Rejected And Reborn As The Alpha King's Luna

Chapter 26: “Seventy-Two Hours”

Thelma's POV

"Everything is a trap at this point." Luna started walking toward the pack house. "Come. Both of you. We'll meet Xavier at the gates under formal parley rules. If he's here to help, we'll know. If he's here to take you..." She glanced back at me. "Then we'll deal with that too."

Theo and I followed her, but I noticed he kept distance between us. Every time we got close, that white-gold light would flicker, and he'd move away. He was afraid of our combined power. Afraid of what it meant. Afraid of me.

I didn't blame him. I was afraid too.

We reached the main gates where Luna's guards stood ready, weapons drawn. Beyond the gates, I could see wolves gathering. So many wolves. Multiple packs, their scents mixing and clashing. The air was thick with tension and barely restrained violence.

And there, at the front of the Silver Moon pack contingent, was Xavier.

He looked terrible. His face was pale, and even from this distance I could see healing wounds on his arms and chest. He'd been hurt badly in the fight with his father. But he was here. He'd come for me.

Through our mate bond, I felt his relief at seeing me alive. His fear for my safety. His determination to protect me no matter the cost.

"Thelma!" Xavier's voice carried across the distance. "Thank the Moon Goddess. I thought—when I felt that power surge—I thought something had happened to you."

"Something did happen," Theo muttered beside me. "She found her real family."

Luna stepped forward. "Xavier, son of Damien. You approach Nightshade pack territory during a state of high alert. State your business."

"I'm here for my mate," Xavier said firmly. "I'm here to take her somewhere safe before every Alpha in the region descends on this location."

"She is safe," Luna countered. "She's with family. Her real family."

"Her family that drugged her and dragged her here against her will?" Xavier's eyes flashed with anger. "I know about the bounty hunters, Luna. I know you've been searching for her not to protect her, but to use her."

"You know nothing," Theo snarled, stepping forward. "You're Silver Moon pack. Your father helped murder our parents. Why would we trust anything you say?"

Xavier's gaze shifted to Theo, and I saw recognition dawn. "You're the twin. The one who was hidden." He looked back at me. "Thelma, is this true? You have a brother?"

"Yes," I said quietly. "Xavier, this is Theo. My twin brother."

The mate bond thrummed with Xavier's shock and confusion. He hadn't known. No one had known except Luna.

"That power surge," Xavier said slowly. "That was both of you. Alpha twins activating together." He looked around at the gathering packs. "You just painted targets on both your backs. We need to get you out of here now."

"We're not going anywhere with you," Theo said coldly. "You're the enemy."

"I'm the only one here who actually cares if Thelma lives or dies!" Xavier's voice rose. "Look around you! Six packs are gathering at your borders. More are coming. They're not here to negotiate. They're here to capture or kill you both before you become too powerful."

"Then we'll fight them," Theo said. "Together, Thelma and I are strong enough to.."

"You're untrained," Xavier interrupted. "Your combined power is raw, unstable. You could hurt each other as easily as you could hurt your enemies. You need time. Training. Protection."

"Which you'll provide?" Theo laughed bitterly. "In exchange for what? Our loyalty to Silver Moon pack? Our submission to your father?"

"In exchange for nothing." Xavier's eyes found mine. "Thelma is my mate. That means her family is my family. That means you, Theo, are my family too. I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to let me help keep you both alive."

The words hit something deep in my chest. He was offering to protect Theo, the brother who represented everything Xavier's pack had destroyed, just because that brother was mine.

"Thelma." Theo's voice pulled my attention. "Don't fall for this. He's Silver Moon. They lie. They manipulate. That's what they do."

"I know," I said softly. "But Theo, he's telling the truth about the danger. I can feel the packs gathering. We can't fight them all."

"So what, we just run?" Theo's hands clenched into fists. "We finally find each other, finally unlock our true power, and we run away like cowards?"

"We survive," I said. "We survive so we can get stronger. So we can come back and make them all pay for what they did to our family."

Something in my words reached him. Survival. Revenge. Those were concepts he understood.

Before Theo could respond, a new scent hit the air. One that made my blood run cold.

Neon.

I watched in horror as a figure pushed through the Silver Moon pack ranks to stand beside Xavier. General Neon, my former fiancé, the man who'd tortured Xavier, the man who'd planned to steal my power, he was here.

"Hello, darling," Neon said with that charming smile that used to fool me. "Miss me?"

Xavier tensed beside him. "He insisted on coming. Said he had information about.."

"About what Marcus is planning," Neon interrupted smoothly. "About why he really sent those bounty hunters. About what your dear adoptive father will do when he realizes Alpha twins are alive and together."

Theo's growl was pure menace. "You're Neon. The one who was supposed to mate with Thelma in her first life."

"And in this one," Neon added pleasantly. "Until she rejected me so dramatically at our ceremony. That was quite the show, darling."

"Don't call her that," Xavier snarled.

"Why not? We were engaged. We have history." Neon's smile widened. "Besides, I come bearing gifts. Information that could save both twins' lives. Isn't that worth hearing me out?"

Luna's hand landed on my shoulder. "This is a complication."

"That's an understatement," I muttered.

Through the mate bond, I felt Xavier's guilt and frustration. He hadn't wanted to bring Neon. But apparently, the situation was desperate enough that he'd made a deal with the devil.

"Why is he here?" I called out to Xavier. "Why would you bring him?"

"Because he knows Marcus's plans," Xavier said, his jaw tight. "Because when your adoptive father realized you'd escaped and found your twin, he activated something. Some kind of backup plan that even Luna doesn't know about."

Luna went rigid beside me. "What backup plan?"

Neon's smile turned cruel. "The one that turns Alpha twins into weapons. The one that's been waiting twenty-three years for activation. The one that's in both their blood right now, waiting for the right trigger."

My heart stopped. "What are you talking about?"

"Your adoptive parents poisoned you before, yes?" Neon walked closer to the gates, and Luna's guards raised their weapons. "But that wasn't the only thing they put in your system, Thelma. There's a dormant compound in your blood. Something that activates when two specific conditions are met."

"What conditions?" Theo demanded.

Neon pointed at us. "Alpha twins touching while their powers are active. Which you just did." He paused for effect. "In seventy-two hours, unless you get the antidote, you'll both die. Your combined power will consume you from the inside out."

The world tilted. This couldn't be real. We'd just found each other. Just discovered our twin bond. And now we were dying?

"You're lying," Theo said, but his voice shook.

"Am I?" Neon pulled out a vial of dark liquid. "This is the antidote. Marcus sent it with me. He wants to negotiate."

"Negotiate what?" Luna's voice was dangerous.

"Your surrender." Neon's eyes gleamed with triumph. "Both twins, handed over to the Tee pack peacefully. In exchange, they live. They get the antidote. They get to keep their powers."

"And if we refuse?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"Then in three days, the most powerful Alpha twins in history will die screaming as their own power tears them apart." Neon tucked the vial away. "Your choice. But I'd decide quickly. Every minute you waste is a minute closer to death."

Theo looked at me, and through our flickering connection, I felt his terror mirror my own.

We'd finally found each other. Finally discovered what we could be together.

And we were already running out of time.

Xavier stepped forward, his hand outstretched toward me. "Thelma, come with me. We'll find another way. We'll find a cure. But you need to leave here now before—"

But he wasn't alone. Neon stood right beside him, that vial of antidote in his hand,

watching us like a cat watching mice.

My mate was offering rescue. But he'd brought my worst enemy with him.

And somewhere in the distance, more howls rose. More packs were coming. The trap was closing from all sides, and I had no idea who to trust anymore.