MARKED BY THE ALPHA'S HATE

Chapter 23 – The Ones Who Hunt

The night moved again.

It slithered over branches and wrapped around the trees like a second skin. Far behind them, the ruins of Hollowspire pulsed once and fell silent.

Selene felt it. Not through sound or sight, but deep in her bones the awareness that something had shifted again.

She looked over at Darius, whose side was slick with blood. He hadn't said a word since Neris's warning. Just walked. Each step measured, deliberate. He didn't complain. Didn't ask for help.

She hated that about him.

"You're bleeding through your shirt," she said.

He didn't look at her. Not the worst thing I've felt today.

That thing nearly tore your lung out.

And it nearly tore your heart out.

Selene bit her lip, stung. So what? We're keeping score now?

His eyes finally met hers. Tired. Shadowed. No. Just reminding you why I didn't hesitate to take the hit.

She exhaled sharply and walked faster.

Neris trailed behind them silently, her steps barely making sound on the damp earth. Occasionally, she'd stop and place a hand on a tree or a stone, like she was listening for something deeper than sound.

How far do we need to run? Selene finally asked.

Neris didn't look up. Farther than he expects. But not forever.

"Who is he exactly? The Obsidian? Victor?"

Yes.

Darius wiped his hands on his torn shirt. We need to move somewhere they can't track. Is that even possible anymore?

"It is," Neris said, and now her glowing eyes flicked toward them. But it'll cost you.

Darius didn't hesitate. Name it.

Selene glared. Don't just agree before we even know what she means.

"The price," Neris interrupted, "isn't mine. It's yours."

She looked at Selene.

"You'll have to break the bond."

Selene froze mid-step. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Darius's expression didn't change, but his entire body stilled.

"No," Selene said finally, hoarse.

Neris's voice was gentler this time. "They're tracing it. That's how they found you at Hollowspire. That's how the Obsidian knew where to strike. The bond between you two burns too bright—it's a flame in a dark world."

"I'm not breaking it," Selene said, louder now. "I can't."

"You can," Neris said. "But you won't."

Darius didn't say anything.

"Neris," he said after a long beat, "is there another way?"

She paused. "There always is. But every other way ends with someone you care about dying. This is the only path where you might survive."

Selene turned away, her fists clenched. Her chest burned. She'd only just started to understand what the bond was, what it meant, and now—now this?

The forest thickened as they walked. Leaves whispered overhead, and even the moonlight dimmed under the tangle of branches.

After a while, Darius stepped beside her.

"I won't ask you to do it," he said quietly.

"You don't have to," she snapped, trying to keep her voice steady. "Everyone else already has."

He looked down. "Selene—"

"No," she said, stopping. "This thing between us, it's not just magic. You said that. It's not some leash or accident. I didn't ask for it, but I didn't ask for any of this. And it's the only thing that feels like it's mine."

Darius's jaw flexed. His eyes searched hers. "I'm not worth it."

"Let me decide that," she whispered again.

He stepped closer, close enough that she could feel the heat of him.

"If we don't break it, they'll come for us."

"Then let them."

A branch cracked behind them.

Neris's head snapped around. "We need to move. Now."

Darius didn't hesitate. He pulled Selene into motion with one hand and shifted with the other, claws extending just under his skin.

More cracks echoed. Not just branches. Footsteps.

Lots of them.

Selene felt it first. That sick lurch in her gut, the invisible pressure of more than one threat. The air prickled. Voices—low, growling, not quite human—echoed from all sides.

They were surrounded.

Darius drew her behind a fallen log. Neris vanished into the trees.

"Bounty chasers," he said, voice dark. "Victor must've already sent word."

Figures moved in the dark. Not wolves. Not fully human either.

Hybrid rogues.

Broken shifters. Half-turned monsters. The kind of mercenaries only someone like Victor would use.

One stepped into view. A tall man with patchy fur and a crooked smile. He held a jagged blade in one hand and something worse in the other—a chain collar.

"Moonblood girl," he called out. "Don't make this hard. We only need you breathing."

Selene's spine snapped straight. She stood slowly, the sword already in her hand.

Darius grabbed her wrist. "You don't have to—"

"I do," she said. "They want me. Then they can fight me."

With a scream, she swung the blade. Light flared—white-hot and brutal—and the first mercenary went flying.

Darius followed her in, claws slashing, fury in motion. They moved together now not as enemies, not as strangers, but as something closer to a storm.

Selene cut down another figure, the blade singing in her hands. Every strike felt guided, precise. The sword wanted to kill them.

And so did she.

Neris emerged again, flames crackling in her hands. A wave of fire rolled across the clearing, scattering the last of the bounty chasers into the trees with screams.

When it was over, the forest was smoking.

Bodies twitched and groaned. One tried to crawl away before Neris's flame caught him.

Selene dropped to her knees, breathing hard. The sword dimmed in her hands.

Darius leaned over, checking her for wounds.

"I'm fine," she gasped.

He didn't look convinced.

You fought like someone who's done it before, he said, voice soft.

I haven't,she said. Not like that.

The blade knows.

They looked at each other, both too tired to deny it anymore.

Neris stepped closer, her eyes solemn. "There'll be more. You need shelter. And a plan."

Selene looked around at the scorched clearing.

"No," she said.

Darius blinked. "No what?"

"No more running. No more hiding. I'm done waiting for death to knock. I'm knocking back."

She stood.

"I want to know everything. About the Moonbloods. About what Victor's doing. About me."

Darius nodded slowly.

Neris smiled, grim. "Then we begin."

Far away, in the frozen highlands of Eldreth Pass, a hidden temple stirred. Cloaked figures stood in a circle, hands raised over an altar of bone.

A whisper echoed between them.

"She is awake."

"She holds the blade."

"She broke the seal."

Their leader stepped forward, face hidden beneath a silver veil.

"Then the time has come."

He raised his hands, and the temple trembled.

"Call the Sentinels. Let the bloodline return."

Back in Victor Crane's stronghold, Talon stepped into the war room, holding a burned map.

"She's not hiding," he said. "She's fighting."

Victor turned from the window, his eyes shining with interest.

"Good," he said. "I was worried she might break."

"She's becoming something else."

"Exactly what I need," Victor said with a cruel smile. "Someone worth destroying in front of the world."

Talon hesitated. "And Darius?"

Victor's voice dropped.

"He'll break too. But slower."

His fingers tapped the edge of the table once.

"Bring me the Oracle. And ready the chains."