CHAPTER 18: TRAITORS
My father once warned me: the kindest eyes can still belong to a killer.
I never believed him—until they belonged to Kaya.
The chain bit into my neck, silver digging deep, hissing against my skin like acid. My wolf whimpered somewhere inside, retreating into shadow, too wounded to fight, too betrayed to speak.
“K—Kaya?” My voice cracked. It came out thinner than I wanted, a ghost of the Luna I used to be.
The figure in the dim light didn’t respond at first. She stepped forward, and the warmth I once saw in her eyes had long since turned to slate. The soft-spoken stranger who once fed me broth and whispered stories under the stars was gone.
In her place stood a traitor.
A stranger.
A hunter wearing a healer’s face.
“I’m sorry,” she said. But her voice was dry—r
