Chapter 5 The Hunter's Lie

~ Lena ~

I woke up to the fresh scent of pine and felt Kieran's heartbeat gently thumping against my cheek. His arms were still wrapped around me, holding me close and safe even in his sleep. The night had taken more from me than I cared to admit-snatching away bits of my determination, my control, maybe even my sanity. But in his embrace, I found a flicker of calm.

Almost.

That was until a knock shattered the stillness.

Kieran was up before I could even sit up fully. His movements were like a coiled spring-silent, lethal.

Selene's voice cut through the air. "We have a problem."

Of course we did.

Kieran swung the door open. "What now?"

"Another scout," Selene said, her voice grave. "Dead. And this time, someone left a message."

I swung my legs off the bed. "Where?"

Selene locked eyes with me. "You need to see it for yourself."

____

The body lay in the river bend just beyond the training grounds. Face down, arms outstretched. But it wasn't the position of the scout that made my stomach twist-it was the symbol carved into the ground beside him.

A symbol.

The same one from the burial path.

Three slashes-clean, deep, precise.

The Betrayer's mark.

"Why leave it out in the open?" I asked, crouching next to the body.

"To instill panic," Kieran replied. "Or chaos."

Selene shook her head. "No. This wasn't random. This was personal."

I looked up at her. "Do you know him?"

She nodded once. "His name was Marlow. He was on border patrol last year during the Crescent Hollow massacre. He saw what happened afterward."

"And?"

"He said he witnessed something unnatural. Claimed the killer wasn't fully wolf or fully human. Said it moved like a shadow."

My stomach dropped. "Like a ghost?"

Selene shot me a significant look. "He never filed a formal report. He disappeared for weeks. When he came back, he was different-subdued, nervous. Kieran let him rejoin the team to keep an eye on him."

"And now he's gone," Kieran said quietly.

"Do you think he had information?" I asked.

Kieran clenched his jaw. "He was probably getting too close."

I stood up and stepped back from the corpse, feeling nausea rise in my throat. The phantom inside me was restless, swirling like smoke in my chest. It was disturbed by the blood. It was disturbed by the mark.

Because it knew.

This was a warning.

A declaration.

Someone was tracking us-and they were using my magic to do it.

_____

We walked into the war room, the air thick with tension. Warriors poured in, their expressions serious. I recognized a few from the training grounds-others were strangers. All were armed. All looked ready for a fight.

Kieran stood at the front, his Alpha authority radiating from him like a comforting heat.

"This isn't just murder," he declared. "It's a breach."

He pointed to the mark on the map-the river bend where Marlow's body had been found.

"They're leaving this sign to draw us in. To mislead us."

"Or to tear us apart," Selene added.

All eyes turned to me.

The girl with the phantom blood.

I didn't flinch.

"Someone is imitating my power," I said. "But it's not me."

"How do we know that?" a gruff voice challenged, stepping forward a tall man with sharp eyes. "You're a phantom-born. We've seen what you can do."

"And you've also seen me not do it," I shot back. "Do you really think I'd leave a signature behind if I wanted to kill quietly?"

"She's got a point," Kieran chimed in, moving to stand beside me. "Lena's magic isn't random. It's instinctual. What's happening here is intentional."

"Which means someone is trained," Selene added. "Or possessed."

A heavy silence settled over the room.

No one wanted to voice the thought that hung in the air.

Someone in the pack had betrayed us.

_____

After the meeting, Kieran and I strolled through the training fields, lost in our thoughts. The wind carried the sharp scent of iron and pine. In the distance, warriors were sparring, but their movements were tense-agitated. They felt it too.

The tension. The warning in the air.

"You think someone inside the pack is behind the killings," I said, breaking the silence.

"I know it," Kieran replied firmly. "We've checked the borders. There's no sign of an outside breach. Whoever did this is one of us."

I bit my cheek, pondering. "Why frame me?"

"Because you're the easiest target," he explained. "The one no one trusts yet."

"But you trust me."

"I do," he said, stopping to look me in the eye. "But that makes me a target too. They know I'll protect you."

My heart raced. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying we can't wait for another body to drop. We need to find out who's behind this-and quickly."

A thought flickered in my mind.

"The visions," I said suddenly. "They're not just warnings. They're breadcrumbs. The phantom is trying to lead me to the one responsible."

He frowned. "You really think you can track them through the dream?"

"If I let the phantom in-if I give it a bit more control-I might just be able to find them."

Kieran grabbed my arm, his voice tight with concern. "That's a risk you can't afford to take."

"I don't have a choice," I shot back. "Not if we want answers."

His hand lingered on my arm. "If you dive too deep, you might not come back."

I locked eyes with him, a storm of silver and shadow swirling within.

"Then just bring me back."

______

That night, I prepared myself.

Candles lit, silence enveloping me, salt arranged in a protective circle on the floor.

Kieran was nearby, watching me like a hawk. His presence kept me steady, anchored.

I closed my eyes and let the phantom rise.

It came like a thick fog-slow and heavy, pressing into every inch of me. I slipped back into the vision.

This time, I found myself deep in the pack's forest-but everything felt twisted, wrong. The trees seemed to whisper, alive with secrets. The moon loomed above, a blood-red orb.

And there he was.

A man.

Tall. Cloaked. His face hidden behind a carved mask.

But I recognized his scent.

Faint. Wild. Familiar.

"You're one of us," I declared.

He tilted his head slightly. "I was."

"Why frame me?"

"Because you're the key," he answered. "You're the weapon."

I stepped closer. "Who are you?"

He didn't respond.

Instead, he reached out his hand-and shadows peeled away from his palm, forming a blade of phantom energy.

My blade.

"I'm your future," he whispered. "Unless you stop pretending to be something you're not."

And then he lunged.

I jolted awake with a scream, the salt circle shattered around me. The candles had gone out. Kieran was right there, crouched beside me, his arms wrapped around me.

"You were thrashing," he said, concern etched on his face. "I couldn't get through."

"I saw him," I gasped, still trying to catch my breath. "A masked man. Using my power."

He froze. "Did you see his face?"

"No. But I know his scent."

I pushed myself up, shaky and disoriented, fighting through the fog in my mind.

"I need the hunter files," I insisted. "The list of everyone exiled from the Bloodfang Pack."

Kieran frowned, his brow furrowing. "That list is sealed."

"Then unseal it."

_______

In the archive chamber, deep beneath the Alpha's estate, Kieran unlocked a vault I hadn't even known was there. It creaked open with a hiss, dust swirling in the chilly air.

The hunter files were tucked away in old ledgers, names and crimes scrawled in crimson ink.

We flipped through the pages until one name jumped out at me.

Talon.

The scent on the parchment was the same as the one from my vision.

"Talon was a shadow-born," Kieran said, his voice low. "Trained in stealth. Exiled for trying to summon phantom spirits."

"And now he's back," I whispered, dread creeping in. "And he's using my power."

Kieran's jaw tightened. "Then we finish him off."

"No," I countered. "We capture him."

"Lena-"

"If we kill him now, we lose the chance to find out why he's doing this. Who's helping him. There's so much more to uncover."

Kieran hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Okay. But if he comes after you again-"

"You better be there to stop him," I finished his thought.

He looked at me, his eyes holding something I couldn't quite decipher.

"Always."

_____

The next night, we set our trap.

I wandered through the forest all by myself, unguarded, using my phantom energy as bait. It didn't take long for something to happen.

He came closer, moving without a sound.

One moment, the woods were empty.

The next, Talon stepped out from the shadows.

"Clever girl," he said with a smirk.

"You should have stayed in exile."

"I did," he shot back. "But then I caught your scent."

He raised his hand.

Phantom magic sparked between his fingers.

"You're strong," he noted. "But you're still afraid. That makes you weak."

"Interesting," I replied, taking a step closer. "Because I'm not the one hiding behind a mask."

He lunged at me.

This time, I was ready.

I blocked his blade with mine-phantom clashing against phantom. Sparks of shadow exploded around us. The forest seemed to scream.

Then-

Kieran struck.

He dropped from the trees like a bolt of vengeance, tackling Talon to the ground. They rolled, teeth bared, claws flashing.

I jumped into the fight, my magic flaring, but Talon was too quick. He vanished into the mist, his laughter echoing in the air.

But he left something behind.

A pendant.

Engraved with a name.

Arden.

Kieran picked it up. "That's a name from the council."

"A traitor on the high council," I whispered.

Kieran's expression turned serious.

"This isn't just a killing spree," he said firmly.

"No," I answered. "It's a coup."