Chapter 5
Hours passed. Maybe longer.
Dominic didn't move from the floor of the medical bay.
His wolf—his beast—was silent inside him. The bond was gone. Not frayed. Not weakened.
Gone.
Like a limb amputated without anesthesia. He kept reaching for it—reaching for her—and finding only void.
The system's voice broke through his stupor. "The pack's eastern water source has turned black. Shadow contamination confirmed. Estimated time until it spreads to all five territories: 16 days."
He didn't respond.
"Additionally—Serena Vale's 'lunar research team' has fled the territory. The data they provided was entirely fabricated. There was never a viable path to core transfer. She knew this."
That made him move.
Slowly, Dominic raised his head. His eyes were red—not from tears, but from something darker. Something that looked less like grief and more like madness.
"She knew?"
"From the beginning. Serena Vale understood that Elara's death would trigger the Seal's collapse. She has been in communication with the rogues beyond the eastern territory for six months. Her plan was always to destroy the pack from within."
Dominic's jaw clenched so hard his teeth cracked.
"Show me."
The system projected memories—intercepted communications, stolen footage from surveillance crystals Serena thought were deactivated.
Serena, laughing with a rogue Alpha over a crystal link: "He's so easy. You just cry a little, and he'll burn his own mate alive. Men are predictable."
Serena, speaking to James—her inside man, the one who'd been whispering poison in Dominic's ear for months: "Make sure the researchers give him the fake data. By the time he realizes the transfer won't work, she'll be dead and the Seal will be broken. Then our real allies move in."
Serena, standing over my sleeping body in the medical bay, whispering: "You were always too good, Elara. That's why this was so easy."
The projection faded.
Dominic sat perfectly still.
Then he stood.
His movements were mechanical. Precise. Empty of everything except purpose.
He picked up a piece of the shattered glass from the pod—a shard as long as his forearm—and walked out of the medical bay.
The system said, "What are you doing?"
Dominic said nothing.
"Host. The world has 16 days. If you channel your efforts into finding an alternative—"
"There is no alternative." His voice was calm now. Terrifyingly calm. "You said so yourself. Elara was the only one. Without her, everyone dies."
He kept walking.
"Then what is the purpose of—"
"Purpose?" He almost laughed. "The purpose is making sure everyone who touched her suffers first."
The system went silent.
And Dominic walked toward Serena's quarters, glass shard in hand, blood still dripping from his split knuckles.
Dominic didn't move from the floor of the medical bay.
His wolf—his beast—was silent inside him. The bond was gone. Not frayed. Not weakened.
Gone.
Like a limb amputated without anesthesia. He kept reaching for it—reaching for her—and finding only void.
The system's voice broke through his stupor. "The pack's eastern water source has turned black. Shadow contamination confirmed. Estimated time until it spreads to all five territories: 16 days."
He didn't respond.
"Additionally—Serena Vale's 'lunar research team' has fled the territory. The data they provided was entirely fabricated. There was never a viable path to core transfer. She knew this."
That made him move.
Slowly, Dominic raised his head. His eyes were red—not from tears, but from something darker. Something that looked less like grief and more like madness.
"She knew?"
"From the beginning. Serena Vale understood that Elara's death would trigger the Seal's collapse. She has been in communication with the rogues beyond the eastern territory for six months. Her plan was always to destroy the pack from within."
Dominic's jaw clenched so hard his teeth cracked.
"Show me."
The system projected memories—intercepted communications, stolen footage from surveillance crystals Serena thought were deactivated.
Serena, laughing with a rogue Alpha over a crystal link: "He's so easy. You just cry a little, and he'll burn his own mate alive. Men are predictable."
Serena, speaking to James—her inside man, the one who'd been whispering poison in Dominic's ear for months: "Make sure the researchers give him the fake data. By the time he realizes the transfer won't work, she'll be dead and the Seal will be broken. Then our real allies move in."
Serena, standing over my sleeping body in the medical bay, whispering: "You were always too good, Elara. That's why this was so easy."
The projection faded.
Dominic sat perfectly still.
Then he stood.
His movements were mechanical. Precise. Empty of everything except purpose.
He picked up a piece of the shattered glass from the pod—a shard as long as his forearm—and walked out of the medical bay.
The system said, "What are you doing?"
Dominic said nothing.
"Host. The world has 16 days. If you channel your efforts into finding an alternative—"
"There is no alternative." His voice was calm now. Terrifyingly calm. "You said so yourself. Elara was the only one. Without her, everyone dies."
He kept walking.
"Then what is the purpose of—"
"Purpose?" He almost laughed. "The purpose is making sure everyone who touched her suffers first."
The system went silent.
And Dominic walked toward Serena's quarters, glass shard in hand, blood still dripping from his split knuckles.