Chapter 25 Knox's Betrayal (Knox's POV)
I sat in my car outside the motel, staring at the burner phone in my hands. The number was already pulled up. All I had to do was press call.
Just one conversation. That's all it would take.
Elder Benedict's words echoed in my head from the meeting three hours ago: "The prophecy must be stopped. By any means necessary."
Any means. Including this.
My finger hovered over the call button.
"This is insane," I muttered to the empty car. "Absolutely insane."
But what choice did I have? Trey had chosen exile. Chosen that girl over his pack, over his family, over centuries of tradition. And when the elders declared war, Trey would be caught in the middle. People I'd grown up with would die because my cousin couldn't see past a mate bond to the threat she represented.
Unless the threat was eliminated first.
I pressed call.
The phone rang twice before a voice answered. "Who is this?"
"You don't know me. But we have a mutual interest." I kept my voice steady. "The werewolf situation at Thornfield Academy."
Silence. Then: "I'm listening."
"There's a problem at the school. Bigger than you probably realize. Multiple packs operating openly, using the place as cover." I paused. "And there's a girl. The one the prophecy talks about. She's there."
"The Silver Wolf." Not a question. The voice was calm, assessing. "You have proof?"
"I've seen her transform. Seen her use abilities no normal wolf possesses." The lies came easier than they should have. "She's dangerous. Growing stronger every day. And she's collecting followers."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want her gone." I gripped the steering wheel with my free hand. "But I can't be the one to do it. Pack politics. You understand."
"I understand you're asking me to kill someone for you."
"I'm offering information about a supernatural threat. What you do with that information is your business." I took a breath. "But if you're interested in a face-to-face meeting, I can provide more details. Schedules. Locations. Vulnerabilities."
Another pause. "Where?"
"The old warehouse on Route 6. Tomorrow night. Eleven o'clock." I rattled off the address. "Come alone. I'll do the same."
"How do I know this isn't a trap?"
"You don't. But you're a hunter, aren't you? You deal with risks every day." I softened my voice slightly. "I just want this situation handled. The girl is a threat to everyone, supernatural and human alike. Someone needs to stop her before she fulfills that prophecy."
"What's your name?"
"Does it matter?"
"It does to me."
I hesitated. Giving my name created a trail. But refusing would make him suspicious. "I've told you all you need to know."
The silence stretched longer this time. "Tomorrow night. Eleven. Don't be late."
The line went dead.
I sat there for another ten minutes, my hands shaking.
What had I just done?
Betrayed my cousin. Betrayed pack law. Potentially sentenced an innocent girl to death.
Except she wasn't innocent. Not really. She was the prophesied destroyer. The wolf who would bring Ravencrest to its knees if we didn't stop her first.
And Trey... Trey would forgive me eventually. When he was free of the mate bond, when he could think clearly again, he'd understand this was the only way.
Or he'd hate me forever.
I started the car and drove back to campus, trying to ignore the guilt eating at my chest.
It was past midnight when I finally made it back to the pack house. Most of the lights were off, the building quiet except for the usual sounds of wolves sleeping nearby.
I headed for my room, wanting nothing more than to collapse and pretend the last few hours hadn't happened.
But Trey was waiting in the common room.
He sat in the dark, his silhouette visible against the window. When I entered, he stood slowly, deliberately.
"Knox." His voice was flat. Dangerous. "Where have you been?"
"Out. Needed to clear my head." I moved toward the stairs. "It's late. We can talk tomorrow."
"We'll talk now."
Something in his tone made me stop. I turned to face him, and even in the darkness, I could see the tension in his posture.
"What's going on, Trey?"
"That's what I want to know." He moved closer. "You've been avoiding me since the pack meeting. Won't answer texts. Disappear for hours without explanation. What are you planning?"
"I'm not planning anything."
"Bullshit." His eyes narrowed. "You made some kind of deal with the elders, didn't you? Some arrangement to handle the Ember situation behind my back."
My silence was answer enough.
"Knox." His voice dropped to something dangerous. "What did you do?"
"What needed to be done." I crossed my arms. "The pack is fracturing because of your choices. The elders are demanding action. Someone had to step up."
"Step up how?" He moved closer, his wolf clearly agitated. "What kind of action are we talking about?"
"Does it matter? The end result is the same, the threat gets neutralized, you get released from a bond that's destroying your judgment, and the pack survives."
"The threat." He said it like the words tasted foul. "You mean Ember. My mate."
"I mean the prophesied destroyer who's going to bring Ravencrest to its knees if we don't stop her first."
"And how exactly do you plan to stop her?" His hands were clenched into fists. "What deal did you make, Knox?"
"One that protects our family." I held his gaze. "One that ensures our pack's survival even if you're too blind to see what needs to be done."
"Answer the fucking question!" His voice rose, echoing through the quiet building. "What did you do?"
"I contacted someone." The admission came out defensive. "Someone who can handle situations we can't. Someone who specializes in eliminating supernatural threats."
The silence that followed was absolute. I watched understanding dawn across Trey's face, followed by horror.
"You didn't." His voice was barely a whisper. "Tell me you didn't contact a hunter."
"I did what the elders approved. What they said was necessary by any means."
"A hunter." He was shaking now, rage and disbelief warring in his expression. "You made a deal with a hunter to kill my mate."
"To eliminate a threat..."
"She's a seventeen-year-old girl!" He grabbed my jacket, slamming me against the wall. "And you just put a target on her back by giving information to someone who murders our kind for sport!"
"It's not murder when they're dangerous." I shoved him back. "And she is dangerous, Trey. The prophecy is clear. Every day she lives is another day closer to Ravencrest's destruction."
"So your solution is to become the thing we're supposed to protect against?" He was breathing hard, his wolf rising. "To ally with hunters who've been killing our kind for centuries?"
"One hunter. One meeting. That's all it takes to end this nightmare."
"Which hunter?" The question came out sharp, urgent. "Which one did you contact?"
"Does it matter?"
"It matters!" He grabbed me again, his grip bruising. "Which hunter, Knox?"
"The Widower." I tried to pull free. "The most effective hunter in the network. Someone who actually gets results instead of..."
"Marcus Thorne." Trey's face went white. "You contacted Marcus Thorne."
"How do you know his real name?" I stared at him. "The network only uses aliases..."
"Because he's her father, you fucking idiot!" Trey released me like I'd burned him. "The Widower is Ember's father! You just arranged for her own father to hunt her down and kill her!"
The words hit me like a physical blow. "What?"
"Marcus Thorne. The legendary hunter you're so eager to work with. He's Ember's father who just came back into her life after seventeen years." Trey's voice was shaking. "And you just gave him information about his own daughter being a werewolf."
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't process what he was saying. "That's not... he can't be..."
"He is." Trey backed away from me, his expression shifting from rage to something that looked like grief. "She just had dinner with him last night. Introduced me to him. And the whole time he was testing me, trying to figure out if I was supernatural. Because he's here hunting werewolves at Thornfield."
"I didn't know." The words came out strangled. "Trey, I swear I didn't know he was her father."
"Would it have mattered if you did?" He laughed, the sound broken. "You were so focused on protecting the pack that you didn't care who got hurt. You made a deal with a hunter without even knowing who you were really targeting."
"I was targeting the Silver Wolf. The prophesied destroyer."
"You were targeting a scared teenage girl who's been thrust into a destiny she never asked for!" He was shouting now. "A girl who's my mate. Who I love. And you just handed her to a hunter who's spent seventeen years killing our kind. A hunter who happens to be her father."
"We can call it off." I pulled out the burner phone. "I'll contact him, tell him the meeting is cancelled..."
"And say what? 'Sorry, turns out the werewolf threat is your daughter, so never mind?'" Trey knocked the phone from my hand. "You've already given him information. Already confirmed there's a Silver Wolf at Thornfield. He's a hunter, he won't stop just because you call off one meeting."
"Then what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to fix this!" His voice cracked. "I want you to undo the damage you've done. But we both know that's impossible. You can't put this genie back in the bottle."
"Trey..."
"You betrayed me." He said it quietly, like the words hurt to speak. "You betrayed Ember. You allied with hunters and arranged for the death of my mate. And the worst part? You thought you were doing the right thing."
"I was trying to save the pack."
"By destroying the only thing that matters to me." He moved toward the door. "By becoming exactly what we're supposed to fight against."
"If you walk out that door, the pack will hunt you." I forced the words out. "You know that. Rogues are killed on sight."
"Then I guess I'm a rogue now." He looked back at me, and the finality in his expression made my chest ache. "I hereby sever all ties with Ravencrest Pack. I reject Elder authority. I reject pack law. I reject everything we've been and everything you've become."
The formal words hit like physical blows. Other pack members were emerging from their rooms now, drawn by the shouting. They stood in doorways and on stairs, witnessing Trey's declaration.
"You can't." My voice came out strangled. "Trey, if you do this..."
"It's already done." He looked around at the assembled wolves. "Anyone who wants to follow me, who wants to choose something other than fear and alliances with hunters, you're welcome to come. Everyone else can stay here and live with the decisions Knox and the elders have made."