Chapter 7 Betrayal in the Pack

📖 Moonblooded: The Alpha's Cursed Mate

Chapter 5: Betrayal in the Pack (Part 1)

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Shivana hadn't expected to wake up to shouting.

But when she stepped into the hallway outside her chamber, she found chaos waiting for her.

Pack warriors rushed down the corridor, eyes sharp, weapons drawn. Servants whispered in corners, fear blooming like rot. Somewhere in the east wing, a window shattered.

"What's going on?" she asked a passing guard.

He barely slowed. "A rogue was spotted on the grounds. He escaped the holding cells. Alpha's orders are to secure the perimeter."

Rogue?

The word sent a chill through her blood. Rogues were wolves without allegiance - banished, hunted, broken. Dangerous.

But something about this didn't feel right.

She followed the noise to the lower halls, where the scent of blood lingered in the air. Kade's voice echoed off the stone walls, sharp and commanding.

"Don't let him reach the forest!" he barked. "If he escapes the border-"

A loud crash cut him off.

Shivana ducked behind a column just in time to see two guards being hurled aside like paper. A tall, wild-eyed man in torn leathers charged through the corridor, snarling. His skin was marked with deep claw scars, and his scent was strange - familiar... and wrong.

Then his gaze landed on her.

"You," he growled.

Shivana froze.

The rogue lunged at her-

But in the blink of an eye, Kade tackled him from the side, sending them both crashing to the ground in a mess of snarls and fists.

"Run!" Kade yelled.

But Shivana couldn't move. Because in that rogue's eyes... she'd seen something impossible.

Recognition.

Not the kind that came from battle.

The kind that came from memory.

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The rogue was captured again within minutes. Beaten, bloodied, and dragged into the dungeons. Kade gave orders for extra guards and tighter patrols before storming back into the mansion.

Shivana waited for him in the war room.

He slammed the door shut behind him.

"Why were you out of your chambers?" he demanded.

"Why didn't you tell me someone broke out of your prison?" she snapped back.

He looked at her with fire in his eyes. "That rogue tried to kill you."

"No, he didn't," she said. "He looked at me like he knew me."

Kade stiffened. "You're imagining things."

"No," she said. "I've seen his face before. In the visions. He was there the night I was hidden. He's not just a rogue, Kade - he's part of my past."

"That man is a traitor," Kade said coldly. "He killed one of my Betas during the last war. He shouldn't even be alive."

"But he is," she said. "And I need answers."

"You're not going down there."

"I wasn't asking."

Kade's eyes narrowed. "You don't get to defy me."

She stepped toward him, eyes blazing. "And you don't get to keep me in the dark anymore."

There was a long silence.

The air between them felt like it could split.

And then Kade said something she didn't expect.

"He called you Alera."

Her heart stopped. "What?"

"When he saw you. Before he attacked. He said, Alera lives."

Shivana's head spun.

Alera.

The name rang inside her like a forgotten song. It wasn't her name - and yet, it was.

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📖 Moonblooded: The Alpha's Cursed Mate

Chapter 5: Betrayal in the Pack (Part 2)

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The name wouldn't leave her mind.

Alera.

It echoed in Shivana's bones like it had always belonged there, even if her lips had never spoken it.

"Who is Alera?" she asked, her voice quiet but firm.

Kade hesitated.

"She was the last heir of the Lost House," he said. "Vanished during the Night of Embers. No one ever found her body. Some say she died in the fire. Others... say she was hidden."

"And now you think I'm her?" Shivana asked, her pulse racing.

"No," Kade said. "I think you were never Shivana at all."

That truth hit her harder than any physical blow.

She turned away, unable to look at him. "So my whole life was a lie."

"I don't think it was meant to be a lie," he said gently. "I think someone saved you. Hid you. Changed your name to keep you alive."

Her knees nearly buckled, but Kade was there, catching her before she fell. He pulled her into his arms without hesitation. And for once, she didn't resist.

She let herself feel it.

The heat of him.

The way her heartbeat synced with his.

How his touch soothed the mark on her skin like magic.

"I don't know who I am anymore," she whispered.

"You're mine," he said quietly.

She looked up at him, startled.

Kade's eyes burned like twin storms, his voice low and raw. "Whatever name you wore. Whatever you've become. The bond chose you. I didn't ask for it, but it's here. And I can't turn it off."

He was too close.

Her body was already responding to his presence - the warmth of his chest, the slow, dangerous pull of his scent.

"Kade..." she breathed.

He leaned in.

And for a heartbeat, she didn't stop him.

Their lips brushed.

A whisper of fire.

A taste of danger.

A kiss that was more truth than passion.

But just as his hand slid around her waist, the door burst open.

A guard rushed in, breathless. "Alpha - the rogue's escaped again."

Kade pulled back immediately, his face hardening. "How?"

The guard hesitated. "The holding cell... was opened from the inside."

Silence.

Kade turned to Shivana slowly.

And in his eyes, there was something new.

Doubt.

"You think I had something to do with this?" she asked, voice tight with disbelief.

"I don't know," he said. "But I know someone let him out. And you're the only one he didn't try to kill."

Her blood ran cold.

The kiss.

The confession.

And now... betrayal?

"You kissed me and then accused me?" she hissed. "What are you, Kade - Alpha or coward?"

Before he could answer, she shoved past him and walked out of the war room, slamming the door behind her.

And this time... she didn't look back.

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