CHAPTER 36: THE RED WOLF

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Chapter 36

~Rhiannon’s POV~

Hot tears blurred my vision as my life with my father flashed before my eyes.

And now, even after selling myself just to have him home with me, he was gone.

Guilt gnawed at my insides. Guilt at the fact that if I had left him alone, he would have been alive still, but no.

I had brought him here—to the Lion’s den, to his killers.

The more I thought, the more pain I was in and the harder it was to grasp that the only lying family I had left was... gone.

Something inside me snapped.

"No!" I shrieked. "You killed him. You fucking killed him!!"

The air around me pulsed. My scream twisted into a guttural, wild growl.

The chandelier above cracked with a sharp pop, and wind swirled in the room though no windows were open. Hot, radiant, uncontrolled light surged around me.

The door burst open and instantly, all four of my mates’ scents assaulted my nostrils, Kael, Darian. Talon, Riven and even that wench Seraphina.

They stopped, stunned by the sight—Lucien with a bloodied heart, me on the floor, cradling my father.

Kael took a step forward. "Rhiannon—"

I shook my head violently. "No! Don’t!"

I pointed a shaking, bloodstained finger at Lucien, rage and grief blooming like a wildfire in my chest. "He killed him! He killed my father!"

Kael’s face twisted in horror. Darian’s fists clenched. Riven’s eyes scanned the scene rapidly. Seraphina’s jaw hung open, her expression was that of pure shock but I knew better.

There was no way she didn’t have a hand in this especially after that thought.

Else how the fuck was she here?

Did she live in the Alphas’ wing?.

Lucien looked between them, stunned. "He was going to stab me. I didn’t plan..." he glanced back at me, obviously I was the one who deserved the explanation and not them. "Rhia, you have to believe me!"

But I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

The pain inside me boiled over, and suddenly I felt her stir.

"Ravyn."

"Let me out, Rhiannon." Her voice was low, trembling with fury. "Let me kill."

And I wasn’t sure I could stop her.

The more of her aura she let out, the angrier I became and the more my eyes fed in the sight of my father... that was the last straw.

His lovely smile when I did wrong and he scolded me a little. His lovely laughter during all those lovely and sad moments.

I wasn’t going to see that again.

I...

No... No... No, no, no, no!!!

My eyes blazed as a deep growl tore through my lips and my wolf’s voice, for the first time, was unleashed from within me.

"Noooo!!"

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~Lucien’s POV~

I knew what this looked like.

Guilty, and not.

Right and wrong.

It didn’t matter anymore, because I was standing in the centre of my room with the still-beating heart of the father of the woman I was just bound to—gripped in my blood-slicked hand.

His lifeless body lay crumpled at my feet.

But this... this wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

I was ambushed. I hadn’t called him here. He came on his own, a dagger raised high, his eyes wild, and not that of a confused, grieving father, but of a man on a mission to kill me.

I’d acted on instinct. My wolf had surged forward protectively and reacted. I hadn’t meant to kill him. I hadn’t even thought, I just moved on instinct.

And now it didn’t matter.

Rhiannon’s scream had echoed through the halls like thunder cracking across the sky. Within moments, my brothers rushed into the room. Kael, Riven, Darian, Talon—even Seraphina stood behind them with a shocked and scared expression on her face.

Kael immediately crossed to her. "Rhiannon," he called out gently.

She shook her head violently, stumbling back from him like his voice physically hurt her. "No! Don’t!"

All eyes shifted to her as she stood frozen beside her father’s body, blood on her hands and nightgown.

Her entire frame was trembling, breath shuddering as a strange pressure began to radiate from her.

The more she looked at her father, the more a reddish aura began to seep out from her.

The room shifted. The air thickened, charged like a coming storm. Energy danced across the floor like static. And then... we saw it.

I glanced in the direction of my brothers. They all had the same puzzled look on their faces as we watched Rhiannon’s body shift for the first time.

Her body arched unnaturally, a pained gasp ripping from her throat as she stumbled back. Her fingers curled inward as red fur erupted across her arms like wildfire consuming skin.

Her legs buckled as her muscles stretched, warped, and her bones cracked and broke beneath her skin, then reset.

Rhiannon’s scream wasn’t human anymore. It was deep, guttural, laced with agony and raw power.

"Oh Goddess..." Darian breathed, eyes wide.

Claws tore through her fingertips. Her canines lengthened visibly. Her nightgown ripped apart at the seams as her body collapsed onto all fours, spine shifting with a wet pop that made my stomach twist.

Rhiannon’s eyes, once bright blue, now burned crimson like molten fire.

And then she stood perfectly on all fours, no longer human.

The creature before us, huge, sleek, and terrifying, was cloaked in thick, blood-red fur.

Her muscles rippled beneath her pelt. Her hackles were raised. Fangs bared. And her eyes... her eyes were locked on me.

No one spoke for a long second. No one breathed.

"A red wolf," Riven said quietly, his voice breaking the silence like a whisper through glass.

Gasps echoed.

I turned my head, unable to take my eyes off her. The very existence of a red wolf was a myth—an old one. A beast born of sacred bloodlines and raw celestial energy, descendants of the Moon Goddess herself.

Rare.

Revered.

Feared.

Powerful.

"A true Luna..." Darian voiced softly.

All of us—Kael, Talon, Riven, even Seraphina—looked at one another, the realisation settling heavy in our bones.

Rhiannon wasn’t just special. She was dangerous.

She was divine.

And right now... she wanted to kill me.

A snarl ripped from her throat as she lowered into a crouch, her muscles coiled. Rhiannon’s focus didn’t waver.

Instead, her eyes were locked on my hand, and the heart still beating in it.

"Shit," Kael muttered.

"Lucien," Riven snapped, "drop it. Drop the heart."

I did.

But it was too late.

"Run!" Talon shouted.

I didn’t get the chance.

Rhiannon lunged at me, snarling with fury and speed.

Just as she leapt, Kael surged forward in a blur of motion and slammed the side of his palm into the back of her neck with a sickening crack.

A whimper escaped Rhiannon’s wolf as her body crumpled mid-air, and she dropped like a stone.

A loud thud echoed as she hit the ground, twitching once before stilling.

Silence fell.

Rhiannon’s wolf shimmered for a moment, then flickered out. Her human body lay sprawled on the marble floor, her skin slick with sweat, her limbs tangled in what little fabric remained of her nightwear.

I wanted to help. My wolf screamed at me to go to our mate and cover her but I couldn’t move. My legs felt frozen. My lungs couldn’t drag in a full breath.

I had seen many things in my life, bloody things, brutal things. But nothing shook me more than watching Rhiannon, the woman we all thought we knew, transform into something half legend, half storm.

Kael knelt beside her, checking her pulse, brushing strands of silver hair from her face.

"She’s fine," he muttered. "Unconscious. But fine."

Everyone looked at me.

No one said it, but I heard and read it in their silence.

’You almost died.’

And maybe I should’ve.

I dropped my head, letting the blood dry on my hands as guilt bled deeper than any wound.

Rhiannon had changed forever. And it was because of me.

"Did she..."

Kael didn’t speak a word.

He simply stepped forward, his arms slipping beneath Rhiannon’s limp body with an ease that betrayed how many times he’d imagined carrying her—though never like this.

Never unconscious or drenched in the aftermath of chaos and blood.

He scooped her up gently, cradling her against his chest like something precious and fragile. His jaw was tight, clenched in controlled fury.

"Take care of things," he stated in a calm voice. "I’m taking her away. We’ll talk after."

Darian moved immediately, without hesitation. He rushed into my closet, yanked open the door, and grabbed the first robe he saw—a thick, dark one that would at least cover her torn clothing.

Without hesitation, he draped it across Rhiannon’s exposed body, careful to tuck it around her before stepping aside.

Kael gave him a brief nod of thanks and walked out, not sparing any of us a backwards glance.

We didn’t follow. None of us moved.

We just watched him disappear down the hall with the star of the night—now dimmed and burning with pain.

Talon dropped to one knee beside Ryan Vale’s body. His fingers closed around the weapon that had been cast aside—a sleek dagger glinting under the chamber light. The hilt shimmered faintly with embedded runes.

He held it up, examining the blade carefully. "Moonstone," he muttered.

From the corner of the room, I noticed Seraphina’s posture stiffen, her eyes locking onto the dagger with a flicker of recognition. She shuddered.

"How did he get this?" Talon asked darkly. "How did a stranger—an outsider—know the inner workings of the packhouse? The guards, the sacred room, the timing. Everything."

No one answered, but we were all thinking the same thing.

"How the hell did he even have the Moon..."

The thundering of footsteps rushing towards my chamber broke the stillness.

Four warriors burst through the doorway, halting abruptly as their eyes swept across the room—landing on the blood, the body, and us.