wound. "Get the Deltas, for goodness' sake," he yelled at the guards.

When I had collapsed to the floor, clutching my shoulder, blood seeping through my fingers, Lance was at my side in an instant, his eyes wide with horror and confusion. This was the same man who had ordered that I be taken because he believed me to be a traitor.

He turned his attention to me, panic drawing in his eyes. "Jules!" he cried, his hands shaking as he tried to assess my wound. "Why did you do that?" he demanded.

"Believe me now?" I gasped, the pain nearly unbearable but I still recoiled from him. I could not stand him being too close to me in the moment. I just needed him to listen to me. "That... was Beta Reiner."

His face hardened again as he pulled away from me. "That was the Silent Reaper, Jules," he snarled at me, frustrated. "That monster just attempted to kill Aurora. How can you still claim..."

"He is my father," Aurora's words tore through Lance's. "The Silent Reaper is my father. And yes, he tried to kill me, but that assassin is my father." Tears welled in her eyes. "I am so sorry that I did not tell you." She began to sob, and Logan went to her side and cradled her face.

"What are you saying?" he asked gently.

"Why are you listening to her? She is delirious. She just woke up," Lance tried to dismiss. "It is not possible that our greatest ally is a traitor." He refused to believe it.

"I am not delirious," Aurora’s voice shook, but she held her ground. "I am not delirious," she insisted, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Beta Reiner is the Silent Reaper. My father, the man who raised me, is a monster. He has been hiding in plain sight, deceiving everyone."

Lance's expression wavered, torn between disbelief and the cold, hard truth staring him in the face. "No... it can't be," he whispered, his eyes darting to Logan and Raphael for confirmation. "It can't be," he said stubbornly. "He was there when mother died; he practically raised us when father was too sick. And you want me to believe that he is a cold-blooded assassin." With each word, his voice was raised higher. The Deltas came to heal me.

But Lance got on his feet. "There has to be some kind of story... so tell me! Show me that monster is my father's Beta," he bellowed.

"Watch how you speak to her," Logan warned. The two brothers exchanged death glares, but Logan remained by Aurora's side.

Aurora trembled at the sight of Lance's anger, but she took a deep breath with Logan holding her. "My father's reasons are as obscure to me as they are to you. But what he wants is power, and that is why he forced me to partake in the Lunas' duel. He wanted me to marry Raphael and gain his trust, to give him crucial intel and sabotage his plans for the war."

Lance's face contorted with disbelief and anger. "You mean to say he used you as a pawn? That he wanted you to spy on Raphael and weaken our forces from within? You just had no choice?" he asked, his tone cruel and mocking.

I wanted to speak so much. The way he was grilling her was unwarranted. If he would just listen and quit being stubborn.

"I was blackmailed by my father...I...he said he would kill the father of my child."

The room was silent for a full minute as her words settled in.

But no one was as shocked as Logan. "I...am going...to be a father?" he gasped, and all eyes immediately fell on him.