Chapter 165: Blood in the Dark Forest
Chapter 165: Blood in the Dark Forest
(Celeste’s POV)
Time seemed to freeze as Jack Thompson’s silver dagger plunged into Marcus’s chest.
Marcus’s violet eyes widened in sheer disbelief, his royal blood spilling out and staining the
soil beneath him. His hands reflexively grabbed Jack’s wrist, trying to stop him from pulling
the dagger further into his chest. Stripped of his dominance, he looked desperate, pitiful,
vulnerable.
“Why?” Marcus gasped, his voice trembling. His royal arrogance was gone, replaced by the raw terror of someone staring into the jaws of death.
Jack’s bitter smile deepened. His eyes, once lifeless and calculated, were now filled with
unfiltered rage and pain. “You don’t remember her, do you?” Jack said, his voice trembling. He
pressed the dagger harder, twisting it viciously. “Sarah. My sister.”
“Sarah?” Marcus’s expression contorted into confusion. He blinked, searching his blurry
memory, desperately trying to match the name with a face. There was no recognition-
nothing.
Jack’s wolf surged forward, snarling, unable to hold back its fury. His voice broke as the
emotions bled into his words. “My sister, Sarah Thompson! Your victim. Three years ago, she
died chained in your torture den!”
Marcus’s lips parted, but no words came out. His face twisted more in confusion than guilt.
Panic began to override his every thought. His hands trembled as he weakly gripped Jack’s
wrist.
Jack’s nostrils flared. His bitterness boiled over as a feral snarl escaped him, his voice rising
with each word. “You didn’t even know her name, did you? She was nothing to you. Just
another one of your toys to break for fun, wasn’t she?”
There was nothing but a faint gurgle from Marcus. His lips moved slightly, but no coherent response formed. Blood dripped steadily from the corners of his mouth, a physical sign that
the silver blade was working its deadly magic.
“She was seventeen!” Jack shouted. His loud, trembling voice filled the silent forest. “She
wasn’t even fully shifted yet! She had her whole life ahead of her, and you took it. You took her!
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Chapter 165: Blood in the Dark F…
Marcus coughed, forcing more blood to spill down his robes. His face had grown pale. The
once–brilliant violet in his eyes began to dim. He tried to speak again, but his voice was barely audible, nothing more than a broken whisper. “I… I don’t… remember…”
“Of course, you don’t!” Jack spat the words like venom. His voice turned sharp, filled with the
hatred of years spent grieving for his lost sibling. “To you, she was just one in a long line of
broken wolves. You probably didn’t even notice her dying. But she mattered to me. She was
my family!”
The tension in the air grew suffocating. Jack’s hand tightened around the hilt of the dagger,
his knuckles turning white. He let out another furious snarl, and with a single, savage thrust,
he buried the blade deeper into Marcus’s chest.
Marcus screamed, or at least tried to, but his voice was weak, nothing more than a strangled
cry. The silver’s poison spread rapidly now, causing his veins to pulse with an unnatural gray
hue. His royal wolf’s aura began to flicker, its strength waning.
My body snapped into motion, breaking through the fog of shock and disbelief that had frozen me moments before. I couldn’t let this happen–not like this.
“Stop!” I shouted, scrambling forward and shoving Jack away from Marcus. My hands gripped Jack’s arm tightly, forcing him back several steps. My voice was sharp, desperate. “Jack, stop
it now!”
Jack’s eyes burned with fury as he glared at me. His wolf was trembling with anger, fighting
against his restraint.
Marcus collapsed to the ground, his back hitting the forest floor with a dull thud. Blood seeped out from his wound in ominous rivulets, soaking his once–pristine clothing. The silver dagger remained embedded in his chest, a grotesque reminder of his twisted actions catching up to
him.
Even as his aura dimmed, I found myself dropping to my knees beside him. My trembling hands moved to the wound, futilely trying to stop the relentless flow of blood.
“Hold on!” I demanded, pressing down harder. “You’re not dying here! Not like this!”
Marcus’s violet eyes, dulled and hazy, shifted to meet mine. Blood smeared on his lips as he forced them to part, his voice reduced to a faint wheeze. “Celeste…” he murmured. His gaze softened bizarrely, a flicker of something almost… human.
I bit back bile, anger, and fear all at once. A suffocating weight pressed down on my chest as silvery scars along my arms began to throb painfully–a reminder of everything this man had
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Chapter 165: Blood in the Dark F…
done to me. I should hate him. I should let him bleed out here and now.
But I couldn’t.
If Marcus–the Alpha King’s nephew–died now, the consequences would rain down on me and the Winter Pack in full force. They’d call me a traitor. They’d brand me a murderer. I’d lose any chance to reclaim even a fragment of stability.
Marcus’s trembling hand ghosted over mine. Blood covered his fingers. “I’m… sorry,” he choked out.
I froze, staring down at him. His faint breath brushed against my wrist as his lips continued to move. Was this apology for his torturous cruelty? Or for failing to mark me as his mate before his downfall?
His bloodied hand fell limply to the forest floor. His royal wolf aura dimmed completely, extinguished like a dying ember.
I tightened my jaw, blinking moisture away from my eyes. Now wasn’t the time to c***k. Whatever our history had been, Marcus Blackwood was gone, and I had to figure out my next move fast.
The small clearing became eerily quiet again. Even the wind was still, as if the forest paid tribute to the blood spilled here tonight.
Jack knelt beside me again, pulling the dagger from Marcus’s lifeless chest with calculated precision. The sound of steel scraping against bone was sickening.
He held the weapon out to me, his eyes reflecting neither apology nor satisfaction, but something far darker: closure. “Take it,” he said, his voice quiet. “I don’t want anyone suspecting you.”
I stared at the glistening dagger. Even now, its silver blade gleamed under the faint moonlight, slick with the evidence of Marcus’s death.
“No,” I said softly. My hands felt too heavy to reach for the weapon. My wolf curled inward, refusing to touch anything tied to tonight’s events.
Jack’s brows furrowed. For a moment, I could see the doubt creeping into his expression. ” Celeste…”
“Go,” I cut him off, my voice firm. I rose from Marcus’s side, staring down at the pale and lifeless form of the wolf who had once terrorized me. “The rogues attacked us. That’s the story.”
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Chapter 165: Blood in the Dark F…
“And me?” Jack’s wolf faltered, his tone unsure for the first time.
I glanced at him. The anger and vengeance that had driven him to this moment had vanished now, leaving behind only the guilt of what he’d done. “You pursued them. You didn’t return,” I
answered.
Jack’s shoulders sagged, understanding the implication. He lowered himself into a formal bow, his expression grim. “Thank you. For her.”
With that, he turned and disappeared into the shadows of the Dark Forest.
I didn’t watch him leave. My focus was still on the aftermath of what had just unfolded. Marcus’s body lay still at my feet, his blood no longer spilling, the dagger wound a permanent
reminder of this night.
I took a deep breath, still trembling. The weight of his death hung heavy over me. The fear I’d carried of him for so long was erased, but in its place, a darker storm brewed. What came next
would be far worse.
Without Marcus’s manipulation and royal protection, I was vulnerable. Scarlett’s schemes, Victoria’s guilt–laden favoritism, and even the Winter Pack’s political machinations–all of
them could bear down on me mercilessly now.
I turned my back to the body and began walking, each step heavier than the last. My silver–scarred wolf whimpered softly.
The Dark Forest fell silent once more, holding within its shadows yet another bloody secret. Marcus Blackwood, nephew of the Alpha King, was dead–and with him, perhaps my last fragile defense against the cruelties of this world.
