Rise of the Forbidden Luna

Chapter 38: The Broken Trust

The deafening, monstrous roar of the newly summoned undead phantom commander violently shook the foundations of the obsidian plateau, sending a massive shockwave of black magic tearing through the heavy mountain snow.

But the terrifying sight of the giant skeletal warrior raising his phantom broadsword didn't even register in my mind. My eyes were tightly locked on the man standing in front of me. Ethan stood completely motionless in the center of the howling blizzard, his broad shoulders trembling as the raw, suffocating weight of my deep deception crushed his spirit. His gaze was entirely dead, replaced by a cold, hollow void of absolute heartbreak. He didn't shift into his Lycan form to face the incoming monster. He didn't look at the trenches. He just stared down at me, his chest heaving in ragged, shallow gasps as if my silence had physically punctured his lungs.

"Aria..." Ethan whispered hoarsely, his deep baritone cracking with an agony so intense it ripped my heart into jagged pieces. He took another slow, hesitant step backward away from my me, his large, calloused hands dropping lifelessly to his sides. "You're pregnant, four... four babies, My bloodline... and you hid them from me? You've been using me... weaponizing my love for you... just to fuel your revenge plan?"

"Ethan, no! Please, listen to me!" I cried out fiercely, my voice cracking through the screaming wind as tears violently welled in my eyes. I took a step toward him, my bleeding left hand reaching out to grab his heavy arm armor, but he sharply flinched away from my touch as if my skin was pure poison. “I was trying to protect them! I was trying to protect you. My father told me about the ancient bloodline curse and I didn't know what else to do!"

"You didn't trust me," he hissed, a dark, heavy tear of absolute betrayal escaping his eyes. The supreme predator of the werewolf world looked completely defeated, his unyielding Alpha pride completely shattered in front of his entire marching army. "I told you I would burn the entire world just to keep you safe. I told you I would tear down kingdoms for you. And you treated me like a fool. You treated our love like a tactical chessboard. You kept a very vital secret away from me, just for that witch to reveal it. How long were you planning to keep the pregnancy a secret?

"Look out!" I screamed suddenly, as a shadow loomed over us.

The giant undead commander didn't wait for our emotional crisis to conclude. With supernatural, crushing strength, he swung his broadsword straight down toward Ethan’s head, the blade humming with a sickening blue flame. Ethan didn't even lift his arms to parry the blow; he was completely paralyzed in deep hurt from my betrayal.

I lunged forward and threw my entire body against Ethan's torso, forcefully shoving him out of the path of the swinging weapon.

The blade slammed directly into the ground right where we had been standing, shattering the stone into thousands of flying pieces. The explosive force of the impact blasted me backward, my boots sliding violently across the slick, blood-stained mud of the plateau.

"Thomas! Shield the King right now!" I roared fiercely over the blizzard.

I scrambled back onto my feet, ignoring the sharp spike of pain flaring through my body as my inner wolf howled in defiance. The ancient witch cackled villainously from the altar, her gnarled hands pulsing green witchcraft into the Eye of Aethelgard to keep the giant phantom anchored to our world. Richard and my treacherous sister, Sienna, watched from the high ridge, their faces twisted with an ugly, mocking amusement as they saw our command line completely fracturing from within.

The giant phantom commander turned his empty eye sockets toward me, lifting his massive sword to strike me down next. I held my own silver blade tightly in my right hand, the steel still covered in my blood.

"You want a piece of me, you abomination?!" I screamed fiercely, my jaw setting into a mask of pure steel as I stood entirely alone between the phantom commander and the heartbroken King who held my heart.

I sprinted directly toward the giant monster, my mind tracking his slow, heavy movement. As the massive broadsword swung horizontally to slice me in half, I dropped low, sliding flat on my back beneath the blue flames across the freezing snow. The moment I passed between his skeletal legs, I violently drove my blood-coated sword straight upward into his knee joint. A blinding shockwave of white-hot liquid exploded and the phantom commander let out a deafening, spectral shriek of pure agony as he disintegrated into a cloud of black ash.

I bolted back onto my feet, my chest heaving as I looked back over my shoulder toward Ethan. He had stood up from the snow, Beta Thomas and ten heavily armed soldiers forming a protective ring around him. But he didn't look at the giant monster I had just killed. His gold-flecked eyes were still drilling straight into mine, filled with an unyielding, freezing tide of pure, hurt and silent accusation. I realized that surviving this phantom war was going to be nothing compared to the terrifying war I would have to fight to rebuild his broken trust.