KAEL POV
The war room door burst off its hinges.
I stood in the doorway, my chest bursting with rage. The wooden door lay in pieces at my feet, torn apart by my bare hands. Everyone inside the room froze.
"Where is he?" I growled, my voice so low it sounded like thunder.
Aria stood up from the planning table, her eyes wide. "Kael, what’s wrong?"
"Marcus," I snarled. "Where is that lying traitor?"
The quiet in the room was thick as ice. Elder Thorne stepped forward, his face pale.
"How did you find out?" he asked softly.
"I followed him," I said, my hands shaking with rage. "I’ve been watching him for weeks. Sothing felt wrong. Tonight, I saw him eting with Shadow Lord agents in the forest."
Lucien moved to stand beside Aria. "Are you sure it was Marcus?"
I laughed, but there was no fun in it. "Oh, I’m sure. I heard everything. He’s been selling us out for five years. Five years!"
My voice cracked on the last words. Marcus had been like a second father to . He’d taught how to fight, how to lead, how to be strong. And all this ti, he’d been stabbing us in the back.
"Kael," Aria said softly, "we need to think about this carefully—"
"Think?" I roared. "While he’s planning to kill us all tonight? They’re attacking at dawn, Aria. And Marcus is going to help them."
I turned to Elder Thorne. "You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you’ve been acting strange lately."
Elder Thorne nodded slowly. "I suspected. But I needed proof."
"Proof?" I felt my power slipping away like water through my fingers. "How much proof do you need? How many people have to die before you act?"
"Kael, calm down," Lucien said, but I could see the worry in his eyes.
"Don’t tell to calm down!" I shouted. "Do you know what this ans? Every job that went wrong, every ambush, every friend we lost—it was all because of him!"
Images flashed through my mind. Jake, who died in a Shadow Lord trap three months ago. Sarah, who was caught during a supply run. Tom, who bled out in my arms after we walked into a trap.
They were all dead because Marcus deceived us.
"Where is he now?" I asked.
"We don’t know," Elder Thorne said. "He left an hour ago. He said he needed air."
I spun around and headed for the door. "Then I’ll find him."
"Kael, wait!" Aria called after .
But I was already running down the hallway, my heart beating with rage and hurt. Marcus had to pay for what he’d done. He had to answer for all the blood on his hands.
I burst out of the building and into the night. The moon was full overhead, sending long shadows across the camp. I could sll Marcus’s scent trail leading toward the forest.
I followed it, my enhanced senses tracking him like a predator hunting food. My wolf was roaring inside , demanding justice. Demanding blood.
I found him in a field near the river. He was knelt beside the water, his shoulders shaking. At first, I thought he was crying. Then I saw the communication device in his hands.
"Talking to your masters?" I said, stepping into the clearing.
Marcus spun around, his eyes wide with shock. "Kael! I can explain—"
"Explain?" I laughed bitterly. "Explain how you’ve been killing our people for five years? Explain how you looked in the eye every day while planning to kill us?"
"It’s not what you think," Marcus said, standing up slowly. "They have Sarah. They’ve had her for five years. If I don’t do what they say—"
"Sarah is dead!" I roared. "She’s been dead since the day they took her! You’ve been cheating us for a ghost!"
Marcus’s face sagged. "No. They send pictures. Proof of life. She’s alive, Kael. I know she is."
"You know nothing!" I was shaking with rage now. "You’ve been living in a fantasy while real people died because of your choices!"
I started walking toward him, and Marcus took a step back.
"Kael, please," he said. "Let explain everything. There’s more you don’t understand."
"I understand enough," I said. "I understand that you’re a liar. I understand that people I loved are dead because of you."
"I never ant for anyone to die," Marcus said desperately. "I tried to give them information that wouldn’t hurt anyone. But they kept asking for more, and if I said no—"
"They’d kill Sarah," I finished. "So instead, you let them kill everyone else."
Marcus’s face went white. "It wasn’t supposed to be like this."
"But it was like this," I said, my voice deadly quiet. "Every choice you made, every secret you kept, every lie you told—it all led to this mont."
I was close enough to touch him now. Marcus looked older than I’d ever seen him, broken and beaten.
"I’m sorry," he whispered. "I’m so sorry, Kael."
"Sorry doesn’t bring back the dead," I said.
I reached out and grabbed him by the throat. Marcus didn’t fight back. He just looked at with sad, tired eyes.
"Do it," he said quietly. "End this. I’m tired of being afraid."
My fingers clenched around his neck. It would be so easy. One quick squeeze, and justice would be served. The traitor would be dead.
But then I heard sothing that made my blood freeze.
A slow clap echoed through the clearing.
"How touching," said a voice from the dark. "A reunion between father and son."
I spun around, still holding Marcus by the throat. A figure stepped out from behind the trees.
It was Rebecca, Marcus’s daughter. But her eyes were sparkling with a dark light I’d never seen before.
"Hello, Kael," she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. "Did you really think my father was the only traitor in your precious alliance?"
I felt Marcus go limp in my hands. "Rebecca," he whispered. "What have you done?"
"What I had to do," she said. "What you were too weak to do."
She held up a small gadget that was glowing with magical energy. "The ward system is already down. The Shadow Lords are moving into position. And in about thirty seconds, everyone you love is going to die."
My heart stopped. "The camp—" "Is about to beco a battlefield," Rebecca said. "And there’s nothing you can do to stop it."
In the distance, I heard the first blast.
Then the screaming started.
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