Chapter 361 - 95: Trap

The Alpha lowered his head slightly, and when he spoke again, the weight in his voice was unmistakable. "I’ve watched twenty-three of my people die from this curse. I’ve watched fourteen lose the last shreds of their human shape.

I’ve watched Alphas and mighty leaders turn into nothing but rabid instinct. I’ve watched one afflicted person turn into another, and another, until whole packs vanished." He gestured faintly toward the beasts behind him. "This isn’t just about one death anymore."

Dane’s jaw tightened. He had heard enough stories about Hollow Death to know how quickly it could consume a pack, but hearing the numbers spoken aloud made the threat feel different. Twenty-three dead. Fourteen more stripped of everything that made them human. And this creature was standing there calmly asking them to believe that Destiny’s death was the only way to prevent more.

Destiny swallowed hard, her throat painfully dry. "What happens... if I die?"

"The spread stops."

"No!"

Dane shook his head sharply and turned toward the Alpha, anger surging through him so quickly that his claws threatened to break through his fingertips. "Destiny, stop!" He stared directly at the beast. "You expect us to believe that slaughtering my wife is the answer?"

"I expect you to understand simple mathematics," the Alpha countered, his eyes hardening into flint. "One life weighed against what this curse will become if it is allowed to spread when we have a cure through her."

Dane wanted to dismiss the words as manipulation, but he saw the effect they were having on Destiny. Her attention had shifted past him, toward the cursed wolves gathered behind their leader. Beneath the matted fur, twisted limbs, and unnatural bone structure, she seemed to be searching for something familiar. Dane knew what she was seeing because he had seen it himself before. These creatures had once been people. They had belonged to families. They had fought beside their packs. Some of them had probably been Alphas and Betas, fathers and brothers, before Hollow Death had reduced them to what stood before them now.

Destiny’s fingers tightened around the Heartstone.

The Alpha noticed.

His tone softened, becoming almost gentle, and somehow that made Dane trust him even less. "You’ve already seen what your blood does, haven’t you?"

Dane looked at Destiny.

The color had drained from her face. He knew immediately what memory had returned to her. The dying wolf in the forest. The red light that had erupted from her hands. The screaming that had followed as the creature’s body violently reshaped itself. Dane had witnessed the aftermath himself, and even now the memory made his stomach turn.

"Maybe..." Destiny whispered.

Dane’s head snapped toward her. "Don’t."

She looked up at him, tears gathering in her eyes. "Maybe he’s right, Dane."

"No."

"Dane, listen to me—"

"No!" His voice cracked across the clearing, echoing against the surrounding trunks. He stepped closer to her, unable to hide the fear beneath his anger. "You don’t get to decide your life is worth less just because something terrible happened to people you don’t even know!"

"What if it is?" she pleaded.

Marcus moved to her other side and caught her shoulder. "Destiny, stop this nonsense."

"I’ve seen what this curse does to people, Dad!"

"So have I!" Marcus barked, his own voice thick with frustration and fear.

"And if I can stop it—"

"You don’t know if you can!" Dane roared.

Destiny flinched, but she didn’t look away from him. "What if he’s telling the truth? What if my blood makes it worse?"

Marcus’s jaw set in a hard, uncompromising line. "Then he’s still wrong. You are not a sacrifice for his mistakes."

Dane looked at the Alpha again.

The creature hadn’t moved.

It simply watched them.

That calmness bothered him more than a threat would have. The Alpha wasn’t trying to force Destiny physically. He didn’t need to. He was standing back and allowing the possibility of her death to work its way into her mind, letting her fear and guilt do the work for him.

Destiny looked back at the beast, her vision blurring with tears. "If my death can stop this whole nightmare..."

Dane grabbed her wrist before she could take another step. "No."

She tried to wrench her arm free. "Let go of me, Dane!"

"You’re not going anywhere near him!"

"I need to think!"

"You can think right here!"

"Dane!"

She yanked back with all her strength.

The movement jarred the hand holding the Heartstone.

The stone suddenly flared with a blinding crimson light.

Dane’s eyes widened. A violent spike of pressure seemed to explode through the clearing, and Destiny gasped as she clutched her head. Her knees buckled beneath her before he could even understand what was happening.

"Destiny!"

He caught her before her face struck the dirt, pulling her against his chest. Her entire body trembled in his arms, and the Heartstone continued to pulse in her palm like a frantic, burning heart.

"Maybe..." she stammered, her voice slurred as she tried to focus on his face. "Maybe I should just do it..."

Dane’s face twisted.

"No. No, no, no." He pulled her tightly against him, wrapping both arms around her as if holding her firmly enough could somehow keep her alive. "You’re not dying. Not today. Not ever."

"I could save them..."

"You would be dead!"

"Maybe that’s the whole point..."

Marcus dropped to his knees beside them, his eyes brimming with tears and rage. "No. You don’t get to make that choice alone, Destiny. I won’t let you."

"I don’t want you losing anyone else, Dad," she sobbed. "Not after Mom."

The words struck Dane hard. He watched Marcus’s expression change, grief flashing through his eyes before determination took its place.

"You are not anyone else," Marcus said firmly. He extended his open palm toward her. "Give me the stone."

Destiny pulled her hand back, clutching the glowing jewel against her collarbone. "Dad, please—"

"Give it to me, Destiny."

"I’m fine—"

"You are not fine!" Marcus leaned closer, his voice remaining firm even as his hands softened. He carefully pried Destiny’s smaller fingers apart one by one. Dane watched her resist at first, but she was too weak to fight him for long.

The moment the Heartstone broke contact with Destiny’s skin and rolled into Marcus’s hand, its violent red light vanished.

Destiny blinked rapidly. Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, and Dane felt some of the terrible pressure inside his own chest ease when he realized the pain had stopped. She took a long, shuddering breath and sagged against him.

Marcus stared down at the dull, cool stone resting in his palm.

Dane looked between Marcus and his wife, his own breathing still heavy. Something about what had just happened unsettled him. "That... that isn’t normal."

The Alpha’s eyes narrowed as he studied the stone. "No. It isn’t."

Destiny shook her head and buried her face in Dane’s shoulder. "No..."

Dane tightened his hold around her, rubbing a hand slowly over her back. He wanted to get her away from this clearing. Away from the Alpha. Away from the cursed wolves. Away from the Heartstone. But before he could say anything, the creature spoke again.

"You felt it, didn’t you?" the Alpha pressed, his voice dropping into a menacing register. "You heard something calling to you the second you held it."

Dane looked down at Destiny. "Destiny? What did you hear?"

She lifted her head slowly, confusion clouding her tear-filled eyes. "I... I don’t know."

The Alpha took another step toward them. "When you were infected, I could control your mind. I watched you force life back into him." He raised a clawed finger and pointed directly at the Heartstone in Marcus’s grip. "And now that relic is feeding off you. It won’t stop until she’s dead."

Dane felt his temper flare again, but before he could respond, Henrik stepped forward and placed himself between the Alpha and the kneeling family.

"That’s enough out of you."

Helena drew her longsword with a sharp shing, stepping into position beside him. "If you want her, you’ll have to carve your way through all of us first."

The Alpha looked at the two warriors and seemed entirely unbothered by the steel pointed in his direction. "I don’t want to fight you."

"Then turn around and leave," Henrik spat.

"I can’t."

"Then you’ve got a massive problem."

The Alpha’s golden eyes swept across the perimeter, taking in every member of Dane’s group. "If we fight, someone else in your group gets bitten."

Silence followed.

Dane’s grip tightened around Destiny.

The Alpha continued, his voice smooth and controlled. "And if you manage to kill us, more of my kind will smell the blood and track you down." His eyes settled coldly on Dane. "You cannot solve this with force."

Dane slowly stood, pulling Destiny up with him and keeping her firmly behind his body. He could feel her breathing against his back, and every instinct in him screamed to get her as far away from these creatures as possible.

"We don’t need to fight."

The Alpha raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you suggest?"

"You take your pack and you leave her alone."

"I cannot do that."

"Then we’ll make you."

Around the clearing, the cursed wolves shifted. Dane heard claws scrape against the earth as their bodies lowered into fighting positions. Henrik fell into a low stance beside him while Helena took his flank, her sword catching the pale moonlight. Behind Dane, Marcus kept Destiny tucked behind his massive frame, his knuckles white around the Heartstone.

The air seemed to stretch tighter with every passing second.

Dane could feel the coming violence in his bones. If the first wolf lunged, the others would follow. His people would fight. Someone would be bitten. Someone might die. And if the Alpha was telling the truth, the bloodshed would only bring more of them.

Then a cool, cultured voice sliced through the trees.

"That’s quite enough."

Every head in the clearing turned toward the sound.

Soft footsteps approached over the fallen leaves.

Dane’s heart dropped before the figure even emerged from the shadows.

"No..." he breathed.

Vance stepped out from between the pines.

Half a dozen elite, heavily armed Silvercrest warriors followed behind him, their weapons already within easy reach. For a fraction of a second, Dane felt a rush of relief. Reinforcements. Silvercrest. Home.

Then Vance stepped fully into the moonlight.

The relief died almost immediately.

His posture was cold and detached, his face giving nothing away as his gaze swept over the standoff. Dane looked toward Aurora, expecting some reaction from her, but she remained still, her expression unreadable.

Dane stepped forward cautiously. "Vance? What are you doing here?"

Vance’s sharp gaze moved across the clearing before settling on Destiny.

"I came to end this."

Dane’s shoulders dropped slightly. A breath escaped him before he could stop it.

"Thank God."

Then Vance held out his open palm.

"Give her to me."

Dane froze.

For a moment, he thought he had heard wrong.

"What?"

Vance’s hand remained extended.

Dane’s expression hardened. "No. I thought you came to save Aurora."

"Dane."

"You’re not taking my wife."

Vance stared at him for a long, agonizing moment. There wasn’t a trace of emotion in his expression when he finally spoke.

"This isn’t about your marriage, Dane."

His gaze drifted over Dane’s shoulder and settled on Destiny.

"It never was."

Dane barely had time to process the words.

Vance moved with frightening speed.

One moment he was standing several paces away. The next, he was already inside their formation. His hand clamped around Destiny’s waist, and before Dane could react, Vance tore her away from him and Marcus.

"Dane!"

Destiny’s scream tore through him.

Dane lunged forward with a roar, but six Silvercrest swords flashed from their sheaths simultaneously, forming a wall of steel between them.

"Stay back!" Vance commanded coldly.

Dane stopped only because moving forward meant risking one of those blades striking Destiny.

"Let her go, Vance!"

His claws were fully extended, his chest heaving as he fought against the instinct to tear through every warrior standing between him and his wife.

Vance ignored him.

Instead, his sharp eyes swept over the remaining group.

"Where is the stone?"

Dane’s eyes flicked instinctively toward Marcus.

He knew his mistake the moment Vance followed the glance.

Marcus immediately slammed his fingers shut around the Heartstone and pulled it against his ribs.

"Give it to the Alpha," Vance ordered.

Marcus’s expression hardened. "Go to hell."

Vance’s eyes narrowed. "You don’t understand the power of what you’re holding."

Marcus took a step forward, his blade half-raised. "I understand enough to know you don’t get it."

Vance’s attention shifted away from Marcus.

Dane followed his gaze.

The cursed Alpha had stepped out from his ring of monsters.

The creature walked toward Vance.

Casually.

Without hesitation.

Without surprise.

Without hostility.

Dane stared at the two of them.

Something cold crawled down his spine.

The cursed Alpha stopped near Vance, and neither man reacted as though the other’s presence was unexpected.

Dane’s mind raced.

The Alpha had known Vance was coming.

Vance had known exactly where to find them.

And now the two of them were standing together in the middle of the clearing as if this meeting had been arranged long before tonight.

The realization hit Dane harder than any physical blow.

"You two..." His voice came out low and disbelieving. "You know each other."

Neither man answered.

Dane looked from Vance to the cursed Alpha, then back again.

"What the hell is going on here?"

A soft, melodic laugh floated across the clearing.

Dane turned sharply.

Aurora stepped forward from the shadows near the rear.

She looked exhausted, bruised, and filthy, but there was something in her expression that made Dane’s stomach twist.

Satisfaction.

She looked almost pleased with herself.

"Point of correction," Aurora purred softly.

Dane stared at her, his mind struggling to make sense of everything unfolding around him.

Aurora’s eyes darted between Vance and the cursed Alpha before settling on Dane’s horrified face.

"We three," she said sweetly.

Dane felt the blood drain from his face.

"We had to divide your house to make this work."

His thoughts raced backward through the past few days, searching for the moment he had missed. The arguments. The disappearances. The pressure from Silvercrest. Ramon leaving. Aurora arriving. Every problem that had seemed separate suddenly felt connected.

"Ramon leaving..." Dane whispered.

Aurora smiled.

It was a terrifyingly vacant expression. "That was the opening we needed."