Chapter 5
Lunara’s POV
“Revenge?” I asked, my voice hoarse, throat dry as ash. My heart pounded–not from fear, but from something darker, colder.
Killian’s silver eyes gleamed beneath the torchlight of the Healing Den’s side chamber, where he’d requested to speak with me alone. He took a slow seat beside me on the bench carved into the stone wall, his aura crackling with restrained power.
“Yes. Revenge.” His voice was smooth, but dangerous–like a wolf hiding blood on its muzzle. “You’ve been betrayed, Lunara. Not just by a mate, but by your own blood. The two people who should’ve protected you most… they need to bleed for what they’ve done.”
A chill danced down my spine–and yet, that whisper of vengeance stirred something alive in me. Something primal. My wolf shifted restlessly beneath my skin, not in fear… but in agreement.
I pushed myself upright, wincing from the bruised muscles still recovering from the fall. “So… you want revenge on Ashira?”
Killian’s lips twisted into a smile, but his eyes remained dead and unreadable. “I gave her everything. Status. Loyalty. A future. And she spat in my face, crawling into bed with Kael like a snake in heat. So yes–I want revenge. She may be your sister, but-”
“I don’t care,” I said, cutting him off.
Killian blinked, surprised. I meant it. Whatever bond of blood existed between Ashira and me… it had been severed the moment she touched my mate. The ache in my chest pulsed, but I forced it down.
“Why did you reach out to me?” I asked, voice low.
His smile grew–cruel, calculating. “Because I don’t want all the fun to myself. You, Lunara, will be the key piece of my plan. My wild card.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What exactly do you have in mind?”
He leaned in, his voice a whisper that slithered into my ear. “Marry me.”
I stared at him like he’d grown a second head. “You want me to what?”
Two days later, I stepped out of the Moonveil Healing Grove, wrapped in a charcoal cloak. The moons were high, casting silver light over the sacred forest. A low–ranking scout escorted me back to the village gates, and from there I shifted halfway to the outer dens before shifting back and calling a carriage wolf.
I hadn’t heard from Kael. Not a message via rune crystal, not a whisper of his scent at my bedside. He hadn’t even asked if I’d survived.
I stared out the open window as the wind swept through my hair. My fingers tightened around the piece of parchment Killian had given me–the runes of his personal communication glyph scrawled neatly.
Chapter Five
4:37 am GDDD.
I want revenge… but not another prison, I’d told him.
He had simply smirked. “Then make it your kind of war, Luna.”
When I arrived home, Kael’s scent hit me first. But it wasn’t alone.Ashira’s saccharine perfume laced with heat told me all I needed to know. My stomach clenched. My claws itched beneath my skin.
Her sleek black carriage sat outside. So this was how it was.I moved silently through the corridor of our den, every step deliberate, guided by the sounds I’d once known intimately. Breathy moans. Growls. Pleasured gasps.
I stopped just before the entrance to our shared bedchamber–my sanctuary, my womb of memories–and the door was ajar.
They were there. Kael had Ashira pinned to the furs, her neck bared in submission as his mouth devoured hers. His hands explored her body with a hunger he hadn’t shown me in moons. Their robes and cloaks lay strewn like the aftermath of a wild rut.
I had known. But seeing it… feeling their betrayal in flesh and scent…It broke something in me.
“Oh, gods, I missed this,” Kael groaned.
Ashira giggled, stroking his back. “I hope my little sister isn’t keeping you too pent–up.”
“She’s never satisfied me–not like you do,” he murmured. “When I take High Council control, we’l rule together, love.”
My chest caved. My hands trembled as I pulled out my crystal. I pressed the surface and activated its silent recording runes. The glowing glyphs flickered as I captured their rutting betrayal in high clarity.
Once done, I turned, numb and silent, and stalked toward the outer chambers. I grabbed Kael’s sigil–etched saddlebag and keys from the wall peg and strode outside into the wind.
I climbed into his personal carriage wolf, whispered the command, and let it sprint into the darkness.
My fingers hovered over the crystal. I attached the images, burned into rune–light, and sent them to the only wolf who’d looked me in the eye and told me the truth.
To: Killian Romanol accept your offer. The reply came almost instantly: Killian: Good. I’ll be in touch soon. You and I… we’re going to have so much fun, Luna.
A bitter smile curved my lips. It felt like I’d signed a soul pact with the dark spirits of the forest-
but I didn’t care.
Let the shadows come. Let them devour what was left of me.I would rise, not as the broken
mate… but as the storm.
By twilight, I was walking into the heart of Ironfang–Killian’s territory, neutral and feared. The lawhouse was built from obsidian stone, standing bold amidst the rest of the trading den.
A young fae–born wolf looked up from the front desk. “Good evening. How may we assist?”
“I’m here to see Jonathan Hayes. Tell him… Killian Romano sent me.”
The receptionist’s eyes widened, and she quickly nodded. “Of course. One moment.”
Chanter Five.
2/3
16.7%
4:37 am G
Moments later, I was led through a thick stone corridor into a rune–guarded chamber, where a sharply dressed male stood waiting.
“Luna Winslow,” he greeted with a respectful nod. “It’s an honor. Please, sit. How can I serve?”
My voice was cold steel. “I want a formal severing from my mate. His name is Kael Thorne.”
4:37 am G D DD
