chapter 7
725 Words
Chapter 7: The Poisoned Heart
The Silver Crescent Pack spent the next two days preparing for the Blood Moon Festival.
Colorful banners were draped across the pack grounds, lanterns hung from ancient oak trees, and every family contributed food for the celebration.
To everyone else, it was a time of joy.
To Lyra, it felt like a countdown to an uncertain future.
She stood on the balcony outside her room, watching the crimson sunset disappear behind the mountains. Around her neck rested the silver pendant Elder Miriam had entrusted to her. Since the rogue attack, it had remained warm against her skin, as though it possessed a heartbeat of its own.
"I wish I knew what you're trying to tell me," she whispered.
---
In another part of the Alpha House, Selene quietly slipped into Kael's study.
She had memorized his routine.
Every evening, before meeting his warriors, Kael drank a cup of black coffee left on his desk.
With trembling fingers, she uncorked the crystal vial.
One...
Two...
Three drops of the black liquid disappeared into the steaming cup.
The poison dissolved without leaving a trace.
"It isn't poison," the hooded man had told her.
"It simply feeds the darkness already hidden inside the heart."
Footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Selene quickly hid behind a bookshelf.
Kael entered moments later, exhausted from another day of patrols.
Without a second thought, he picked up the cup and drank.
Nothing happened.
He frowned.
A strange pressure settled inside his chest before fading away.
Thinking little of it, he left for the training grounds.
Hidden in the shadows, Selene smiled.
"The first move is complete."
---
That night, Lyra wandered through the Moon Garden behind the temple.
The white lilies glowed beneath the moonlight.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
For the first time in days, she felt calm.
Then...
A warm hand rested on her shoulder.
She turned.
"Kael?"
He looked different.
His silver eyes were darker somehow.
"I've been looking for you."
A small smile crossed her face.
"You have?"
He nodded.
"We need to talk."
Hope bloomed inside her heart.
Maybe...
Maybe things were finally changing.
"I know I haven't treated you fairly," Kael said quietly.
"I've kept you at a distance."
Lyra's eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
"I never wanted perfection, Kael."
"I only wanted a chance."
For a brief moment, guilt flashed across his face.
Then a strange darkness clouded his expression.
His jaw tightened.
His breathing became uneven.
Images flashed through his mind.
Lyra speaking with strangers.
Lyra hiding secrets.
Lyra betraying him.
They weren't memories.
They were lies.
But to Kael...
They felt real.
He stepped backward.
His expression turned cold.
"Who were you meeting in the forest?"
Lyra blinked.
"What?"
"The night before the rogue attack."
"I... I wasn't meeting anyone."
"Don't lie to me."
His voice thundered through the garden.
"I know someone was there."
Lyra's heart pounded.
She remembered the mysterious black wolf.
"I don't even know who he was."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"So there was someone."
"I never said—"
"You've been hiding things from me."
"No!"
"I was afraid because I didn't understand what happened!"
The poison whispered into Kael's mind.
Traitor.
Liar.
Danger.
He turned away.
"I don't know who you are anymore."
Every word pierced Lyra's heart.
Before she could stop him, he walked away into the darkness.
She sank to her knees.
The tiny spark of hope she'd found after her dream with the Moon Goddess flickered... then nearly went out.
---
Far beyond the pack's borders, the crimson-eyed king stood in silence.
Suddenly, he pressed a hand against his chest.
"The bond..."
His commander looked at him in alarm.
"Your Majesty?"
"The pain has begun."
He looked toward the distant horizon where the Silver Crescent Pack lay hidden.
"Someone is twisting fate."
His crimson eyes blazed with fury.
"I can feel her crying."
The ground beneath his feet cracked as his Alpha aura surged.
"For now, the Moon Goddess forbids me from interfering."
His voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.
"But the moment their bond breaks..."
A fierce wind swept across the fortress.
"...I will come for her."
And for the first time in centuries...
The immortal king prayed that fate would move quickly, because every tear Lyra shed felt like a wound upon his own soul.
- Writer
