Chapter 267: Behind The Assassins

​Liam’s POV

​"Two masked assassins," I repeated, my voice low and dark like approaching thunder.

​The warmth that had filled the bedroom just moments ago vanished, replaced by a cold, deadly rage. I looked down at Scarlett, whose sea-blue eyes were wide with sudden shock, and then at my brothers.

​"Stay here with her," I told Leo and Leonard, my fingers tightening into fists. "I will go and check this myself."

​They both nodded, their faces turning completely serious. Leo moved closer to Scarlett, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulders, while Leonard kept a firm hold on her hand. They knew as well as I did that whoever sent these killers was trying to tear our new world apart before it could even begin.

​I followed the Head Warrior out of the bedroom and marched straight down to the dark dungeon beneath the mansion.

​When I stepped into the stone cell, I saw two men tied tightly to heavy wooden chairs. Their masks had already been ripped off, revealing two completely random, ordinary men. They didn’t have the scent of our pack, but they didn’t smell like vampires either. They were rogue mercenaries—hired guns who killed for money.

​I stepped closer, my Alpha aura heavy enough to make the stone walls feel like they were closing in. "Who sent you?" I demanded.

​The man on the left just spat on the blood-stained floor and looked away. The other kept his mouth tightly shut, refusing to speak a single word.

​A dark, brutal anger flared in my chest. These monsters had come into my home to kill my mate while she lay dying from vampire poison. I was done being patient. I was done playing games.

​"If you think you can stay silent in my dungeon, you are sadly mistaken," I growled, turning to the guard standing near the door. "Bring me a bucket of boiling hot water from the kitchen. Bring it now."

​The guard bowed quickly and rushed out.

​The two men didn’t move, but I saw the smaller one swallow hard, his eyes darting to the door.

​"I am going to pour it over your skin, inch by inch," I said, my voice completely calm and deadly. "But don’t worry, I will make sure to keep you alive. My healers will fix you just enough so we can do this again tomorrow. And the day after that. I will burn you daily until you give me a name."

​Minutes later, the guard returned, carrying a heavy metal bucket. Steam rose from the surface, the water bubbling hot enough to melt skin. I took the handle, stepping right up to the first assassin. I tipped the bucket slightly, letting just a few boiling drops splash onto his bare thigh.

​The man let out a sharp, ear-piercing scream as his skin instantly turned blistered and red.

​I moved the bucket toward the second assassin’s face, the hot steam rising into his terrified eyes. "You’re next. Who paid you?"

​"Stop! Stop! I’ll talk!" the second man shrieked, his body shaking violently against the ropes as he stared at the boiling water. "It was your wives! It was the queens!"

​I froze, the heavy bucket shaking slightly in my grip. "What did you say?"

​"The Alphas’ wives!" the man cried out, tears of pure terror running down his face. "Queen Camila and her sisters! They paid us to kill the wolf girl! They said she was a threat to their positions! Please, don’t burn me!"

​I scoffed in pure, burning anger. The water in the bucket sloshed as I slammed it down onto the floor. Camila. Bianca. Talia. Our arranged, political wives. Women we had married only for the sake of pack alliances—women we had never loved, never marked, and never truly accepted.

​I didn’t waste another second. I stormed out of the dungeon and instantly opened the mind-link to my brothers.

​Leo. Leonard, I roared into their heads. The assassins talked. It was Camila, Bianca, and Talia. They sent them to kill Scarlett.

​A heavy, furious silence echoed through the link before Leonard’s voice came through, cold as ice. We are coming down.

​No, I ordered. Bring Scarlett outside. I am going to end this right now, in front of everyone.

​I looked at the nearest maid standing in the hallway, her face pale from hearing my angry footsteps. "Go to the queens’ quarters. Summon Camila, Bianca, and Talia outside the packhouse immediately."

​Then, I turned to the Head Guard. "Ring the emergency bell. Notify everyone in the Full Moon Pack to gather at the front courtyard right now."

​Within minutes, the massive courtyard outside the packhouse was completely filled with hundreds of wolves. The loud, heavy ringing of the bell had brought everyone running.

​Camila, Bianca, and Talia walked out of the mansion doors, their long silk dresses trailing behind them. They looked confused, glancing around at the massive crowd. They had absolutely no idea that their assassins had already been caught. Bianca held her chin high, trying to look royal, while Camila and Talia whispered to each other.

​A moment later, the crowd parted. Leo and Leonard walked out onto the grand stone steps, with Scarlett standing safely between them. She looked pale, but her posture was strong, her sea-blue eyes locked tightly on the three wives.

​The Head Warrior and his men marched out next, dragging the two tied, bleeding assassins into the center of the courtyard, dropping them right at the wives’ feet.

​The moment Camila saw the two men, her face went completely white. Talia gasped, her body turning stiff and tight as she stepped back, while Bianca’s eyes narrowed in sudden, sharp panic.

​"These two men were caught trying to slip into the mansion to murder Scarlett," I announced, my voice booming across the entire courtyard so every single pack member could hear. I walked up the steps, standing tall beside my brothers and our true mate.

​I looked down at the assassins. "Speak. Tell the pack who paid you."

​The terrified assassin pointed a shaking finger straight at the three women. "Them! Queen Camila, Queen Bianca, and Queen Talia! They gave us the gold! They gave us the layout of the mansion!"

​The entire courtyard erupted into shocked gasps and loud whispers. The pack members looked at the three queens in utter disbelief.

​"Lies! This is a setup!" Camila shrieked, her voice high and frantic as she looked around at the crowd. "We are the queens of this pack! We would never do such a thing! Liam, you cannot believe these random criminals!"

​"Yes! They are trying to frame us!" Talia added, her hands shaking as she tried to hide behind her sister.

​I scoffed, stepping down the stairs toward them, my Alpha aura flaring so hard that the nearest wolves dropped to their knees. "I knew you would deny it. But a rogue mercenary doesn’t know the secret royal layout of our private halls unless someone inside gives it to them. And they certainly don’t carry the gold coins stamped with your family’s personal crest, which we found in their bags."

​Leonard stepped forward, his voice calm but deadlier than a blade. "Do not lie to us. We are Alphas. We can feel the truth. We know exactly what you did."

​Bianca saw the fury in our eyes, and she knew they were trapped. Her royal mask completely broke. "We did it to protect our place!" she screamed suddenly, her face twisting with bitter jealousy. "We spent years building our status in this pack! Then this... this little wolf shows up, and you three drop everything for her? You ignore us for her? She was going to ruin everything!"

​"She is our mate!" Leo roared, his voice shaking the trees around the courtyard.

​The crowd gasped again, louder this time. The murmurs turned into a roar of shock.

​I turned my back on the three women, looking out at the entire gathered pack. "From this moment on, Camila, Bianca, and Talia are instantly not our wives. As you all know, they were never our true mates. We never marked them. We never loved them."

​I reached out, taking Scarlett’s hand and pulling her forward so she stood proudly at the top of the steps for the entire pack to see.

​"Scarlett is our only true mate," I declared, my voice ringing with absolute pride and power. "Mine, Leo’s, and Leonard’s. She is your true Luna. And for the crime of several attempts of assassination against the royal mate, they must face a punishment that matches their betrayal," I finished, my eyes dark as I looked down at the three trembling women.

​The courtyard was completely silent. Every wolf was waiting to hear what the punishment would be.

​Leo stepped forward, his face hard as flint. "We know who you are," he said out loud so the pack could hear. "You are the daughters of an Alpha. Your father is a powerful man, and we have an alliance with them. But an alliance does not buy forgiveness for trying to murder our mate."

​"We will not start an instant war by spilling your blood today," Leonard added, his voice calm but terrifyingly cold. "But you will pay a heavy price. You will carry your crimes on your skin for the rest of your miserable lives."

​I turned back to the Head Warrior. "Bring out the branding irons. The silver ones."

​Hearing those words, Camila let out a sharp shriek of terror. Talia dropped to her knees on the stone steps, sobbing loudly, while Bianca’s face turned completely white.

​The pack warriors moved fast. They brought out a small metal pot filled with burning hot coals. Resting inside it were three silver branding irons, the metal glowing a dangerous, bright red. The end of each iron was shaped into the pack’s ancient mark for a traitor—a broken wolf skull.

​"No! Liam, please! You can’t do this to us!" Camila screamed, trying to scramble backward on her hands and knees. "Our father will destroy this pack!"

​"Your father should try!" I growled, stepping down the stairs.

​The guards pinned the three women down onto the stone floor of the courtyard. They held them flat, pulling the fabric of their dresses away to expose their right shoulders.

​I took the first glowing silver iron from the hot coals. The silver hissed in the cool night air. I stepped up to Bianca first. She glared up at me with bitter hatred, but the moment I pressed the red-hot silver directly onto her shoulder, her pride vanished.

​SSSSSS!

​A loud, sickening sizzle filled the air as the silver burned deep into her flesh. Bianca screamed, a high, ear-piercing sound of pure agony. The silver magic in the iron made sure the wound would never fully heal; it would stay as a dark, ugly, painful scar forever, blocking her wolf from ever repairing the skin.

​Leonard took the second iron, walking over to Camila. With a steady hand, he pressed it down. Camila howled in pain, her body twitching violently against the guards as the traitor’s mark burned into her skin.

​Finally, Leo took the third iron. He didn’t look at Talia with an ounce of pity as he pressed it into her shoulder. Her screams echoed across the courtyard, making the gathered pack members shudder.

​When it was over, the three women lay weeping on the stone floor, the smell of burnt skin and silver smoke rising into the air. They were completely broken, clutching their smoking shoulders in agony.

​I looked down at them, my voice completely heartless.

​"Take them down to the deep dungeon," I ordered the guards. "Lock them in the silver-lined cells. They will stay in that dark hole for two weeks. Let them think about their crimes while the silver keeps their wolves weak and miserable."

​"And what about their father?" the Head Warrior asked.

​"I am sending a message to him tonight," I stated firmly, looking out at the pack. "I will tell him exactly what his daughters did. In two weeks, he will come to our border to take them away himself. He will see the traitor’s mark on their skin, and he will take his shame back to his own territory. If any of these three ever set foot on Full Moon land again after that, they will be hunted down and killed on sight."

​"Drag them away!" Leo roared.

​The guards grabbed the three sobbing women by their arms, lifting them roughly and dragging them down toward the dark cells. No one in the pack argued. No one felt bad for them.

​Once the heavy iron doors of the dungeon slammed shut, the dark feeling in the courtyard finally lifted. The air felt clean again.

​I turned back to the crowd, still holding Scarlett’s warm hand. Leo and Leonard stepped up right beside us, our Alphas’ powers mixing together as one huge, beautiful energy.

​"We have an announcement to make..." I said, looking at my brothers.

​Leo kissed Scarlett’s forehead and announced, "Scarlett is our mate..."

​"Our future Luna," Leonard added.

​"Our future wife," I concluded.

​The warriors and pack members looked up at the four of us standing together on the steps. For the first time, they saw the three Alphas completely united, with no jealousy or fighting between us.

​A loud, joyful howl broke out from the front row. Then another wolf joined, and another. Within seconds, hundreds of wolves threw their heads back, filling the sky with a massive, happy roar to celebrate their true Luna.

​Scarlett looked out at the cheering pack, a beautiful, bright smile on her face. She leaned her body back against the three of us, completely safe, completely loved, and finally home.