Chapter 146 : The Traitor’s End
Chapter 146 : The Traitor’s End
THIRD PERSON’S POV
Rain hammered the forest without mercy, turning the ground into a slick mire of mud and rotting leaves. Each step Lucien took sent cold water splashing up his calves. His cloak clung to him like a second, heavier skin, and his breath came in ragged bursts that fogged in the chill night air. He had been running for what felt like hours, but the true distance was shorter, only the weight of his guilt made it feel eternal.
He knew they would be waiting. He had sent the message himself.
The small clearing opened ahead like a wound in the trees. Three figures stood beneath the thrashing canopy: Clara, her posture rigid with anticipation; Gavin, broad-shouldered and restless; and Seraphina, cloaked in shadow, silver dagger already glinting at her hip.
Lucien stopped several yards away, chest heaving. Water streamed down his face, mingling with the sweat of fear and exertion. “This ends tonight,” he said, voice low but steady. “I will not kill Liora. I will not lay a hand on the child. They’ve done nothing to deserve your blades.”
Clara stepped forward. The cold fury in her eyes cut sharper than any silver. “A conscience? Now? After everything?” Her laugh was brittle. “You fed us every detail, her routines, the castle guard shifts, the exact night she would leave the safety of the walls. You helped us take her. You stood in that chapel and vowed to love her while slipping us every secret she whispered in your bed. And now you want to walk away?”
Lucien’s jaw tightened. The memory of Liora’s trusting smile twisted like a knife in his gut. “I played the role you demanded. I married her because you needed eyes inside the pack. I smiled through every meal, every night, every lie. When she lost the child…” His voice faltered for a moment. “I felt relieved. Not for me, for the child that would never be used as a pawn. But I’m finished. I won’t murder an innocent woman in cold blood, and I refuse to harm a baby.”
Gavin circled slowly to the left, fingers flexing as if already imagining tearing into flesh. “You killed Matthias with me,” he growled. “Held him down while I poured the poison down his throat. You watched him choke and convulse. Don’t you dare pretend those hands are clean now.”
“I was trapped,” Lucien shot back. “You made sure of that from the beginning. Blackmail, threats, the slow tightening of the noose. But no more. If you want Kai and Elias, face them like warriors. Leave the innocents out of this war.”
Seraphina’s sharp laugh cut through the rain. “Innocents? There are none left in this game. You gave us the perfect weapon, Elias. That boy loses control of his power every other day. The pack already whispers about the white wolf’s instability. We smear your blood on him, let them believe he tore you apart in one of his rages, and they will rip each other to pieces. The fracture will be glorious.”
Lucien shook his head, water flying from his hair. “I came here to tell you I’m out. Go back to whatever hole you crawled from. I won’t help with this next plan.” He turned to leave, boots sinking into the mud.
That was the moment they moved.
Gavin shifted in a blur of bone and fury, his massive wolf form slamming into Lucien from behind. Claws raked across his back, tearing through cloak and flesh. Lucien cried out, staggering forward as white-hot pain exploded across his shoulders. Clara shifted next, sleek, deadly, her wolf a streak of malice in the downpour. She hit him from the side, teeth sinking deep into his shoulder. Blood poured hot down his arm, instantly diluted by the rain.
Seraphina stayed human, circling with the silver dagger raised. “Weak,” she hissed. “All of you wolves are the same when loyalty wavers.”
Lucien dropped to one knee, gasping. The world tilted. He could feel his strength leaking out with every heartbeat.
Then a new voice tore through the storm.
“Lucien!”
Elias burst from the treeline, soaked and wild-eyed. He had followed him through the rain, calling his name again and again, suspicion and worry driving him forward. Now he froze at the edge of the clearing, horror carved across his young face as he took in the blood, the wolves, the betrayal.
“Run!” Lucien gasped, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth. “They’ll use you too—don’t let them—”
Clara’s wolf turned, golden eyes locking onto the newcomer. Gavin followed with a snarl. Seraphina moved like lightning, slipping behind Elias and clamping a cloth soaked in powerful sedative over his mouth and nose. Elias thrashed, raw power flickering wildly around him, uncontrolled bursts of energy that made the air crackle, but the drug was merciless. His knees buckled. His body slumped into the mud.
Gavin shifted back to human form, naked and grinning through the rain. He stood over Lucien, who was now on all fours, trembling. Without ceremony, he drew a claw across Lucien’s throat in one deep, final slash.
Lucien collapsed face-first into the mud. The last thing he tasted was earth and blood. The last thing he thought of was Liora’s laugh, the way her hand had once rested gently on his cheek before he betrayed her.
The rain kept falling.
Gavin wiped his hands. “Finish it. Make it look like the white wolf lost control.”
They worked quickly. They dragged Lucien’s body a short distance and dug a shallow grave with clawed hands and a stolen shovel. They smeared fresh blood across Elias’s clothes, his hands, even his face while he lay unconscious. They rolled him close to the grave so he would wake surrounded by evidence, his friend’s blood on his skin, the body nearby, the storm washing away convenient tracks.
Seraphina straightened, breathing hard. “By morning the pack will be baying for his blood. Kai will have no choice but to doubt his own mate. Perfect.”
They melted back into the trees, leaving the storm to do the rest of their work.
Hours later, deeper in the northern woods, Clara sat inside a dry cave. A small fire crackled defiantly against the damp. Gavin ran a whetstone along his blade with rhythmic scrapes. Seraphina studied maps by lantern light, her face a mask of cold calculation.
A scout entered, dripping wet, and delivered the news with a grin. “They found the body this morning. The pack blames Elias. Witnesses saw the two of them together before the murder. Kai has confined his mate to their chambers. Liora won’t speak to anyone. The whole pack is walking on knives.”
Clara smiled slowly, the firelight dancing across her features. “This is better than we planned. The white wolf stands accused. Kai doubts the man he loves. Liora grieves alone in silence. The pack is already fracturing from within.”
Seraphina rolled the maps with precise movements. “My father’s reinforcements arrive in three days. We strike the southern granaries first, burn them to the ground. Hunger is a better weapon than steel. Then we move on to the castle.”
Gavin tested the edge of his blade, drawing a thin line of blood on his thumb. “I want Elias alive long enough to watch Kai choose the pack over him. Then we take the child. An infant makes excellent leverage.”
Clara paced near the fire, her shadow stretching long across the cave walls. “Spread more rumors. Let them believe Elias killed Lucien in a power-mad frenzy. Some will call for execution. Kai’s hesitation will cost him everything.”
The three of them bent over the maps again, voices dropping to murmurs as they plotted routes, timings, supply lines, and weak points. Outside, the rain had eased to a drizzle, but inside the cave the air thrummed with dark purpose.
After a long silence, Clara straightened. “Lucien served his purpose well. Information, access, and now the perfect scapegoat. His death removes the last weak link. We move faster without his second-guessing.”
Seraphina nodded. “My father will be pleased with this chaos.”
Gavin sheathed his blade. “I leave at first light. The granaries burn tomorrow night.”
Clara placed a hand on each of their shoulders, her grip firm. “Lucien thought he could walk away. He learned too late, no one leaves this fight alive. Let his blood be the first of many.”
The fire popped. Shadows twisted on the walls like living things. Outside, the storm had passed, but the real tempest was only beginning to gather.
They had waited years. The time to strike had finally come.
And when they did, Kai would lose everything; his mate, his child, his sister, and the trust of his own pack.
The traitor’s end was only the beginning.