Chapter 63: A Brother’s Betrayal
Chapter 63: A Brother’s Betrayal
(Celeste’s POV)
Luna Victoria approached Lucas, her trembling hands reaching out to her son. Her wolf’s
distress saturated the air, sharp and mournful, as if sensing an irreversible fracture.
“Lucas, please,” she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotions. “There
must be some mistake. Tell your sister the truth. Tell her this isn’t what it seems.”
Lucas remained silent, his golden eyes stubbornly fixed on the polished floor beneath his
boots. He didn’t utter a single word or show even a flicker of acknowledgment at his mother’s
desperation.
The silence stretched unbearably. Victoria’s tears gathered momentum, spilling down her pale cheeks as her mental conflict played out for everyone to witness.
“Say something!” she pleaded, shaking his shoulders gently. Her strength faltered beneath the
tidal wave of emotions. “You wouldn’t do something like this! Not to your own sister!”
I stood motionless, observing the scene with the cold detachment I’d honed over years of
suffering. My wrist burned with relentless pain from the wolfsbane scars, but I refused to let my discomfort show.
Scarlett took that moment, as always, to insert herself into the center of attention. Swooping
forward, she wrapped a protective arm around Victoria’s trembling figure. Her emerald eyes,
glistening with crocodile tears, were a meticulously crafted performance.
“Mother, please calm down,” Scarlett implored softly, the strategic tremors in her voice
designed to amplify her victimhood. “You’re upsetting yourself. Lucas would never hurt
anyone, let alone his own family. He loves our pack too much.”
My silver–scarred wolf snarled internally. Scarlett’s words felt like barbs digging into my frayed
nerves.
“Everything Lucas does is always for the pack,” Scarlett continued, her voice laced with forced sweetness. She glanced at me briefly before returning her focus to Victoria. “We should trust his decisions, no matter how they might seem at first.”
Her words worked like clockwork. They always did. Scarlett had mastered the art of soothing Victoria’s nerves while simultaneously painting herself in a saintly glow.
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Chapter 63: A Brother’s Betrayal
Lucas’s jaw clenched suddenly, just the faintest shift in his stony demeanor. The moment Scarlett defended him, something inside him cracked. His wolf bristled beneath his skin.
“Fine!” he growled, his voice cutting through the tension like a whip. Victoria flinched visibly at
his tone.
“You want the truth? Fine, here’s your truth!” he snarled, his golden eyes snapping up to meet
mine for the first time.
The room stilled as every wolf present held their breath. Even Scarlett, always poised, faltered
slightly, her hands unconsciously tightening around Victoria.
Lucas squared his shoulders even as frustration rippled through his wolf. “I arranged it,” he
admitted, unflinchingly. “Every single part of it.”
Victoria gasped sharply. The sound wrenched from her lips like it physically hurt her to
breathe. She staggered slightly, relying on Scarlett to steady her.
“You can’t mean that,” she whispered, her voice breaking as she searched his face desperately.
“Lucas, please tell me you didn’t…”
But Lucas ignored her. His focus now solely rested on me. And the venom in his gaze dared
me to challenge him.
“I intercepted Marcus’s mind–link,” he continued harshly. “I changed the meeting location.
Made sure my sister went to Silver Creek instead of the Northern tavern.”
My fingers itched to strike him again, but I held myself still. My wolf growled faintly in
agreement, clawing at the edges of my mind.
“And I hired the mercenaries,” Lucas confessed, delivering the statement like an unrepentant
warrior confessing a battlefield tactic. “Five moon–blessed crystals from the treasury–a small
price to pay to protect the pack’s interests.”
Victoria’s knees wobbled. Her hands flew to her mouth but couldn’t seem to conceal the
whimper that escaped. “Hired… mercenaries?” she repeated, voice visibly shaking. “You targeted your own sister? With wolves paid to harm her?”
“They weren’t supposed to harm her!” Lucas snapped, exasperation layering his voice. His wolf edged dangerously close to surfacing as his golden eyes blazed. “I specifically told them not
to! Whatever injuries she suffered, those are her doing, not mine!”
His gaze flicked downward for a brief moment, toward my wolfsbane–scarred wrists. A flicker
of guilt tried to surface before vanishing, smothered by his stubborn pride.
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Chapter 63: A Brother’s Betrayal
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“My reckless escape, you mean?” I asked icily, my tone sharper than silver. “You knew exactly what they were using to bind me, Lucas. Don’t act surprised now.”
Before he could respond, the chamber doors slammed open with brutal force, shaking in their hinges. Alpha James stormed into the room, his aura crashing over us like an unforgiving
wave.
Dominance radiated off him in suffocating pulses. Any weaker wolves present automatically dropped their eyes and shifted with unease, their wolves whimpering. Even Scarlett flinched and took a half–step backward, though her anchor–like grip kept Victoria upright.
But James had no patience for sympathy tonight. His golden eyes zeroed in on Lucas, narrowing with unbridled fury.
Without hesitation, he lunged.
The force of the Alpha–enhanced blow knocked Lucas clean off his feet. He hit the wall behind him with a sickening c***k, falling to the floor in a battered heap.
Scarlett screamed in practiced horror, rushing to shield Lucas with her body. Her trembling hands cupped his face protectively as fresh tears poured down her cheeks.
“Stop!” she cried, her wolf’s energy flaring uselessly against James’s crushing dominance.” Father, please! Have mercy! He’s your son!”
James’s wolf wasn’t interested in mercy. His golden eyes blazed with righteous indignation as he took a step closer to where Lucas sprawled. Every muscle in his body radiated barely–contained violence.
“Explain yourself now!” James roared, his voice shaking the very walls. The fury in his tone left every wolf in the room frozen, except Lucas.
Lucas straightened himself slowly, spitting blood from his split lip onto the chamber floor.
“I did it for her,” he said hoarsely, defiance hardening his features as he gestured weakly toward me.
The announcement hung thick in the air, shocking the room into silence. Even James momentarily froze, caught off guard by the audacity of the response.
“For her?” James growled darkly, his escalating anger threatening to boil over.
Lucas caught his breath briefly before speaking again, his voice steadier despite the blood still dripping from his mouth.
“All of you know about Marcus Blackwood’s past. The accidents. The disappearances. The
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Chapter 63: A Brother’s Betrayal
rumors about his previous mates who vanished without explanation,” Lucas snarled. His golden gaze swept around the room accusingly, challenging anyone to deny it.
His words planted unease in the chamber crowd. Whispers rippled quietly among the gathered council members. Even Scarlett hesitated, glancing nervously toward Victoria.
“He’s dangerous,” Lucas pressed on, his voice resonating with raw conviction. “Was I
supposed to just stand by and watch her walk into a murderer’s den? Because that’s what all
of you are asking me to do!”
My stomach turned slightly at the fervor in his tone. He wore his self–righteousness like armor, shamelessly twisting his despicable actions into acts of heroism.
“So you hired wolves to torture her instead?” James thundered, his dominant wolf radiating
waves of disgust. “What kind of twisted logic is that supposed to be, Lucas?”
Lucas didn’t flinch beneath his father’s fury. Instead, he leaned forward slightly, his wolf
bristling as he finally locked eyes with me.
“I was saving you,” he said, directing the words straight at me. “You have no idea what Marcus
is capable of. But trust me, I do.”
My voice came out low, sharp, and unwavering. “And that justified ancient wolfsbane
bindings? That justified nearly killing me?”
