Chapter 5: The Dead Servant
1421 Words
The room froze.
Every pair of eyes turned toward me.
Silver rings.
The same detail from my visions.
A chill crawled slowly down my spine.
Kael’s expression shifted from suspicion to something far more unsettling.
Belief.
Not complete belief.
But enough to shake him.
“Where is the body?” he demanded.
“In the western courtyard,” the warrior answered quickly. “The guards secured the area.”
Kael nodded sharply. “No one touches anything until I arrive.”
The warrior hurried out immediately.
Tension thickened inside the healer’s chamber.
Selene looked pale beneath the candlelight, but something else flickered briefly across her face now.
Panic.
Real panic.
Interesting.
Kael turned toward me again, his silver eyes intense. “You said you saw a man with silver rings.”
“I did.”
“And now a dead servant is found carrying wolfsbane.”
The younger healer scoffed. “That proves nothing.”
“No,” Lucas said quietly. “But it changes things.”
The healer fell silent.
Kael looked torn for a moment before finally speaking. “Aria comes with us.”
Selene immediately grabbed his wrist weakly. “Kael, please…”
Her frightened voice echoed softly through the room.
“She’s dangerous.”
I almost laughed.
The girl accusing me of poisoning her was suddenly terrified of being near me.
Kael carefully removed her hand from his arm. “You’ll remain here under guard.”
Something dark flashed across Selene’s face before she quickly masked it with fear again.
Too late.
I saw it.
And judging from Lucas’s narrowed eyes, he saw it too.
The walk toward the western courtyard felt colder than before.
Night had fully settled over the pack grounds now, and storm clouds still covered the moon overhead.
Wolves gathered in nervous groups as we passed.
Their whispers followed me everywhere.
“That’s the marked girl.”
“I heard she can see memories.”
“No… I heard she killed someone.”
Fear spread faster than truth ever could.
By the time we reached the courtyard, several guards already surrounded the area.
The servant’s body lay near the stone fountain covered with a cloth.
Kael crouched beside it slowly.
“Who found him?”
“One of the kitchen workers,” a guard answered. “She came outside after hearing noises.”
Lucas pulled the cloth back carefully.
I forced myself not to react.
The servant’s eyes were wide open in terror, his throat slashed deeply.
Blood stained the stones beneath him.
But it wasn’t the blood that caught my attention.
It was the rings.
Silver.
Exactly like the ones from my vision.
Kael noticed my expression immediately.
“You recognize them.”
“I saw them before.”
Lucas frowned down at the corpse. “Who is he?”
“Thomas,” one guard answered quietly. “Low-ranking servant.”
Kael searched the body quickly before pulling a small leather pouch from beneath the servant’s cloak.
The sharp scent of wolfsbane immediately filled the air.
Several wolves stepped back instinctively.
“There’s the poison,” the younger healer muttered from behind us.
But something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
I stared at the dead servant carefully.
Then my mark suddenly burned again.
Pain shot through my neck so violently that I gasped.
“Aria?” Nina whispered beside me.
The courtyard blurred.
And another vision slammed into me.
Thomas is arguing with someone in the shadows.
“I did what you asked,” he whispered fearfully.
A woman’s voice answered this time.
Cold.
Controlled.
“You know too much.”
Thomas backed away. “You promised I’d be protected.”
The figure stepped closer into the moonlight,
Long dark hair.
A black sleeve.
Selene.
My eyes flew open.
The vision vanished instantly.
I stumbled backward, breathing hard.
Kael caught my arm before I could fall.
“What happened?”
I looked directly at him.
“Selene knew him.”
The courtyard erupted into murmurs.
Kael’s grip tightened slightly. “What?”
“She met with him tonight,” I continued shakily. “I saw it.”
The younger healer rolled his eyes. “Again with these convenient visions.”
But Lucas looked thoughtful now.
“What exactly did you see?”
I hesitated briefly.
Then told them everything.
Thomas arguing.
Selene is threatening him.
Fear.
Silence followed when I finished speaking.
Kael’s expression had darkened dangerously.
But before anyone could respond, a sharp voice interrupted from behind us.
“She’s lying.”
We turned.
Selene stood several feet away wrapped in a blanket, looking weak but furious. Two guards stood nervously beside her.
Kael frowned immediately. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
Selene ignored him completely.
Her eyes locked onto me with barely hidden hatred now.
“She’s trying to frame me.”
I folded my arms tightly. “Funny. I was about to say the same thing.”
Selene stepped closer despite the healer’s protests. “You expect everyone to believe magical visions over actual evidence?”
“The evidence planted in my room?” I shot back.
Her jaw tightened briefly.
Tiny reaction.
But I noticed.
So did Lucas.
Kael slowly stood between us. “Enough.”
“No,” Selene snapped suddenly. “She’s manipulating all of you.”
Her emotional mask was cracking now.
Gone was the weak frightened Luna from earlier.
This Selene looked angry.
Desperate.
“She’s jealous because you chose me,” Selene continued while staring directly at Kael. “And now suddenly she has mysterious powers? Convenient timing.”
The crowd murmured uncertainly.
Doubt spread again.
I hated how convincing she sounded.
Kael rubbed his temples tiredly. “Nobody’s making conclusions tonight.”
“But you heard her accusations!”
“And I heard yours too.”
That shut Selene up immediately.
Interesting.
Kael turned toward Lucas. “Double the guards around the eastern wing.”
Lucas nodded once.
Then Kael looked at me.
“You’re staying somewhere safer tonight.”
I frowned instantly. “I’m not hiding.”
“It’s not a request.”
Anger flared again. “You don’t control me anymore.”
His silver eyes darkened slightly.
“No,” he agreed quietly. “But someone in this pack is trying to kill people.” His gaze flickered briefly toward Selene before returning to me. “And you’re somehow connected to it.”
The words settled heavily between us.
Connected.
Not guilty.
A small difference.
But important.
Selene noticed it too.
I could see the irritation flashing across her face.
Before anyone could speak again, the older healer suddenly crouched beside the servant’s body.
“Alpha…”
Kael looked over sharply. “What?”
The healer held up Thomas’s wrist carefully.
A symbol had been carved into the servant’s skin.
A crescent moon.
My breath caught instantly.
The same shape as my mark.
Fear spread through the gathered wolves immediately.
“The Lunar symbol,” someone whispered.
“No,” another muttered nervously. “That’s impossible.”
Kael stared at the symbol grimly.
Then slowly, his eyes lifted toward me.
Not accusing.
Worried.
Which somehow felt worse.
“What does it mean?” Nina whispered beside me.
The older healer looked pale. “Ancient texts warned that when the Crescent Mark reappears…” He swallowed hard. “Blood follows.”
Silence crashed over the courtyard.
Even Selene looked shaken now.
I stared at the carved symbol, unease twisting violently inside me.
Blood follows.
Was this really connected to me?
Or was someone using the legend against me?
Suddenly, a cold breeze swept through the courtyard.
Every wolf stiffened instantly.
A powerful scent filled the air.
Not Moonstone.
Foreign Alpha.
Kael’s expression hardened immediately.
“Who’s there?”
Footsteps echoed beyond the gates.
Slow.
Confident.
Then a deep voice cut through the darkness.
“Well,” the stranger drawled calmly, “this pack is even messier than the rumors claimed.”
The guards immediately moved into defensive positions.
A tall man stepped through the gates wearing a long black coat drenched from the rain. His sharp golden eyes scanned the courtyard lazily before landing on me.
And stopping.
Something dangerous flickered across his face.
Recognition.
My wolf stirred violently inside me.
Not fear.
Awareness.
The stranger smiled faintly.
“There you are.”
Kael stepped forward coldly. “State your name and business.”
The man’s gaze never left mine.
“Alpha Darius Nightbane,” he answered smoothly. “And I’m here for the girl with the Crescent Mark.”
- Writer
