Chapter Fifty-Eight: Shadows and CodesZane POV: I was pacing my office like a caged animal, frustration boiling within me like a tempest. The screens on my wall, usually a source of pride with their streams of financial data and pack communications, were now taunting me, displaying incomprehensible numbers and transactions that made no sense."Dammit!" I slammed my fist onto the desk, the impact sending a shiver through the wood, mirroring the storm inside me. "Who the fuck is behind this?"Axel and Damon were on the speakerphone, their voices blending into the chaotic symphony of my fury. I could barely distinguish between their reports, each word another drop in the flood of bad news washing over me."...and then there's the shipment that never arrived," Axel was saying, his voice strained with the same frustration I felt."And the energy grid disruptions are no coincidence," Damon added, his tone grim but laced so much fucking fury the person on the other end of the phone would d
Chapter Fifty-Nine: Fractured SilenceDamon POV:The world had tilted off its axis, the ground beneath my feet no longer solid, the air thick with a tension so sharp it could slice through bone. The news had hit us like a freight train, unyielding and merciless—Phera was missing. My Luna, the love of my life was missing. My mind, a swirling vortex of fear and rage, refused to settle, the pieces of the puzzle scattering just out of reach. Where the fuck did she go? And why the fuck didn’t she say anything to us? Just when we thought things were getting better and maybe just maybe she was ready to solidify the bond she went and did this. Fuck, when I get my hands on the little hellion her ass is going to black and blue. I felt it, the boiling blood, the simmering fury shared between my brothers and me, a silent storm raging within our veins. We had been trying, desperately, to link her, to breach the void that separated us from her, but she was out of range, beyond our call, a fact th
Chapter Sixty: Echoes of CaptivityPhera POV:Consciousness greets me not as a friend, but as an adversary, dragging me back to a reality I'm not ready to face. Disorientation is the first sensation that washes over me, followed closely by a dull, pervasive ache centred around a burning on my neck. It's a cruel reminder of the last moments before darkness claimed me: the ambush, the struggle, and the sharp, unexpected pain of acid. Crap! Even thinking about it wants me to curl in a corner and hide. Blinking against the dim lighting, I take in my surroundings with a growing sense of dread. The world has shrunk to the confines of a cold, merciless cage, its bars as unyielding as the reality I'm forced to confront. Fuck! How’d I get here and by who? This isn't just a physical trap; it's a mental one, designed to break spirits as much as bodies.Outside my prison, the room stretches, shadows clinging to its corners like spectres. There's nothing familiar about this place, nothing comfort
Chapter Sixty-One: Betrayal Silence Phera POV:The metallic tang of the cage seems to seep into my bones, each attempt to reach my wolf thwarted by the lingering poison of wolfsbane in my veins. Fuck! I’m supposed to be a strong warrior. I'm trapped, not just within these iron bars but within my own body, a prisoner twice over. The frustration is a living thing, clawing at my insides, a constant reminder of my vulnerability.I've always believed in the strength of my wolf, in the unbreakable bond that ties me to my pack, to the triplets. But now, isolated and weakened, doubts begin to cloud my mind, whispers of fear that I struggle to silence. It's in this moment of despair that the door creaks open, heralding the entrance of a figure I never expected to see here.Josh.He steps into the dim light, his features shadowed, yet unmistakably his. But the man I see before me is a far cry from the friend I once knew, the person I trusted. His face is a mask of indifference, his eyes devoid
Chapter Sixty-Two: Tangled FuryDamon POV:The atmosphere in my study is charged, like the air before a storm, heavy with unsaid curses and the weight of our silent rage. Two days. Two goddamn fucking days since Phera vanished, and here we are, powerless, furious, and frayed at the edges.Axel paces like a caged beast, his usual calm nowhere in sight. "This is bullshit," he spits out, the words sharp, a raw edge to his usually controlled tone. "She's out there, and we're stuck in this damn loop of helplessness!"Zane's at the window, staring into the distance, his quiet more unnerving than any string of curses. When he turns, the storm in his eyes is enough to make me tighten my grip on the chair."We’re not just sitting ducks," he growls, "We’ll tear this world apart brick by brick if we have to."I can't sit still; the energy in the room is a living thing, feeding off our shared frustration. "And as if Phera’s disappearance wasn’t enough," I add, slamming a fist down on the table,
Chapter Sixty-Three: A Sudden Shadow Damon POV: The road stretches before us, endless and winding, a ribbon cutting through the darkening landscape as we head back to Red Moon. The Alpha King’s proposal still hangs in the air, thick like the storm clouds gathering above. None of us are keen on the idea of bargaining with futures not ours to trade, yet the offer clings to our thoughts, an uninvited specter at the back of our minds. "We can't seriously be considering this," Axel breaks the silence, his voice tight with tension. He's driving, hands gripping the steering wheel like he might tear it from the dashboard.Zane, sitting shotgun, rubs his forehead, looking out the window at the passing trees. "It’s not about considering. It’s about leveraging. We don’t have to decide anything now. But it gives us an angle, something to hold onto if things get worse." I'm in the back with Adam, who's been unusually quiet since we left the palace. "It feels like a damn shackle," I mutter,
Chapter Sixty-Four: EndurancePhera POV:The room is cold and dim, the only light a sliver that slips through a crack above me. I hang from the ceiling, suspended by ropes soaked in wolfsbane, each thread seeping its venom into my skin, burning every inch they touch. My feet barely graze the damp floor, my body strained and suspended in a cruel parody of flight. Every moment is a battle against the pain that tracks my body. I’ve endured beatings that left me gasping for breath, each blow a stark reminder of my helplessness in this dark place. I’m sure I have a couple of broken ribs and because of the fucking wolfbane in my system I’m not healing as quick. I may as well be human at this point. The bruises on my skin are a spectrum of pain, blooming in purples and blacks, a visible testament to the cruelty I’ve faced.Above my heart, a reminder of how close I’ve come to death—a steel rod impaled just centimetres from my vital artery, left there by my captors as a brutal warning of my p
Chapter Sixty-Five: Depths of DespairPhera POV:Author note: Detailed abuse(physical) ahead. Skip in any triggers for physical abuse trauma present. The damp, oppressive air of the cell clings to my skin as Rex steps into the dim light, his dark eyes gleaming with a cruelty that chills me to the bone. Each of his visits marks a descent further into the depths of torment, a relentless exploration of pain that he orchestrates with a cold, methodical precision. I have lost count of the days I’ve been here. "Good day, Luna," Rex greets mockingly, drawing out my title as if it’s a delicious morsel on his tongue. His footsteps echo on the stone floor, slow and deliberate, as he approaches with an unhurried confidence. The room feels smaller with each step he takes towards me.Today, his tools of torture are already prepared, laid out on a grimy table nearby—sharp implements that glint ominously under the flickering light of the single bulb above us. He picks up a thin, metal rod, turnin