The Cursed Alpha's Fifth Luna

Nina didn’t know when she’d fallen asleep.

She had spent hours rehearsing what she would say to Rodrigo when he finally returned. At some point, exhausting her own mind, she had closed her eyes and drifted off.

A sudden, heavy sound startled her from her slumber.

She blinked awake to the muffled chaos of shouting voices outside. For a moment, she remained completely still, her mind struggling to catch up. The room was swallowed in pitch darkness. The fire in the hearth had long since died, leaving only pale streaks of moonlight seeping through the heavy curtains.

She reached out. The space beside her in the bed was freezing. Untouched.

Rodrigo hadn’t returned.

A deep crease formed between her brows. Pushing the blankets aside, she slipped out of bed, her bare feet instantly meeting the biting cold of the floor. She crossed the room, unlocked the window, and slid it open.

The cool night air rushed inside, but it was the sight below that made her breath catch.

The courtyard was flooded with blinding torchlight. Dozens of Lycan warriors stood in rigid formations, their armor glinting beneath the dancing flames. Others hurried frantically between the Pack House and the outer gates, their movements brisk, their expressions grim.

Nothing about this looked normal.

"What is going on?" The whisper slipped from her lips before she even realized she’d spoken aloud.

Her eyes frantically searched the crowd below, looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

A tight, painful knot coiled slowly in her stomach. What was going on? Why hadn’t anyone come to wake her?

Stepping away from the window, she hurried to the bedroom door and pulled it open without hesitation. The two guards assigned to her room were exactly where she’d left them, standing like stone statues on either side of the entrance.

"The Alpha," she demanded, her voice cutting through the hall. "Where is he?"

The two guards exchanged a brief, uneasy glance.

"We do not know, Luna," the first one replied.

Nina stared at them, disbelief coloring her face. "You don’t know?"

Neither man answered.

Her frown deepened. "Have neither of you bothered to find out what is happening in the courtyard?"

The second guard lowered his head, avoiding her gaze. "We were given strict orders not to leave your door, Luna."

The answer only deepened the cold unease twisting inside her gut. Without another word, Nina brushed right past them.

"Luna—!" one of the guards called out, stepping forward to intercept her.

She didn’t stop. Her pace quickened as she descended the staircase. The noise from outside grew louder with every step she took towards it. She crossed the threshold of the entrance hall and stepped out onto the open stone pavement. Only then did she halt.

The courtyard stretched before her, completely filled with warriors. There were too many. Far too many for a normal night.

Something was wrong.

The Lycans turned almost as a single unit the moment they noticed her presence.

"Luna."

The greeting rippled through the courtyard as heads bowed in respect. Nina barely acknowledged them. Her eyes swept across the courtyard, searching for him.

Still, she couldn’t find him.

Instead, her gaze locked onto Seven. He stood a short distance away, aggressively issuing orders to a group of high-ranking Lycans.

"...You take the first floors," Seven was saying, his voice gravelly. "Search all rooms."

The warriors he was speaking to, bowed and moved immediately.

Seven turned, and his eyes met hers. He stilled.

Nina’s brows knitted together. It was only then, beneath the bright flare of the torches, that she noticed it.

Blood.

Dark, horrific stains covered the entire front of Seven’s shirt, spreading thick across his sleeves and drying heavily against the fabric.

Her heartbeat stumbled. Then, it began to violently race.

She closed the distance between them, moving quickly through the parting crowd. Her eyes swept the courtyard one last time, praying to see his towering figure. Still... no Rodrigo.

Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

"Seven?" her voice wavered, barely carrying over the wind.

He turned to face her fully. The moment she reached him, her eyes dropped back to his chest. Blood. So much blood. The dark stains had already dried in places, soaking completely through the fabric from his shoulder down to his waist.

Her breath hitched in her throat. "What happened to you?"

She frantically searched his body for a wound, her eyes darting over his chest, his arms, his side. But she couldn’t find a single tear in his skin.

Her gaze snapped up to his face. "Where’s Rodrigo?"

She looked past his shoulder, scanning the courtyard yet again. The steps. The training grounds. The main entrance. "I don’t see him anywhere, Seven."

Seven didn’t answer immediately. He looked away. The movement was small, almost imperceptible, but Nina caught it instantly.

"He’s fine," Seven said at last. His voice was steady. Too steady. "He stepped out for a bit. Please return to your chambers, Luna. I’ll send your maid up to you."

Nina stared at him. A cold, sickening dread spread through her chest. Slowly, her eyes drifted back down to the blood covering his shirt.

She looked closer this time. There were no tears in the heavy cloth. No cuts. No wounds.

The blood wasn’t his.

Her heartbeat lurched violently against her ribs. No. Her throat tightened until she could barely breathe. She raised her eyes, forcing them into his.

"Where is he?" The question came out as a fragile whisper.

Seven remained dead silent.

Nina took another aggressive step closer, tears of pure panic finally stinging her eyes. "Don’t lie to me," her voice broke, a sob catching in her throat. "Where is the Alpha?"

Seven closed his eyes for the briefest moment. There was no point in hiding it anymore; the entire pack already knew. When he spoke, his voice was hollow.

"He’s at the infirmary, he was struck with an arrow laced with wolfsbane."

The moment the words left his mouth, everything else disappeared. A sharp, deafening ringing filled Nina’s ears. She didn’t hear whatever Seven said next. She was already moving.

One step. Then another. And then... she ran.

"Luna!" Seven’s voice echoed like thunder through the courtyard.

Nina didn’t stop. She didn’t even look back. She tore through the ranks of warriors, her mind screaming.

Seven watched her disappear into the crowd before his gaze snapped to a nearby guard. "Moreen. Go after the Luna."

Without a second of hesitation, The guard who was watching the small group she was in, released her, and she broke into a full sprint after Nina.

Nina’s chest tightened with every agonizing step. She couldn’t breathe. She refused to think. If she allowed herself to think—even for a fraction of a second—then she would have to face the terrifying reality that something fatal had happened to Rodrigo.

No. Nothing happened. He is fine. He has to be.

Rodrigo was an Alpha. He was strong. Stronger than any lycan. He couldn’t...

No. She refused to finish the thought.

Her vision blurred into a smear of torchlight as tears flooded her eyes, but she didn’t slow down.

"Luna!" Moreen’s voice screamed from somewhere behind her. "That’s not the way!"

Nina’s steps faltered. She looked around wildly, suddenly realizing she had run blindly toward the training grounds instead of the eastern wing.

A moment later, Moreen caught up to her, bent over double as she struggled to catch her breath. "It’s this way," she gasped, pointing a trembling finger toward a narrow stone path. "The infirmary."

The word made Nina’s stomach twist into a violent knot. She didn’t wait for Moreen to recover. She ran down the path.

The infirmary building came into view moments later. And for the first time since leaving her room, Nina’s steps slowed to a crawl.

Armed warriors completely surrounded the stone structure. Servants hurried in and out of the front doors, carrying bowls of steaming water, heavy bundles of medicinal herbs, and bloodstained cloths.

But no one was talking.

The absolute, suffocating silence hanging over the building was far more terrifying than any open panic. Her heart hammered painfully against her ribs.

Then, she saw them.

Charlotte and Dominic.

The mother and son stood on the dark veranda, speaking to one another in hushed, low voices. The exact moment they noticed her approaching, their conversation stopped dead. Neither of them smiled. Neither of them moved an inch.

Nina rushed right past them, ascending the wooden steps without sparing either of them a single glance. She crossed the threshold into the building.

Inside, the atmosphere was chaotic but eerily quiet. Servants moved frantically from one room to another, each pausing only long enough to lower their heads as she passed.

"Luna," they whispered.

Nina ignored them entirely. "Where is he?" she demanded to the room. No one answered. Her eyes darted from one terrified face to another. "Where is the Alpha?"

Still, nothing but a heavy, damning silence. The servants lowered their gazes to the floor. None of them dared to speak. None of them dared to look her in the eye.

A cold, paralyzing dread settled over her skin. "Did you not hear me?" her voice trembled violently, rising in pitch. "Where is he?!"

"The Alpha isn’t here."

Charlotte’s sharp voice cut through the room from directly behind her.

Nina went entirely still. Her fingers curled into her palms so tightly that her nails bit into her skin, drawing blood. For a long, agonizing moment, she couldn’t even bring herself to turn around.

Then, slowly... she forced herself to face Charlotte.

"What..." Nina whispered, the words dying in her throat. "...did you just say?"