Chapter 75: Chapter 75 – The Trap That Was Always Meant for Him

Chapter 75 – The Trap That Was Always Meant for Him

POV: Kael

The report arrived just after sunrise.

I knew something was wrong before the guard even finished crossing the room.

Warriors who carried ordinary updates didn’t look like they were marching toward an execution.

The young soldier stopped in front of my desk and bowed immediately.

"My Alpha."

I set aside the document I had been reading and looked up.

"Speak."

"Three border scouts failed to report back from the northern ridge."

The room fell quiet.

For a second I simply stared at him.

Missing scouts were not unusual. Injured scouts were not unusual. Wolves occasionally got delayed by weather, rogue activity, or sheer stupidity.

But three experienced warriors disappearing at the same time was different.

"How long?"

"Twelve hours."

That was long enough.

I leaned back in my chair, my gaze drifting briefly toward the window overlooking the courtyard.

Below, warriors moved through their morning drills while servants crossed between buildings carrying baskets and supplies. Everything looked normal.

It wasn’t.

Nothing in Blackmoor had been normal for months.

"Any signs of attack?"

The guard shook his head.

"No bodies. No blood. No tracks beyond the border marker."

My jaw tightened slightly.

That made even less sense.

A knock interrupted us before I could respond.

Damon stepped into the office and immediately noticed the tension in the room.

"What happened?"

"Three scouts vanished."

His expression darkened instantly.

"Where?"

"Northern ridge."

Damon muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse.

I couldn’t blame him.

Neither of us liked coincidences anymore.

Not after Isolade.

Not after Seraphina.

Not after discovering half the fortress seemed capable of keeping secrets from its Alpha.

The guard remained standing quietly while I considered the situation.

Under normal circumstances I would have sent another patrol to investigate.

Under normal circumstances I would have stayed here.

My gaze shifted again toward the courtyard.

Toward the western wing.

Toward the section of the fortress where Liora’s chambers were located.

A familiar feeling settled heavily in my chest.

I hated leaving her.

The realization irritated me every time it surfaced because it sounded dangerously close to fear.

Not fear for myself.

Fear for what could happen while I was gone.

Someone had already tricked her out of her chambers once.

Someone had already nearly killed her.

Elara was still recovering from injuries she suffered protecting Liora.

The entire fortress somehow knew about the pregnancy despite the fact that I had never formally announced it.

Every day I discovered another reason not to trust the people around me.

And now someone expected me to leave Blackmoor.

I didn’t like the timing.

I didn’t like the report.

Most of all, I didn’t like the feeling that this was exactly what someone wanted.

"Prepare a patrol," I said finally.

Damon’s eyes narrowed.

"You think it’s real?"

"I think if three warriors are missing, I don’t have the luxury of ignoring it."

"And if it’s a trap?"

I stood from my chair.

"Then whoever set it is about to discover I’m aware of that possibility."

The guard immediately bowed again before leaving the room.

The moment the door shut, Damon folded his arms.

"You should tell her."

I knew exactly who he meant.

"Liora already has enough to worry about."

"She’s going to find out you’re gone anyway."

"Then she’ll find out after I’ve returned."

Damon looked unconvinced.

Unfortunately, so did I.

---

An hour later I found myself standing outside Liora’s chambers.

The irony wasn’t lost on me.

I had spent weeks trying not to hover over her every movement.

Now I couldn’t even leave the fortress without checking on her first.

The guard stationed outside immediately straightened.

"My Alpha."

I nodded before pushing the door open.

Liora was sitting near the window with a book resting in her lap.

At least she appeared to be reading.

The moment she looked up, I realized she hadn’t turned a page.

Not for a while.

Something about that bothered me more than it should have.

"You’re staring."

Her voice pulled me from the observation.

I stepped further into the room.

"And you’re pretending to read."

A faint look crossed her face.

Not quite amusement.

Not quite annoyance.

Something in between.

"I’m getting better at it."

"No, you’re not."

That earned me an actual reaction.

A small one.

But real.

For a few seconds neither of us spoke.

The silence wasn’t uncomfortable anymore.

That still surprised me sometimes.

When we first met, every conversation felt like a battle.

Now it felt different.

Not easier.

Just familiar.

"I have to leave the fortress."

The words immediately erased whatever calm existed between us.

Her shoulders stiffened.

Only slightly.

Most people wouldn’t have noticed.

I did.

"For how long?"

"A few hours."

"A few hours usually turns into longer."

I almost smiled.

"You’re becoming cynical."

"You spend enough time around Blackmoor and it becomes unavoidable."

Fair point.

I walked closer.

"Liora."

Something in my voice made her look at me properly.

Not at the Alpha.

Not at the title.

At me.

"I’ll be back before nightfall."

The response should have reassured her.

Instead she stared at me for a second too long.

"You don’t sound convinced."

That was the problem with intelligent women.

They noticed things.

"I’ll be back," I repeated.

This time it sounded more like a promise.

She studied me carefully.

Then she nodded.

Not because she believed me.

Because she understood there was no point arguing.

The realization left a strange weight in my chest.

I turned toward the door.

"Kael."

I stopped.

Her voice was quiet.

"Be careful."

The words followed me all the way out of the room.

---

The northern ridge was three hours from Blackmoor.

The journey should have been uneventful.

Instead, the further we traveled, the worse my mood became.

Nothing felt right.

The forest was too quiet.

The air felt wrong.

Even the wolves accompanying me had started noticing it.

Damon rode beside me for most of the journey.

Neither of us spoke much.

There wasn’t much to say.

When experienced warriors vanished without explanation, conversations tended to become shorter.

By the time we reached the ridge, the silence had become impossible to ignore.

I pulled my horse to a stop.

The warriors behind us immediately followed.

Damon scanned the surrounding area.

"I don’t like this."

Neither did I.

The place was empty.

Completely empty.

No signs of a struggle.

No blood.

No broken trees.

No scent trails.

Nothing.

Three wolves had supposedly disappeared here.

Yet the ridge looked untouched.

I slowly dismounted.

Every instinct I possessed started screaming.

Leave.

Now.

The realization came half a second before the explosion.

The ground erupted beneath us.

Earth blasted upward.

Several horses screamed.

Warriors shouted.

The shockwave threw me sideways hard enough that I felt something crack when I hit the ground.

Pain shot through my ribs.

Before I could fully recover, another explosion detonated somewhere behind me.

Then another.

Then another.

This wasn’t an ambush.

It was a battlefield prepared in advance.

"DEFENSIVE FORMATION!" Damon roared.

The order barely finished leaving his mouth before attackers emerged from the trees.

Not rogues.

Not random mercenaries.

Trained fighters.

Dozens of them.

My hand found my sword immediately.

The first man reached me.

He died before completing his attack.

The second lasted slightly longer.

The third managed to cut my shoulder before I buried a blade through his throat.

Around me the battle exploded into chaos.

Steel clashed.

Wolves shifted.

Blood hit the forest floor.

But even while fighting, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

This wasn’t the real attack.

These men were distractions.

A wall.

Something designed to occupy me.

Then I saw it.

A figure standing farther back among the trees.

Watching.

Waiting.

Holding something.

The moment my eyes landed on the object in his hand, every muscle in my body tightened.

A vial.

Not Seraphina’s.

But close enough.

Far too close.

The figure smashed it against a rock.

Dark liquid splashed across the ground.

The reaction was immediate.

Agony slammed through me so violently that my vision blurred.

I staggered.

Not because of any wound.

Because something inside me felt like it had been set on fire.

No.

Not fire.

Poison.

My stomach dropped.

Someone knew.

Someone knew exactly what had weakened me for years.

Someone knew enough to recreate it.

The realization hit harder than any weapon.

This wasn’t random.

This wasn’t political.

This was planned specifically for me.

Another attacker rushed forward.

I killed him.

Then another.

Then another.

But my movements were already slowing.

The poison spread through my system with horrifying speed, turning every breath into work and every heartbeat into a struggle.

I kept fighting anyway.

Because there was no alternative.

If I stopped moving, I died.

If I fell, I died.

If I showed weakness, everyone around me died.

So I fought.

A blade cut across my side.

Another struck my shoulder.

A third sliced through my thigh.

Normally my wolf would have already started repairing the damage.

Normally I would barely notice injuries like these.

Today nothing was healing.

Today everything remained.

Blood soaked my clothes.

The forest tilted slightly.

Somewhere nearby Damon was shouting orders.

Somewhere else warriors were dying.

The poison continued working its way deeper.

Patient.

Relentless.

Designed for this exact purpose.

A sudden impact slammed into my chest.

The force knocked the air from my lungs.

For a second I didn’t understand what happened.

Then I looked down.

A spear protruded from my body.

The world became strangely distant.

The sounds around me dulled.

The battle continued.

But it felt farther away now.

I gripped the shaft and broke it off before ripping the remaining piece free.

The movement nearly blacked out my vision.

Blood poured down my chest.

I forced myself upright.

Forced myself forward.

Forced myself to keep fighting.

Because there was still only one option.

Survive.

Another blade struck.

Then another.

Then another.

Eventually even stubbornness reaches a limit.

My knees hit the ground.

The impact felt strangely insignificant compared to everything else.

Across the battlefield, I could see Damon trying to reach me.

Too many enemies stood between us.

Too much distance.

I attempted to stand again.

My body refused.

That was new.

I couldn’t remember the last time my body had simply refused a command.

The realization settled heavily over me.

This was bad.

Far worse than I originally thought.

The poison.

The blood loss.

The injuries.

Together they formed something even my wolf couldn’t overcome.

For the first time since the attack began, I accepted the possibility that I might not walk away from this.

My thoughts immediately turned to Liora.

Of course they did.

I thought about the look on her face whenever she tried pretending she wasn’t exhausted.

I thought about the scars she kept hidden.

I thought about the fact that she only had two healings left.

Maybe less.

And suddenly I understood something with absolute certainty.

Even if she were standing beside me right now, I wouldn’t want her using it.

Not for this.

Not when the cost would be her life.

The thought should have brought comfort.

Instead it hurt.

Because I knew exactly what she would try to do.

The bond felt faint.

Weak.

Barely there.

But I could still feel it.

And as darkness slowly started closing in around the edges of my vision, one final realization settled heavily into my chest.

Liora couldn’t save me.

Not anymore.

Not without sacrificing herself.

And if fate had any mercy left at all—

She wouldn’t try.

Because this time, more than any other, she wouldn’t be able to save me.

Not this time.