Rex
The very moment the oath was broken, it echoed inside my chest. I felt it clearly. A strange tightening squeezed around my heart while something deeper hummed through my very core, as if the Moon itself had whispered the truth directly into my blood.
Women really can't keep a secret.
The thought came and went just as quickly. I didn't dwell on it. We were already preparing to leave anyway. A more secure place had been mapped out by the Luna after the death of our pack's Alpha, and the entire village had been in motion since dawn—packing, preparing, and readying the horses for the long journey.
Still, a faint nudge settled in my gut, urging me to mention the broken oath to the pack.
I ignored it.
Perhaps it was because I had felt the same pull Axel and Thor had felt toward that woman—if not stronger. She had been beautiful. Her long black hair had fallen down her back like midnight silk, and her blue eyes had seemed to reach straight into a man's soul and hold it captive.
The thought that she belonged to me now that the oath was broken pleased me more than it should have.
My lips pulled back in a small grin as I hoisted another sack of dried meat onto one of the saddled horses waiting near the wooden stockade that surrounded our settlement.
"What is this? Rex? Smiling?"
Axel's voice broke through my thoughts as he stepped closer and bumped his shoulder against mine. Amusement gleamed in his eyes.
"Why?" he asked directly.
Thor looked up as well from where he crouched beside one of the horses, inspecting its hooves and tightening the leather straps that protected its feet for long travel.
I slowly shook my head, already letting the grin fade from my face and replacing it with the cold mask I normally wore.
But Axel wasn't about to let it go.
Suspicion flickered in his gaze as he stepped forward and blocked my path entirely. His stance hardened, his boots planted firmly in the dirt courtyard as if daring me to try pushing past him.
"We don't have time for your games, Axel," I growled under my breath.
All three of us shared the same father—the Alpha who had ruled this pack until his death—but our mothers were different. My mother had been the Luna, his true mate. Axel and Thor had been born from his mistresses.
That alone should have made things simple.
But it never did.
Their auras were as strong as mine, their wolves nearly as powerful. Both of them carried the potential to become Alphas themselves.
"Move," I barked.
Axel didn't so much as flinch. Instead, he shrugged lazily, letting his long red hair spill over his shoulders while that infuriatingly charming smile spread across his face.
"Spit it out, Rex. Then you can go back to your brooding ways."
I frowned, already feeling my resistance weakening. Axel had always had that effect on people. He could pry words out of anyone if he tried hard enough.
It was irritating.
Especially since he constantly went out of his way to assure me he had no interest in challenging my claim as Alpha.
"You might as well say it," Thor sighed from the ground, sounding utterly bored as he continued tending to the horses' hooves.
But the slight tilt of his head made it obvious that he was listening carefully.
"Remind me never to smile again," I muttered with a sigh.
Then I spoke.
"The oath," I said slowly. "I just felt it break."
Silence fell instantly.
Both of them stared at me, their expressions shifting in different ways as they processed my words.
"We're already leaving," I added coldly. "She probably just told a friend."
Usually, that tone was enough to discourage questions. Not with Axel. He slowly shook his head, his eyes narrowing.
"You can control her," he said.
For the first time, there was a spark of heat in his gaze. I nodded. That much was true.
But Thor took the conversation in an entirely different direction.
"We should inform the Luna and leave immediately," he said from where he sat.
His deep, calculating eyes lifted toward us. Then he pushed himself to his feet.
"It's too soon," he continued, his voice tightening. "I expected her to break the oath eventually, but not this soon."
He turned and started toward the Luna's longhouse.
"Thor," I called sharply.
He didn't stop.
"You think the Moonburn pack is already on our trail?" I said. "That's unlikely. We erased our scents completely."
If he told the Luna now, everything would be rushed. We wouldn't finish packing our supplies, and we wouldn't be able to return once we left.
Without enough resources, people would starve on the journey.
"Think," I pressed. "By sundown we'll be finished packing and already on the road." Thor shook his head.
"It's better to be cautious."
He glanced at Axel.
"I'm sending some people ahead."
I stopped myself from baring my teeth. I wasn't Alpha yet, but there had been no deference in his voice.
Axel slowly nodded.
"I don't think they'll find us so quickly either," he said. "But it's better to be cautious."
Then both of them dashed toward the Luna's house—the most solid structure in the village, built of thick timber and stone instead of simple logs and hide.
Mother was not pleased by what they told her.
Within moments she stepped outside, already shouting orders.
People were hurried onto horses immediately—especially the youngest among us. The women gathered children and climbed onto the animals waiting in the courtyard.
Mother stood tall at the center of it all, wearing a white gown that barely concealed her figure. No one paid it any mind. Clothing among our kind existed only until transformation shredded it apart.
"The youngest and the women will go first!" she announced in a voice that carried across the entire settlement.
"They are the lifeblood of the pack!"
"Others will follow when the path is safe. The men will carry the rest."
Her voice was strong.
But I still heard the thin thread of concern beneath it. I wasn't worried.
The woman we had met had not felt like a traitor. Perhaps it had been the oath, or something deeper than that.
But I was convinced she would rather die than reveal our location.
Mother fell quiet again as people mounted their horses.
Thor stripped off his shirt as he moved to the front of the small group, his bronzed skin catching the morning sunlight. Once he reached the forest he would shift into his wolf form and guide them through the wilderness faster than any horse could travel.
They departed moments later.
The rest of us worked faster after that. Urgency filled the air like a tightening storm.
I turned to Axel.
"Do you really think she would betray us?" I asked quietly. "You felt the same thing I did."
I licked my lips, aware that whatever strange pull existed between us could only fully manifest once she reached moon age and became an adult.
Axel looked confused.
"I do not think—"
He gasped.
A strangled moan tore from his throat as his eyes dropped to his chest.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs.
Then everything went silent.
I stared at the silver arrowhead protruding from his chest—two fingers from where his heart should have been.
"INTRUDERS!" I roared.
My voice tore through the village louder than I thought my throat capable of.
My eyes scanned the clearing just as riders burst through the outer paths. Men leapt from their horses mid-stride, their bodies twisting violently as bones snapped and shifted.
Then they became wolves.
Huge wolves.
Far larger than normal.
The moonburn pack?
I snapped the arrowhead off and yanked the shaft from Axel's chest, giving his body a chance to heal. Then I slung him over my shoulder as chaos exploded around us.
My eyes searched desperately for my mother. Relief surged when I saw her burst from the longhouse.
She shifted instantly. Her white wolf landed in the dirt with a heavy thud before sprinting toward me. Around us the air filled with blood. Men fought and died. Necks were torn open. Bodies were crushed beneath powerful jaws.
It was a massacre.
I dragged Axel toward the forest, my gaze locked on Mother as she began moving toward me in her wolf form.
But she had barely taken two steps when a massive black wolf slammed into her from the side.
Its claws ripped through her white fur.
Its jaws clamped around her neck.
My entire body froze.
My vision darkened.
I shoved Axel from my shoulder and let him fall to the ground as rage exploded through me. My bones snapped and twisted as my wolf surged forward, ready to charge toward her and tear that monster apart.
But then—
A crushing pain exploded at the back of my head.
My body suddenly felt too heavy to stand.
Only a friend could have gotten that close without me sensing them.
But what kind of friend would stop someone from saving his own mother?
Only an enemy...