Blood Moon Betrayal

The Hidden Path

"Someone is crossing," I whispered.

I was crouched in the freezing mud near the base of the ravine. It was my third night on the perimeter. I hadn't slept more than four hours in the last three days. My body was a map of bruises and thorn scratches, but my senses were sharper than they had ever been. I found a footprint near the water’s edge that didn't belong to any Blackthorn wolf. It was too deep, the stride too wide, and it carried the faint, metallic scent of rogue blood and unwashed fur.

I didn't run for the sirens. No one in the pack house would believe the "traitor’s daughter" without physical proof. They would just say I was trying to lure the Alpha into a trap.

I followed the trail. It led me away from the main path and toward the Old Mines, a network of collapsed tunnels that had been sealed off since the Great War. The scent grew stronger, mixing with the damp smell of the river. I crawled through a narrow opening behind a frozen waterfall, my breath hitching as the temperature dropped even further.

"The tunnels are clear," a voice rasped from the darkness ahead.

I froze, pressing my back against the jagged stone wall. I knew that voice. It was a deep, scratchy sound that used to haunt my nightmares. It was Rowan Thorne. My father.

"Silas has all his strength on the North and South gates," another voice replied. I didn't recognize this one. It was younger, cocky. "He’s too busy playing games with his little rejected mate to notice what’s happening beneath his feet."

"Good," my father said. I could hear the smirk in his tone. "The tunnels lead directly into the cellar of the Great Hall. We move at midnight. I want Silas alive just long enough to see his pack burn. He thinks he won ten years ago. He’s about to find out that the Thornes always finish what they start."

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. I backed out of the cave, moving with the desperate silence of a ghost. I had to get to the settlement. I had to warn the man who had discarded me.

I ran. I didn't care about the thorns tearing at my face or the way the freezing air scorched my lungs. I burst through the heavy oak doors of the Great Hall just as the pack was finishing their evening meal. The room was warm, smelling of roasted venison and ale. Three hundred pairs of eyes turned toward me.

Silas sat at the head of the long table. He looked up, his expression shifting from boredom to a murderous glare the moment he saw me covered in mud and gasping for air.

"June?" he barked. He stood up, his massive frame dominating the room. "Why are you off your post? I gave you a direct order."

"Rogues," I panted, clutching the edge of a table to keep from collapsing. "In the Old Mines. My father is leading them. They’re using the tunnels to get under the fortress. They’re coming through the cellars."

The Hall went deathly silent. Then, a roar of laughter broke out from the warriors sitting near the fire.

"A convenient story," one of the lieutenants shouted. "The traitor’s daughter finds the traitor just in time to play the hero? We searched those mines last month. They're collapsed."

"They've cleared them," I yelled, looking directly at Silas. "I saw them. I smelled them. They are coming tonight, Silas. You have to move the omegas and the children."

Silas walked down the length of the hall. He stopped a foot away from me. The warmth of his body was a cruel contrast to the ice in his eyes. He reached out and grabbed my arm, his grip like a steel shackle.

"You think I’m a fool," he said, his voice a low, dangerous vibration. "You think I don't see what this is? You're trying to draw my elite guards away from the gates so your father’s real force can walk through the front door. You're a bad liar, June."

"I am telling you the truth!" I screamed as he began to drag me toward the door. "He’s going to kill you! He doesn't want the land, he wants your head!"

"Enough," Silas snapped. He didn't look at me. He looked at the two guards by the door. "She left her post and she’s spreading panic. Take her to the holding cells in the basement. I’ll decide her sentence once the sun comes up."

"Silas, please!"

The guards grabbed my shoulders. I fought them, kicking and snarling, but I was exhausted and outnumbered. They dragged me down the stone stairs, away from the warmth and the light. They threw me into a cold, damp cell directly beneath the Great Hall.

I sat on the floor, my head in my hands. I listened to the muffled sounds of the celebration above. They were drinking and singing, completely unaware of the wolves moving through the earth beneath them.

I checked the time by the moonlight filtering through a small grate. It was almost midnight.

Then, the first explosion rocked the floor.

The sound of stone shattering and wood splintering echoed through the basement. I heard the first screams from the kitchen staff. The attack had begun. I didn't wait for a guard to release me. I grabbed a loose stone from the corner of my cell and began to bash at the rusted lock with a rhythmic, desperate fury.

I was going to save this pack, whether they wanted me to or not.