Guarding Maurine was always supposed to be my mission.
The moment I found out–accidentally, years ago that she was the key, the center of a prophecy so ancient even the Moon Priests dared not speak its name aloud–I made my choice. The wrong one. Or maybe the only one.
Pretending to be Rebecca’s knight had been a calculated move. A shield of deception. If anyone suspected I was getting close to Maurine for reasons beyond love or pack loyalty, they’d target her. And she couldn’t afford to be touched.
So I used Rebecca.
I told myself it was for the greater good. That my loyalty to Aethon, to the truth, was bigger than her. But there were nights when I caught her watching the moon in silence, scars fresh on her skin, and I felt like a traitor wearing my own skin.
Now? Maurine had what she always wanted–me at her side, no longer just a shadow behind her sister. I had been reassigned. Officially. My oath was hers now. Public. Permanent
I should have felt proud
Instead, I sat in the war room of the Aethon Pack estate, fingers curled tightly around the edge of the stone table, trying to quiet the riot in my chest.
“You don’t look happy.” Maurine said sweetly as she leaned against the table, draping her arms over am, I uttered. My voice didn’t tremble, but my heart did. “You also wanted to be my knight, right?” She grinned. “I know you want to be beside me, Lucas. No more wasting your time on Rebecca.”}
my shoulders like silk chains.
She smelled like roses dipped in venom. Sweet, enticing–and dangerous. The mark she gave me still bumed faintly on my neck. A sign of her claim. And I hadn’t resisted.
Because I couldn’t afford to. Maurine was the key. She had to be protected. That was the mission. My mission. And also because she was the she–wolf fated to be with me.
And yet…something inside me twisted every time she touched me.
Later that day, she ordered me to hunt. Not for food. Not for defense!!
No, she wanted a hybrid rabbit slave–a poor, half–blood creature she’d seen on the black market register and decided she “must have.” Her words, not mine.D
wasn’t
It went against everything libelieved in. The wolves of Silvana didn’t traffic in blood games like the Aethon Pack did. But Maurine w interested in principles, Only in possession
“I need him,” she said, curling her fingers around my wrist. “He’s cute. Obedient. You’ll do it for me, won’t you?”
I hesitated a second too long. Her smile faltered.
“I’ll get him,” I said, jaw tightening.
“Good boy “2
Those words shouldn’t have stirred shame in me. But they did.
I returned before nightfall, blood drying on my knuckles, with the hybrid safely bound and unconscious. I didn’t speak. I couldn’t look her in the eye when I handed him over to the handlers.
I didn’t sleep. That night, the wind howled across the Anthon cliffs, shaking my windows. I stood shirtless at the balcony, letting the cold tear through me, when I caught the faint shift of movement.
Then I heard him before I saw him.”
Bela Reid–my most loyal second–stepped out of the shadows like a ghost. His hood was up, moonlight brushing the scar over his left brow.
“Alpha, he murmured, “I went to Rebecca’s residence first. Thought you’d be there.”
I suffened:D
“Sho’s moved out,” I said curtly.!!
“Moved?” Reid narrowed his eyes. “Why?“!
“I don’t know.”
It was the truth. And I hated that I didn’t
There was no trace of her scent near the estate anymore. No signs of her at the training grounds. No whispers in the pack house halls. It was as if she’d vanished into thin air
I hadn’t noticed at first. I just thought she wanted to move to a different house. Too wrapped up in Maurine’s plans. Too focused on serving her, being the perfect knight.
But now that Reid brought it up–now that the name “Rebecca” cut through the walls I’d built–i realized the silence wasn’t just absence. It was wrong.!!
I turned away from Reid and faced the horizon, clenching the ralling until the metal groaned.
“Maybe she left for good,” I said, but my voice felt hollow. “Good riddance“}
Reid stayed silent. When he left, I shut the door behind him and sat in the darkness. Minutes passed. Then hours.
I tried calling her. The line didn’t even ring.
8-12 AM
was wrong
1 tumed away from Reid and faced the horizon, clenching the railing until the metal groaned.
“Maybe she left for good,” I said, but my voice felt hollow. “Good riddance.”
Reid stayed silent. When he left, I shut the door behind him and sat in the darkness. Minutes passed. Then hours.
I tried calling her. The line didn’t even ning.
Disconnected.
No message. No warning. No goodbye.”
The wolf inside me growled low.
It wasn’t just that she was gone. It was that she didn’t tell me.
After everything–after the punishments, the missions, the blood I’d spilled in silence–why did I care?
I sank into the chair, cradling my head in my hands. Maurine was the key. I reminded myself over and over.“!
She was the prophecy. The reason I’d taken this path. Everything I’ve done, every lie I’ve told–it was all for her protection. And yet, as the night dragged on, all I could think about was Rebecca.
Her eyes when I told her I needed space. The broken look she tried to hide. The blood on her hands when she walked away from the banquet.
And the silence she left behind.
I didn’t sleep that night either. By morning, the ache in my chest wasn’t just from guilt. It was from something worse.!!
A question I couldn’t afford to ask.!!
Where did you go, Rebecca?
And why does it feel like ! lost something I never deserved to begin with??
