CHAPTER 5

Lysander was before me, a ghost from a past life I had long forgotten. The last time I saw his smug smile, he had betrayed everything our pack stood for, and it wasn't enjoyable.

"What's wrong, Alpha?" Lysander drew back, advancing a step. "I think you've seen a ghost."

With my wolf growling just below the surface, I bared my teeth. "Why have you come here?"

"Me?" He cocked his head in jest. “Darius, this is the moment I've been waiting for. I'm waiting to remind you that you have blood on your hands.”

Next to me, Maya tensed up. It wasn't time to explain, but I could feel her eyes on me, asking questions.

I stepped ahead of her and hissed, "You're trespassing. And you understand the meaning of that."

"Oh, I do." Lysander grinned, but it stopped short of his eyes. “But, tonight, this isn't about pack rule or territory. It's about you. About finishing what, we started.

The memories clambered to the surface, uninvited and unrelenting.

There had been a time when Lysander and I were brothers by bond rather than blood. We trained together, grew up together, and fought alongside each other. He was my most trusted Beta and the person who supported me when I transitioned to Alpha.

Until the massacre.

"You betrayed us," I hissed in a low, menacing voice. “You chose to support the hunters. You slew your pack.”

For a brief while, Lysander's smile wavered as his eyes darkened. "Darius, do you tell yourself that? That I am the villain in your story?”

"You killed them," I spit out, straining my hands. You murdered her."

Maya's quick gasp was hardly noticeable. I was preoccupied with Lysander and the tsunami of feelings he evoked in me, including anger, remorse, and sadness.

Lysander's voice was soft yet piercing as he replied, She chose me, and you couldn’t handle it. So you destroyed everything.”

The tension in the air between us crackled. Although I could not look at Maya, I could sense her bewilderment and anxiety. Not now.

“What’s he talking about?” Maya's robust and demanding voice broke the cloud.

Just enough to look her in the eye, I turned slightly. "Not now."

She pushed her lips into a narrow line and looked at me. "I should know why he is here if you're the reason."

"Hear her out, Darius," Lysander mocked. "Her backbone is stronger than I expected."

"Shut up," I said, my tolerance ebbing.

But Lysander wasn't done. His eyes were shining with ill intent as he took a step closer. “Alpha, is she aware? Does she have any idea what became of the last lady that trusted you?”

“Don't.” With my voice shaking from trying to contain myself, I cautioned.

"Oh," Lysander added coldly, "I think she should hear it. After all, you don't see an Alpha who killed his mate very often."

The world shook for a second as the words struck like a blow.

With a gasp, Maya retreated as though I had hit her. “What is he talking about?”

"It's not what you think," I blurted out, but I could tell by the expression on her face that she wasn't persuaded.

Her voice trembling, she urged, "Then explain it."

Lysander interrupted with false sympathy. "There's nothing to explain." He said. "He killed her, Just like he failed her, he will fail you.”

"That's enough!" I let out a roar as my wolf charged ahead.

In an instant, my claws were sinking into Lysander's throat and pinning him to the ground. Even though blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth, his smirk remained constant.

"You can murder me, Darius," he snarled. "But the truth won't be erased."

The truth.

It was a cruel, twisted thing, tangled in the ashes of my past.

Her name was Alina; she was everything I wasn't: kind, compassionate, and optimistic. She believed me even when I didn't think highly of myself. And I let her down.

My voice was hardly audible above a whisper as I stated, "She wasn't supposed to be there."

With an unreadable face, Maya gazed at me. "What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath, the memories cutting like a knife. The hunters came for me. She was caught in the crossfire.”

Lysander laughed ominously, his voice straining under my hold. “That's the sanitized form. Share the rest with her.”

"Shut up," I snarled, but the harm was already done.

"Explain to her how you chose power over her," Lysander snarled. "How you could not give up your valuable title and allowed the hunters to take her."

Suddenly, with shaking hands, I let him go. For the first time in years, I felt vulnerable as the weight of his words hung in the air.

"It's untrue," I remarked, glancing at Maya. "He is distorting it."

She looked into my eyes, and I could feel the struggle inside her. "I wish I believed you," she said. “But because you won't give me the complete story, how can I?”

The night was broken by a shrill cry before I could respond.

Lysander wiped the blood off his neck and smiled. “That will be my cue."

"What have you done?" I demanded, but he was already slipping back into the darkness.

"Take this as a warning, Alpha, over his shoulder, he called. “Your past is catching up with you and will not be pleasant."

I looked at Maya as the wail reverberated louder than before.

“Go back to the packhouse,” I ordered.

Uncertainty clouded her gaze as she hesitated. "Darius—"

"Now!"

Despite flinching, she complied and vanished into the trees.

My wolf snarled as I focused on the shadowy forest. Whatever Lysander had in store it wasn't over

I would not allow anyone else to bear the consequences this time.