Chapter 36: You Need to Protect Me

Azura’s POV

The sun felt incredibly hot on my skin. Somewhere above us, birds were singing their hearts out, and the trees were swaying gently in a warm breeze. Everything felt peaceful, way too peaceful for my life.

The children at the orphanage had finished their meal, and some of the warriors stayed behind to keep an eye on them. Liona and I started walking back toward the packhouse, taking our sweet time. There was no rush, no pressure. Just the quiet hum of a day that had actually gone right.

Liona was walking beside me, her arms crossed and a lazy, playful smile on her face.

"Honestly," she said, shaking her head. "That Alpha? He’s got a face like a block of ice and a heart made of stone."

I snorted, kicking a pebble out of my way. "You noticed that too, huh?"

She laughed. "Azura, if pride could kill, that man would have been dead and buried years ago."

I smiled. It felt good to talk like this. Easy. Normal.

"He acts like the whole world owes him something just because he knows how to growl," I said, rolling my eyes at the sky.

Liona gasped dramatically, putting a hand over her heart. "Growls? Please. I’ve seen puppies that are scarier than him when they’re hungry."

I actually laughed, a real, loud laugh. It had been so long since I’d felt light enough to do that.

Liona grinned at me, clearly happy to see me in a good mood.

"This is the first time I’ve seen the Alpha’s body actually smile or heard a laugh come out of it," she joked. Then she added, "Seriously, someone needs to tell that man that if he keeps scowling, his face is going to get stuck like that forever."

"Someone should tell him a lot of things," I agreed.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a minute. The leaves rustled above us, and the sun was so warm it felt like a hug. I felt safe. I didn’t have a clue that it was all about to fall apart.

Liona was right in the middle of a sentence, saying something about the Alpha’s jaw being carved out of a mountain... and then the world just snapped.

One second I was walking on grass. The next, I wasn’t. No warning. No feeling of falling. Just sudden, freezing silence.

The warmth was gone. The sunlight was gone. The birds were gone.

Everything was just... erased.

I blinked, my eyes struggling to adjust. Cold, damp air hit my face. Instead of trees, I saw dark stone walls. The smell hit me next, iron, bitter herbs, and something sharp and metallic that made my stomach turn.

Where am I?

My heart started thumping against my ribs. I looked down at my hands. They were my hands. Small, thin, and familiar. I was finally back in my own body, but I had no idea where I had landed.

I looked around the room. It was circular, dark, and freezing. Ancient runes were glowing with a faint, creepy blue light along the floor.

Then I heard a voice. Genevieve’s voice.

She was standing a few feet away, her back half-turned to me. Axel was right beside her. They were both staring at the center of the room.

"Where did you find this body?" Genevieve asked, her voice calm but heavy.

She wasn’t talking to me. She thought I was still her son. I opened my mouth to tell her it was me, but then I saw it.

The floating stone platform. And the thing lying on it.

It was a body, but it didn’t look human or wolf. It was melted in a bad way. Like a candle that had been left too close to a fire. My stomach did a violent flip.

Is that one of our people? What happened to them? It was the scariest thing I had ever seen.

Before I could stop myself, a scream ripped out of my throat. It was raw and loud, echoing off the stone walls until my ears rang.

"Ahhh!"

Genevieve spun around instantly. Her eyes landed on me, and I saw something flash across her face. She knew right away. This wasn’t Rhydor anymore.

Axel moved fast, stepping toward me with his hands up like he was trying to calm a scared animal. "Easy," he said quietly. "You’re safe, Azura."

But I could barely hear him over the blood rushing in my ears. I couldn’t stop looking at the body. The melted face. The stillness.

"What... what is that?" I gasped, my voice shaking so hard I could barely get the words out. "Who is it? What happened?"

My mind was spinning in circles.

Genevieve and Axel traded a single look. They both knew the switch had happened.

Suddenly, footsteps thundered down the stairs. Fast. Heavy. Terrifying.

I turned as Rhydor walked in. He didn’t just walk, he moved like a storm breaking through a dam. His face was a mask of pure, raw anger. His jaw was locked tight, and his eyes were burning with a gold fire.

But he didn’t look at me. Not once.

His eyes went straight to his mother, then to Axel. He didn’t have to say a word; Axel understood the look immediately.

Axel stepped toward me and put a gentle but firm hand on my arm. "We need to go, Luna," he said softly.

I pulled my arm away. "No!" I turned to face Rhydor. "Did you do this? Is this your work?"

Nothing. He didn’t even flicker an eyelid toward me. He just stared at the body on the platform. Cold. Silent. Like I was a piece of furniture.

"Rhydor!" I stepped closer, my voice rising. "Did you hurt this person? Is this what you do when no one is looking?"

"Luna." Axel’s voice was firm now. He stepped between me and the platform. "You need to leave. Right now."

"I’m not going anywhere until he looks at me and answers!" I snapped.

Axel looked at me with those steady, sad eyes. "He will explain it all later. But please you cannot be here for this."

I stared at him, then looked back at Rhydor. He still hadn’t looked at me. It felt like I didn’t even exist to him. Something sharp and painful twisted in my chest. I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms, then I turned and headed for the stairs without another word.

Axel followed me quietly. We walked through a narrow, freezing underground passage. The torches on the walls flickered, casting long, shaky shadows.

"What was that?" I finally whispered. "Who could do that to a person? It was Rhydor right?"

"The Alpha will explain it when the time is right," Axel said, his voice level.

I let out a bitter, hollow laugh. "Really? You know him, Axel. "He won’t explain anything. He won’t even look at me." I hugged my own arms, the silk of my dress feeling thin and useless against the chill he’d left in the air.

Axel didn’t say anything to that. He just kept walking.

"Why was Genevieve there?" I asked after a few more steps.

Axel glanced at me. "She knows about things like this. Old things. Strange things the rest of us don’t understand."

I frowned. "So she just... knows about dead bodies and old things?"

"She knows more than most people think," Axel said quietly.

The way he said it made me shut up. ​

We reached the top of the secret stairs, and Axel pressed a hidden latch on the wall. A heavy wooden panel, one that looked just like the rest of the library wall swung open. We stepped out into the quiet, dim hallway of the packhouse.

​"I need to find Liona," I whispered, my heart racing. "I left her alone on the path when... when it happened."

​Axel nodded, his face serious. "I’ll walk with you. You shouldn’t be wandering alone right now."

​We headed toward the grand entrance of the packhouse. We were just reaching the foyer when the massive front doors swung open. I stopped dead in my tracks.

​Liona was there. She was stumbling inside, looking like she had just escaped a nightmare. Her face was as white as a sheet, her hands were shaking at her sides, and tears were already streaming down her cheeks.

​Axel and I stopped right in front of her. He stayed silent, his arms crossed over his chest, watching her with a sharp, knowing look.

​"Liona? What happened?" I asked, rushing toward her.

​"Azura." Her voice broke the second she saw me. She didn’t even seem to notice Axel standing right there next to me. "I’m in trouble. Deep, deep trouble."

"What happened? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head frantically. "No, I’m not hurt. But... him. The Alpha." She was stammering, her words coming out in a rush. "I didn’t know you were gone. I just kept talking. I kept walking beside you and laughing and..."

She stopped, taking a shaky breath. "And I said things. Bad things. Really, really bad things."

My stomach dropped. "What kind of things?"

Liona’s face crumbled. "I called him cold. I called him stupid. I said he didn’t deserve to be Alpha. I said he deserved to rot alone without a mate." She let out a sob. "I said all of it. Right to his face. I thought I was talking to you."

I stared at her. Part of me wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it was, but I knew how serious this was.

"Liona..."

"I didn’t even realize it was him," she whispered. "Until I noticed something."

"Noticed what?"

"The way the body moved," she said, her voice trembling. "The way it stood. The way the eyes looked at me. It wasn’t you right?"

"No," I said softly. "It wasn’t me."

Liona’s legs almost gave out. She leaned on me for support.

"Oh! So everything I said... he heard it. Every single word."

I didn’t answer. We both knew the truth. Rhydor had been standing right there, back in his body, forced to listen to her insult him for a few seconds, no wonder he was so angry when he walked in.

Liona grabbed my hands again, squeezing them hard.

"Please," she whispered, her eyes full of terror. "Protect me. You have to protect me, he will kill me."

I looked at her, at the tears and the fear. "Protect you from him?" I asked quietly.

She nodded. "You’re his mate. That has to mean something. He won’t hurt me if you tell him not to. Right?"

I thought about the way Rhydor had looked right through me in that cold stone room. Like I was a ghost.

I let out a laugh, but there was no joy in it. "He doesn’t even want me, Liona. He might just kill us both and be done with it."

"No! That can’t be true!"

"It is."

"But... mates are supposed to care!" she cried. "Everyone says so!"

I looked at the packhouse doors. I thought about the fire in his eyes and the silence in his soul. "That’s not how our bond works," I said quietly.

Liona’s grip tightened. "Please," she begged. "Please don’t let him hurt me."

I looked at her for a long time. She was my friend. My Second Hand. I couldn’t let anything happen to her.

"I’ll protect you," I said, and I meant it with everything I had.