Episode 16:The Betrayer In The Circle
466 Words
The camp was quiet.
Too quiet.
Alera sat by the fire, Kael’s coat wrapped around her shoulders, the moonlight brushing across her skin. Her arm still burned from the assassin’s blade. The stitches throbbed, but not as much as the fear whispering at the edges of her heart.
Selene returned from scouting at dusk, her boots muddy, her braid loosened by the wind.
“I found a cave to the east,” she said, tossing down her bag. “We can hide there if the Council moves again.”
Alera nodded, but something in her stomach twisted.
Selene had always been her constant.
Her tether.
But tonight... her scent was off.
Distant. Sharpened by guilt.
---
Later that night, Alera crept toward the river to clear her head. Her fingers brushed the water’s surface — cool, steady — until a flicker of silver danced over her palm. The Moonblood was reacting again.
She turned to call Selene—
But she wasn’t there.
And Kael was nowhere near.
Instead… voices.
Low.
Urgent.
She followed them behind the trees.
Selene’s voice. And another’s.
The High Alpha’s.
“I brought her this far,” Selene said coldly. “You have your proof of what she is. She’s unstable. Marked by chaos.”
Alera’s blood ran cold.
“I told you I’d deliver her when she awakened. You said the Council would leave my pack alone if I obeyed.”
The High Alpha’s voice was disgusted. “And now she’s bonded with Kael. If he marks her fully, we lose our hold.”
“Then act now,” Selene hissed. “While she still trusts me.”
Alera stumbled back.
A twig snapped beneath her foot.
The voices cut off.
Selene stepped from the shadows, eyes locking with hers. Her expression faltered. “Alera…”
“You lied to me,” Alera whispered.
“You don’t understand,” Selene said quickly. “They threatened my people. I didn’t want to do this—”
“But you did.”
Silver light sparked around Alera’s fingertips. Her pulse screamed with betrayal.
Selene reached for her. “I protected you—”
“You guided me into the Council’s hands.”
Kael appeared then, his presence a thunderclap. He saw Alera’s face before anything else — and his eyes snapped to Selene.
“You?” he growled.
“I never meant to hurt her,” Selene said. “But she’s dangerous.”
Alera’s voice cracked. “So are you.”
---
Later, as Kael wrapped her arms in bandages again, she asked softly, “What happens now?”
His voice was cold steel. “Now we stop trusting anyone.”
Alera stared into the fire.
Selene had been her sister in every way but blood.
And now?
She was just another shadow.
- Writer
