Chapter 119 Chapter-119

Chapter 119 Chapter-119
Raven's POV

By the time we made it back to the pack house, my entire body ached with exhaustion. The rescue operation had dragged on for hours, draining all of us.

Relief crashed through me. The prisoners were safe. The evidence was protected. Alaric was behind bars.

Iris leaned against the stone wall next to me, looking like she'd been dragged through a swamp. Her clothes were covered in dirt, dried blood stained her left sleeve, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"I need a shower, a massive plate of food, and about a week of sleep," she groaned, burying her face in her hands.

Nolan let out a rough snort, a tired smile breaking through the grime on his face. "Only one? I'm aiming for five."

I laughed for the first time in days. The fear had lifted, and I could breathe again.

Zayne stepped up beside me, his arm sliding over my shoulders. The warmth of his body pulled me back.

"You need to wash up and get some rest," he murmured, his eyes scanning my face with concern.

I nodded, leaning into his side. "Trust me, you won't have to tell me twice."

A small smile tugged at his lips, but before he could say anything, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Zayne pulled it out, his eyes locking onto the screen. The relaxed expression vanished, replaced by a deep, frustrated scowl.

"Not yet," he said, shoving the phone away.

I pulled back slightly, looking up at him with a frown. "What do you mean, not yet? What's wrong?"

Zayne rubbed the back of his neck, looking annoyed. "Magnus arranged something. He wants us at the back lawn right now."

"What did he arrange?" Iris asked, stepping closer.

"He didn't say. Just that he has something to announce." Zayne looked toward the main house, his jaw tight.

Magnus had been acting strangely lately, keeping secrets and avoiding us. I didn't want to deal with his mind games right now, but we had no choice. We hurried upstairs to wash up, changed into clean clothes, and walked out toward the back lawn.

As we rounded the corner, lively music echoed through the air. Dozens of territory members were gathered across the grass, holding drinks and chatting. Magnus must have called the entire pack together.

Iris and I stood near the edge of the patio, watching. Across the lawn, Magnus stood on a raised platform, talking quietly with older Lycan elders. Martha stood next to him. She wore a dark green dress, but her twisted fingers and darting eyes betrayed her discomfort.

Our eyes locked. The nervous look on her face vanished, replaced by a sharp, mocking smirk.

My smile faded. Why was she looking at me like that?

Before I could dwell on it, Magnus stepped up to the microphone. His dominant presence immediately filled the lawn, and one by one, the chatter died down until everything was silent.

Zayne slipped back beside me, his broad shoulder brushing against mine. He stared at his twin brother with a confused expression.

"What is your brother doing?" I whispered.

Zayne just shook his head. "I have no idea."

I looked up at his profile, noticing the tight line of his mouth. "Seriously, what's going on with you two? First, you almost tear each other's throats, and now you're acting like strangers, doing things without talking to each other."

When Zayne looked down at me, I caught a flash of profound sadness in his blue eyes before he quickly masked it. He missed his brother. He hated this distance between them just as much as I did, but something was keeping them apart.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Magnus's voice rang out clearly.

The whispers died away. Everyone turned toward the platform.

Magnus looked out over the crowd, a confident smile on his face. "I always think about what is best for this territory. Every choice I make, every risk I take, is designed to protect our people and secure our future. That is my only goal."

The crowd listened intently, with a few people nodding along. I crossed my arms, a strange sense of unease prickling at my skin. Why was he giving a political speech?

"This territory needs a clean slate," Magnus continued, his voice growing stronger. "A new beginning."

Loud applause broke out among the territory members, their faces filled with excitement and anticipation. I stood perfectly still, my eyes darting between Magnus and Martha.

As the clapping died down, Magnus slowly turned around and extended his right hand toward Martha, silently inviting her to stand beside him at center stage.

Martha looked caught off guard. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, her eyes wide, before she finally placed her hand in his and stood beside him while giving a small smile.

Seeing them standing hand in hand made my stomach twist into a sickening knot. The entire setup felt completely wrong. My stomach dropped.

Magnus took a slow, deep breath, his expression turning completely serious.

"As the King of this territory, I have spent the last few days discussing the future leadership of our pack with the Council," Magnus announced.

The lawn went dead silent. I could hear the wind rustling the leaves in the trees.

Then, he dropped the bomb.

"I am officially naming Martha as the future Queen of this territory."

My heart completely stopped.

The crowd immediately erupted into wild cheers and roaring applause, but the sound felt miles away, muffled and distorted as if I were underwater. I couldn't breathe.

It felt like a horrific wave of déjà vu. First, Alaric discarded me for Kat. Now Magnus was standing on a stage, handing a crown to Martha.

For a few agonizing seconds, I genuinely thought I had misheard him. My brain flat-out refused to process the words. I stared blankly at the stage, waiting for Magnus to laugh, to correct himself.

Down in the front row, Elder Valerus, Martha's father, burst out with his excitement, clapping harder than anyone else in the yard.

I snapped my head around to look at Zayne. His face was completely pale, his eyes wide with the same shock, tearing me apart. He hadn't known about this either.

Magnus kept speaking into the microphone, his lips moving, but I couldn't hear a single word over the roaring ring in my ears. My entire world had shrunk down to that one devastating sentence.

A sharp, physical ache bloomed deep in my chest, so intense that it made my vision blur. I kept my eyes pinned on Magnus, silently begging him to look at me, to give me some kind of explanation.

I had no right to feel any of this. Magnus and I weren't together. We hadn't made any promises. But my heart completely rejected the logic, twisting with a raw, agonizing pain that stole every ounce of happiness I had felt ten minutes ago.

Everything was wrong.

As if feeling the weight of my stare, Magnus's eyes suddenly shifted across the lawn, locking onto mine. For a brief second, he really looked at me. With an unreadable expression while my eyes flowed with tears.