The moment the messenger mentioned her features, I froze in despair.
"Red hair, dark eyes." A friend I thought I could trust. She was one of the few persons I have been closest with these past couple of months.
"She handed them the key," the messenger girl whispered. "She let Ceryn's wolves in."
Aether commanded immediately. "We need to lock down the pack now!"
I couldn't hear him properly, my ears were ringing, and my heart started palpitating vigorously.
Melina is close to me. She was there from the first day I stepped into Northwoods. Her elder brother Daruis has a mate in BlueCrest, who told Melina everything that happened, so she was aware of the rejection I faced from Alpha Castillo.
She held me when I cried out of worry my first few days here, and she always said, "I'd never leave you."
But she had. She opened the gates for the enemy, my enemy!
---
We didn't even reach the main hall when the warning alarm rang. A long, sharp howl sliced through the air.
Ceryn's wolves were inside Northwoods.
Aether shifted mid-run, his bold black wolf charged through the courtyard as I followed, flanked by warriors. The sky lit up with magic as the barriers fell. Screams echoing from below.
And then immediately Beta Nelson appeared out of nowhere looking chill and joyous which left me confused.
"Who laughs in the face of danger?" I asked him frowning
"Oh sorry for the laugh," he said, running alongside me. "Castillo is awake. He is asking after you."
"What?" I gasped.
"He sat up twenty minutes ago, just before everything started. He's weak, but something's ignited in him."
My heart raced, Castillo was back.
When I went into the infirmary, I found Castillo sitting up. His eyes were sharp, his face still pale but focused. I could feel his Alpha aura strengthening him more like before.
The moment he saw me, his eyes lit up, relief I guess, or maybe a hint of guilt.
"Maybel," he rasped. "I'm delighted to see you. Ceryn is here, isn't she?"
"She broke the seal, tried to control something ancient, and now she's inside Northwoods."
He tried to get up but swayed. Nelson caught him just in time.
"She'll kill everyone to get to you," Castillo said. "You need to stay hidden…"
"No," I interrupted. "I'm done hiding."
He blinked his eyes repeatedly, clearly shaken by the strength and command in my voice.
"I'm not your broken little mate anymore," I said. "You rejected me, she replaced me. Now you both get to see what I've become."
Nelson let out a low breath, like he respected my words, while Castillo kept looking at me as if I were a stranger.
Maybe I was.
–––
Aether found me on the steps of the East Tower, blood on his hands, eyes blazing.
"They're closing in on the altar chamber," he said. "And guess who's leading them?"
I didn't even need to guess. "Melina," I whispered.
He nodded. "She's wearing Ceryn's mark now. Loyal to her."
I couldn't tell what hurt more; Castillo's rejection or this betrayal.
I sprinted through the tunnels with Aether and Nelson, following the hidden trail that I and Melina always strolled along .
When we reached the chamber, the runes were glowing again. The ancient creature beneath the mountain was awake—watching.
And there she was, Melina.
She was fully dressed in black. Hair pulled up in a ponytail and standing beside Nyra.
My voice cracked. "Why?" Melina didn't even look sorry.
"You left me behind," she said coldly. "After he rejected you, and I helped you get to your feet, power and prophecy were all that mattered to you. You forgot I was the one who stayed, you stopped giving me attention, grew distant and all you cared about was Alpha Aether
"I never forgot you," I whispered. "You were my friend."
"Then you should've taken me with you, carried me along" she snapped. "I knew times you confided in me, times I gave you my meal, but now you feel you've outgrown me like I never mattered."
Ceryn appeared behind her, smug in her Luna robes.
She looked at me like I was a trophy she desperately needed to win.
"This is the end of your story, May," she snapped.
I stepped forward, eyes glowing, the creature rising behind me.
"No," I whispered. "This is the part where I rewrite and put an end to this whole charade."
Suddenly, an uncommon roar echoed through the cave, everyone turned and it was Castillo, he stepped forward.
He wasn't limping, nor broken. Rather his Alpha aura blasted through the room like a bolt of lightning.
Ceryn froze. "Castillo," she breathed. "You aren't…"
"Dead?" he interrupted, his voice low and menacing. "No, not yet sweetie. But I should've ended you before you ever laid a hand on my throne, you deceitful bitch."
His fangs were on display, sharp and threatening. Nelson stood beside him, ready for a fight.
But just as the tension peaked, the ancient creature let out a deep, rumbling growl that echoed around us.
"The bloodline war begins now!"
Suddenly, the runes on the altar erupted with energy. Ceryn's wolves charged forward, fierce and relentless.
Castillo's power surged and his wolf erupted. Big and brownish, Aether shifted in unison to his black wolf.
And me? I felt something shift inside me. Not pain, more like an awakening. It was as if my true self had been held down forcefully, but now it's finally ready to step into the light.
And then everything went blank.