ChapterChapter8:Blood Beneath the mask
1297 Words
Back into the underground safehouse, The forgotten East Haven Sector.
The moonlight cast silver shadows across the stone floor of Elora’s private wing. The air hung heavy with heat, tension, strain, and uneasiness.
Alpha Teemark seems all-powerful, authoritative, domineering and very strong. He's blue eyes beaming with vengeance, rage , his wolf pacing back and forth.
He's not a weakling who would bow down to a woman simply because she was surrounded by allies who are her sworn loyal army. “ Her mate would have made her stronger and not a group of exiled wolves.” These last words echoed in her head, and a faint hope kindled in her heart. She let her human nature override the mighty potent power seated deep within her loins. The Reborn Luna. Teemark’s downfall.
Louis enters sensing the heaviness in her face. “ You have all it takes Luna, don't let those mere words scare you.” He says, advancing towards her like he's never done,like he was not supposed to.
Her breath hitched as Louis’s fingers trailed along her spine, lips ghosting kisses down her collarbone. His skin was fire—his mouth, sin.
She shouldn’t want this.
But gods help her, she did. She's imperfect.
Louis whispered against her neck, “You’ve been tense all day, Luna. Let me fix that.”
And he did—slowly, skillfully, like he knew every suppressed pain she refused to show the world. His hands worshipped her curves with reverence and hunger, while her body arched under his touch, drawn to the way he made her forget the war, the Council, the prophecy… and Teemark.
With Louis, there were no titles. No expectations.
Only escape.
They made love in the dark—fierce, breathless, tangled in sheets and silence.
When it was over, Elora lay on her side, watching him breathe.
Louis reached for her hand. “Whatever happens, just remember this... I never lied about how I feel.”
A warning, or a confession?
She didn’t ask.
She didn't care.
And maybe that was her first mistake.
Later that day
Noah and Josiah found a spy lurking around in the Underground; He was different; everyone there was rogue, frail and feral, but his eyes dimmed like gold. His body was adorned like one from the palace.
Josiah’s fist slammed into the spy’s jaw with a sickening crunch.
Blood dripped from the man’s mouth, but the bastard laughed.
“She’s already lost, you fool.”
Josiah growled, yanking the rogue shifter up by his collar. “Who is she working with? Who’s leaking details to Telemark?”
The prisoner spat blood. “One of yours. Close enough to touch her. Real close.”
Josiah’s eyes narrowed.
The spy smirked wider. “Name starts with an L, ends with ouis.”
Everything inside Josiah stilled.
The rage hit him a breath later.
Louis.
The smooth-talking, too-pretty-for-his-own-good bastard Elora had been letting into her private quarters. The one Josiah had never trusted.
He slammed the man against the wall one last time and turned to Noah. “Lock him down. If he twitches, end him.”
Elora stepped out of her bath, wrapped in a black silk robe, when Josiah stormed through the door.
“Josiah—” she started but stopped at the look on his face.
Wild.
Broken.
Betrayed.
“Where is he?” Josiah’s voice was raw with fury. “Where’s Louis?”
Elora blinked, caught between confusion and defensiveness. “He left an hour ago. What the hell is going on?”
Josiah moved toward her, fists clenched at his sides. “You’ve been sleeping with a spy.”
The words hit her like a slap.
She inhaled sharply. “What are you talking about?”
“I just got it out of a captured rogue. Louis has been feeding Teemark information. Pack rotations, Council meetings, even your goddamn training times.”
“No.” Her voice shook. “You’re wrong.”
“I wish I was.” Josiah’s voice cracked. “But I saw the reports. Teemark knew too much—things only someone close to you would know.”
Elora’s jaw trembled.
“He’s not who you think he is, Elora. You’ve let him in, and now he’s ripping us apart from the inside.”
She took a step back, shaking her head. “He wouldn’t. Louis wouldn’t…”
“You don’t know him!” Josiah shouted. “You think because he touches you sweetly and tells you you're beautiful, he’s not capable of betrayal? Elora, you’re the Luna. You don’t have the luxury of blind spots!”
She flinched like he’d struck her.
A long silence stretched between them.
Then she whispered, “And what? You’re saying I asked for this?”
“No.” Josiah’s voice softened painfully. “I’m saying I would never let anyone hurt you. But you need to stop choosing men who do.”
That did it.
Her grief turned sharp.
Her shame flared into anger.
“Don’t you dare lecture me about my choices when you’ve done nothing but growl from the shadows like a jealous wolf?”
“I am jealous,” Josiah snarled. “Because I’ve loved you since the moment you rose from death, and I’ve never touched you—not once—because I wanted to earn it. Because I respected you.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “You don’t know what I’ve been through—”
“I know you’ve been hurt. But Louis is a dagger you’re clutching to your chest and pretending it’s a cure.”
The silence between them was deafening.
Finally, Elora’s voice broke through, quiet and distant. “I need time.”
Josiah turned away before she could see his expression crumble. “I’m not waiting anymore.”
And then he was gone.
The park beneath East Haven was once a shifter training zone. Now, it stood abandoned—a skeleton of cracked concrete and rusted fences.
Louis was leaning against a lamppost when Josiah found him, the smell of blood and betrayal in the air.
“Didn’t expect you, Josiah,” Louis said casually, tossing a coin. “Thought you’d still be sulking at her feet.”
Josiah stepped into the clearing, eyes glowing gold. “Funny. I thought I’d find a man with a reason. Not a coward hiding behind pretty lies.”
Louis pushed off the post. “Is this about Elora? She’s not yours, you know.”
“No,” Josiah growled. “She’s not mine. But she sure as hell doesn’t belong to you either.”
And then he lunged.
They collided like wildfires—claws slashing, teeth bared. The impact shook the gravel beneath them. Louis was fast, but Josiah fought like a storm unleashed. There was no rhythm—only rage.
Louis ducked a blow and drove his elbow into Josiah’s ribs. “I didn’t mean to hurt her!”
Josiah slammed him into the chain-link fence. “But you did!”
Blood sprayed from Louis’s lip. “It was never supposed to go that far. I started for Teemark. I stayed for her.”
Josiah froze—just for a second.
Louis took the chance to tackle him, pinning him to the ground. “I fell for her. And I tried to stop. I swear, I tried.”
Josiah snarled and flipped them both, punching Louis hard across the face. “Then why did you keep lying?”
Louis coughed blood and whispered, “Because I didn’t think I deserved her truth.”
Footsteps echoed nearby.
Both men stilled.
Elora stood just beyond the circle of cracked concrete—eyes wide, heart pounding.
She looked at Josiah.
She looked at Louis.
Both were bloodied, panting, barely standing.
Her world tilted.
e Mask
- Writer
