Chapter 16: The Traitor's Toll

Valerius’s POV

Returning to the master quarters, my mind was entirely consumed by a storm of hyper-vivid, frantic flashbacks of the volatile sequence we had just shared against the timber door.

The absolute reality of it left my senses profoundly shocked: she had actively kissed me back.

I harbored zero surprise regarding the sudden, unscripted nature of my own advance—my beast simply required the absolute, unyielding validation of her touch to keep the darkness at bay. I had missed her presence with a violent longing.

Yet, the mechanisms of her surrender remained entirely confusing; a cynical part of my spirit had concluded she preferred isolation over my shadow, but the fire of her embrace proved my calculations entirely wrong.

I marched back into the private study to realign our strategic defense grid with Gideon.

Having navigated the inner machinations of Malakor’s vanguard for seven long years, the Beta possessed an exhaustive understanding of their operational maneuvers and tactical flaws.

To speak with absolute frankness, the Dark Moon strategy was remarkably lousy for a ruling lineage—a direct testament to their leader's blind arrogance.

"Our timeline establishes exactly twenty-one days before their front lines breach our eastern ridge," I murmured, my eyes pinned to the topographical maps. "That allocation grants our trackers sufficient window to master our defense parameters. But a critical discrepancy remains... how will your presence operate when Malakor demands a physical sit-rep from his Beta?"

Gideon shifted his weight against the mahogany paneling, his features flat. "The Alpha operates under the assumption that my text has gone rogue. That is the exact administrative cover story my hands delivered before I tracked Aurelia’s scent."

Aurelia snapped her chin up, a volatile, freezing glare cutting across the space toward his position. "What possessed your rational mind to execute such an idiotic maneuver?" she snarled, her voice dropping into a dangerous, predatory register. "Your title was positioned as our primary inside asset—the shadow meant to map his exact movements! How in the hell is our vanguard supposed to retain the superior upper hand now?!"

Gideon simply turned his head, a slow, highly amused smirk gracing his lips as he evaluated her fiery stance. "That display of temper was remarkably endearing, little bird," he murmured dryly, a low chuckle escaping his chest as he pulled up a sleek digital interface. "But your anxiety lacks utility. I systematically bugged the absolute core of the Dark Moon pack house—Malakor’s private study, the grand assembly hall, the quarters of his newly appointed handlers, and the perimeter training fields."

He activated the audio stream, and Malakor’s harsh, grating voice instantly flooded the room, outlining his tactical sequence. I let out a low, dangerous growl at Gideon’s choice of endearment toward my mate; my beast is an exceptionally possessive, jealous creature by nature.

“The Shadow Moon vanguard will never anticipate a multi-layered offensive,”

Malakor’s voice rasped through the speaker.

“Consequently, our forces will advance in separate, structured divisions. My elite executioners will split the vanguard, seizing absolute control of the northern and southern ridges while the rogue legions dismantle the remaining territories. The dark witch covens will anchor our rear lines behind the dense timber—invisible to the naked eye unless a soldier registers the exact coordinates.

Beta Max... your solitary mission is to secure the asset. I possess iron-clad intelligence verifying her presence within Black's walls. My inside handler—Lysandra—has provided an exhaustive map of their internal defensive maneuvers. Furthermore, that treacherous snake, Gideon, has been executing a covert counter-operation with their crown. I will reclaim my fated plaything, and I intend to inflict such a monumental level of agony upon her flesh that her soul will beg my blades for a swift extraction.”

The transmission cut out. Aurelia stood frozen for a fraction of a second before a cataclysmic wave of raw, primitive fury erupted from her posture. She surged to her feet so violently I was surprised a wave of dizziness didn't compromise her balance.

"I will personally extinguish her flame," she spat venomously.

She hurled her weight against the heavy oak door, ripping it open with such a frantic, unyielding force that the timber groaned as the hinges fractured completely. I watched her shadow vanish down the corridor.

This display is going to be thoroughly entertaining,

Owen whispered.

Aurelia’s POV

The exact second Malakor’s recorded voice identified Lysandra as the parasitic traitor inside our walls, an absolute, blinding red haze consumed my sanity.

I stormed through the grand corridors of the estate house, every molecule of my blood boiling with a ravenous desire for execution.

I yearned to witness the light of arrogance slowly drain from her eyes; I demanded to watch her pristine flesh bleed until her final breath evaporated into the wind.

I swept into the grand pavilion, and my sapphire eyes locked onto her silhouette instantly. I closed the distance at an ungodly velocity, driving a brutal, sweeping slap across her classical features before she could even register my scent.

"You absolute, parasitic bitch!" I snarled, driving my weight forward to shove her structure violently against the stone pillar. "You bartered the sacred safety of your own Alpha to a monster!"

Before her handlers could intervene, I captured her throat in a vice-like grip, driving her skull down into the polished marble floor with a sickening impact. She shrieked in sudden panic, her manicured fingers clawing frantically at the air as she attempted to scramble back onto her feet. I ruthlessly straddled her midsection, anchoring her frame to the floorboards as I repeatedly drove my balled fists straight into her cosmetically altered face.

Her desperate wails for assistance echoed off the walls, but the sound only stoked the volatile fire in my chest. I extracted my sharp claws, dragging the jagged talons fiercely across her chest cavity, yearning to see her traitorous blood paint the marble.

She shrieked in agonized torment as ribbons of ruined flesh separated beneath my fingers. I leaned down, my lips brushing the edge of her ear as I whispered a cold, lethal sentence into her fading focus.

"I am going to end your pathetic existence, you traitorous piece of refuse," I hissed.

I raised my claws to execute the terminal strike, but Lysandra deployed a desperate, unscripted counter, driving her heel into my lower torso with enough force to compromise my balance. I stumbled backward a fraction of an inch, and she used the window to slash wildly at my arm, her talons leaving a deep, bleeding laceration across my forearm.

I let out a dark, unhinged laugh at the flash of physical pain. My system required the familiarity of agony to lock my focus into a lethal clarity.

Lunging forward, I delivered an explosive headbutt straight to the center of her face, satisfyingly shattering what remained of her broken nose.

She screamed in absolute torment as I locked my fingers into her platinum-blonde spirals, callously dragging her bleeding body out through the rear exit into the main training courtyard.

Within seconds, a massive, rowdy crowd of vanguard warriors and estate staff formed a dense perimeter around our position, a barrage of fierce shouts and bloodthirsty cheers erupting across the yard.

"Articulate the exact reasons your hands bartered my fated mate’s kingdom to Malakor, and I will permit your flame to survive this hour," I growled lowly, my voice vibrating with an absolute Alpha-level dominance.

"Fine! Stop! I will speak!" she wailed hysterically, her eyes wild with terror as she clutched her shattered face. "I wanted Valerius’s crown for my own lineage! His bloodline belongs to my fated position, while that monstrous Alpha, Malakor, is the solitary master of YOUR flesh! You ruthlessly stole the sovereign who belonged to my future, you broken bitch! I love Valerius, and his beast harbors an absolute devotion for ME! Why else would his lips have passionately kissed my mouth back in the clearing?!"

The translation of her words hit my chest like a catastrophic tidal wave, causing my heart to plummet into a hollow, freezing void. A sudden, suffocating prickle of tears threatened to blind my vision, but I ruthlessly drove the vulnerability back into the dark. I remained an unyielding pillar.

Moving with instantaneous, lethal precision, I plunged my extended claws directly into the center of her neck, twisting my fingers through the muscle. Her emerald eyes widened in absolute, paralyzed shock.

"Y... you... swore... my flame would... l... live," she spluttered through a torrent of crimson.

I ruthlessly ripped my hand free from her throat, tearing her windpipe completely out of her neck with an absolute, satisfying crunch. Her lifeless body dropped heavily into the dirt, rolling into a limp silhouette. I stared down at her corpse, a dark, sadistic smile touching my red lips.

"I lied. Rot in the deepest fires of hell, traitor," I spat venomously.

I turned away from the clearing, navigating the path back toward Valerius’s shadow, my sapphire eyes glazed with a profound, breaking hurt.

You passionately kissed her lips,

a silent, shattering accusation whispered behind my eyes.

"Aurelia, look at my face—no! She forced that connection upon my frame!" Valerius rushed out, his voice thick with a desperate anxiety as he tracked my approach. "I was caught entirely off guard by the ambush, and I admit my beast failed to push her structure away within the first micro-second. But I ruthlessly cast her off! You have to believe me!"

I permitted the heavy tears to finally spill over my lashes, leveling a burning, catastrophic anger directly at his handsome features.

My lips pressed into a rigid line before I wound up and drove an explosive punch straight into his jaw... with every ounce of my supernatural strength.

Turning on my heel, I sprinted up the grand staircase to my quarters, slamming the oak door shut and sliding the iron bolt into place. I locked myself securely inside the marble bathroom, collapsing onto the freezing tile floor as a violent, suffocating fit of ragged sobs completely dismantled my spirit.

Approximately three hours later, Valerius’s heavy boots hit the corridor landing. He began a frantic, thunderous pounding against the timber door, his deep baritone projecting a desperate threat to ruthlessly tear the structure down from its hinges if I refused to disengage the lock.

"If your hands fracture a single splinter of this door, Valerius, my feet will cross past your borders a secondary time—and I swear by the Moon Goddess, your trackers will never unearth my sanctuary again!" I screamed back, my voice raw.

The threat successfully broken his resolve. He ceased the violence, eventually leaving a heavy silver platter of rations resting outside the threshold.

Once his scent had completely cleared from the immediate hallway, I quietly slid the bolt back, dragging the food into my isolation.

He had permitted another female to touch his flesh after promising my soul an absolute eternity of protection. The fracture was absolute.