Chapter 63 The Lie She Sold

RONAN

What was this rage burning inside my chest?

It wasn’t just fury. Fury, I understood. This bwas /bsomething darker. bWilder/b. Filthier. bAnd /bit erupted bthe /bmoment he dared to spew filth about her. I had killed before, without pause, without guilt. Age, gender, race… none of it ever mattered. All I saw was the life I needed to take.

But this bastard?

I wanted more bthan /bhis life, I wanted his heart in my bhand/b, still beating, when I crushed it.

“Hey,” he grinned, blood staining his teeth, “what’s with the bloodthirsty re? It’s bnot /blike we’re enemies. We don’t even bknow /beach other. Yet, you send that pretty little bAlpha /baway band /be here to kill bme/bb? /bAm I missing bsomething/b, or do you want a piece of his ass too?”

The words detonated inside my head like a bbomb/b,

My ws shredded flesh as blood spattered across us both, but it was bthat /bwicked little smirk–so calm, so amused–that cracked thest thread of sanity left inside me.

bWith /ba bferal /broar. I bmmed /bhim into the bground/bb. /bbThe /bearth trembled bbeneath /bbthe /bimpact.

But even pinned down, the bastardughed.

“Heheheh…” he rasped, his voice a sick blend of mockery band /bmalice. “You care bthat /bmuch for that soft li

thing? bYou /breally

came running back just for him? Or is it killing you inside that someone else might get bto /btaste what you never could?”

That was it.

I didn’t respond with words. Just rage. Brutal, primal, world–ending rage.

He wed at my chest, slicing through muscle as if it were paper. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I drove my elbow into his jaw with a sickening crunch, grabbed his blood–soaked body, and hurled him into a tree. The trunk cracked violently, splinters flying as he mmed into it and dropped—only to rise again.

Grinning

Lips split. Face soaked in blood. Eyes glinting with something far beyond bmadness/b.

We collided bagain /blike monsters born from the bdepths /bof Hell.

“bStop /bbtalking /bbabout /bbhim /bwith your filthy mouth!” I roared.

ws tour through skin. Fangs snapped. Bone met bbone /bin bpunishing /bblows. We didn’t bblock /banymore–we devoured the bdamage/b. He bit into my shoulder; I plunged my ws into his ribs. We crashed into rocks, binto /bsplintered logs–into banything /bsolid enough to break a body.

The wind howled. The forest shook. But we fought bon/b.

Through gritted, bloodied teeth, he bhisseid/b, “Stop talking about the bpretty /bbAlpha/b? But beverything /bl’in bsaying/b…ites from here He tapped his chest, grin widening. “And these aren’t even mine. These are his thoughts. I am just bspeaking /bit loud and trust me I love your traction”

I drove bmy /bknee into his gut and gripped his bthroat /bagain. “What the bfuck /bare you saying? That Fun bthinks /babout Seth

He sat blood in my face band /bsmiled wider. “Who wouldn’t? That pretty lule face, dripping in bseductive /bbcharm/b? Even Alpha Ashier can’t look away”

My staze snappeil to bAsher/b. Just beyond the battlefield, he stood frozen, staring at bSeraphina /bbas /bbshe /bgripped a rogue by the that interrogating him with desperate fire in her eyes bAnd /bAsher he looked enchantes, Possessed. Like he was seeing her

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Chapter 63 The Lie She Sold

My mind nked. My breath caught.

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The imposter’s eyes gleamed–and in bthat /bmoment of hesitation, he lunged. I barely leapt back in btime /bto avoid his ws shing through my throat.

“I’ve only had this body for a few hours.” he growled, circling me like a predator, “but I bsee /beverything. His memories. His desires. He didn’t just feel friendship for Seth. It ran deeper. Much deeper. He licked the blood from his lips. “And it’s still in there, just buried beneath me,

My fist mmed into his face with a bone–shattering crack.

“shut. The fuck. Up!”

“Why should 12” heughed, dodging my next blow with a fluid backflip,nding like ba /bking atop the bloodstained altar stone. “Don’t like hearing what bFinn /bthought about? Then let me share all his secrets with you.”

I froze. “Secrets?”

“Everyone has them. Even you,” bhe /bsmirked, stepping down from the altar like royalty descending to judge a peasant. “But his? Oh, they’re delicious. I could tell you everything–who he is, bwhat /bhe really thinks of that pretty bAlpha /bover there and bwhat /bhis intentions are.”

I never liked or disliked Finn. Honestly, I hadn’t beven /bknown his bname /buntil Seraphina came along and formed a bond with him. But the way she smiled at him…and the way he smiled back?

It made something inside me snap.

Men know how to read other men. bAnd /bI read him. I had bread /ball of them–Dante, Asher, Reed, Cassius. Every nce, every twitch, every flicker of desire they sent her way. I saw it all.

And it enraged me.

“I’ll make byou /ba deal,” he offered, strolling toward me bwith /barrogance. “I’ll tell you every one of his secrets. But in return, dig a grave and leave. Walk away without bthis /bAlpha. Because I’m not giving him up. I like this body. It fits. I’ll rebuild my pack. start over with that stronger bAlpha /bwho ughtered my wolves–and the little one, btoo/b. You? You can walk away. Let me live.

bLet /bme bwin/b.”

I stared at him, silent..

Then I smiled, cold and merciless. “I bhave /ba better bn/bb./b”

I half–shifted, my ws gleaming bas /bI stepped forward. “I’ll kill you inside that body. So you never get reborn. Then I’ll burn every trace of your existence from this cursed mountainb.” /b

His grin vanished.

The mask of smug superiority cracked.

“You leave me no choice!” he screamed, band /bbshifted/b.

We shed bagain /bwith monstrous fury Something bsnapped /bin my bwrist /bas I bblocked /ba brutal bswing/b. I retaliated by braking /bmy ws down his back, ying muscle from bbone/b. He broared/b, bspun/b, elbowed my jaw, tackled bme /bto the bground/bb. /bHis ws bcame /bfor my throat. I bcaught /bthem mid–swing and mmed my forehead binto /bhis skull with a bthunderous /bbcrunch/b.

Only one of us would leave this ce alive.

It wouldn’t be hum

Llunged for his heart, ss poised to strike-

Suddenly, Seraphina threw herself between us, blocking my attack with her own body:

Behind her. Asher did the same–intercepting the imposter’s next bstrike /band dragging hun away toward the other side of the

rld

““Stop” she whispered, her voice trembling as she met my eyes–my wolf’s eyes.

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Chapter 63 The Lie She Sold

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“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I growled. If I hadn’t stopped in time, my hand would’ve gone clean through her

chest.

“Stop. All of this. Now,” she said, bvoice /blow but unyielding.

I bshook /bmy bhead/b. “I’m not stopping until that thing is bdead/b.”

“You can’t kill him. He’s still Finn.”

My blood boiled at the desperation shining in her eyes, for him. “He’s gone! He’s beenpletely overtaken! He’s bnot /bing back!”

“He will! I found a bway/b. I bknow /bhow to bring him bback/b.”

Her hand that was on mine trembled, but it didn’t falterb. /bShe wouldn’t let me kill bhim/b. Not while she still believed he could be saved. bAnd /beven if I went after his life after bthat/b, I could tell she would block me with everything.

The look in her eyes, for him, was unbearable.

“bWhat /bif you bfail/b?” I whispered, voice like gravel.

“I won’t,” she said with babsolute /bcertainty. “But I need your help.”

My wolf went still

Something in me, against all logic, believed her.

Fine. But I bhave /bone condition.”

“What is it?”

I abruptly dropped bmy /bbhand/b, letting her stumble forward, then pulled her into my chest. “The second this is over… we bleave/b. Together. Immediately.”

Her eyes met mine. For a moment, something flickered in their depthsb, /bsomething I couldn’t read.

“Okay,” she promised.

Did I imagine it?

She pulled away sharply, turning to the bbloodied /bbattlefield where Asher and Finn were locked in brutalbat.

b“/bbAsher/b, now!” she bshouted/b, bgrabbing /bmy bhand /band dragging me toward two fig trees. “Rip the root, btie /bbhim /bto bthe /bbtree/b! We

jave one minute!”

I didn’t understand. bBut /bI bobeyed/b.

I tore a thick broot /bfree from the earth while bAsher /bkicked Finn into a tree with ba /bsavage grunt, pinning him there as he fought and writhed

“Quick!” Asher bellowed, pressing him back.

I charged forward, root in bhand/b–bjust /bas I caught Seraphina bin /btheer of bmy /beye. Dropping blood onto the grave.

What the hell bwas /bshe doing.

And then-

“bFun /bising back!” Asher yelled.

My eyes went to Finn’s white eyes bthat /bwere returning to norinal and then my eyes snapped to Seraphina whose’s amber eyes started turning white bas /bbshe /bstood at the edge of the cliff behind the fig trees

My feet bstopped /band the broot /bdropped bmy /bhand.

you just do?” my voice rathe out dow bas /bI realised she btook /bthe bevil /bthing into herself and took a step back btowards /b

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Chapter 63 The Lie She Sold

the edge.

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-Don’t you dare to do it, 1 shook bmy /bbhead/b, my wolf speaking with me as my eyes were full of warning. “I swear I will find you and kill you if byou/b…”

“I blied/b,” she whispered, throwing herself back over the cliff.

My heart dropped into my stomach. “NOOO!!” I braced /bto the cliff only to be held back by a pair of hands just before I was about to jump, my eyes locked with hers as she mouthed. “I will be back.”

She disappeared under the fog of a cliff.

My mind nked, my wolf frozen in the depth of my bmind/b. She had nned it all from bthe /bbeginning. She performed the ritual to break Finn’s curse but jumped off to kill the evil. She jumped into the bfog /bforest.

“I will be back. Herst whisper, her dead white eyes lingered in my mind like a poison

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My

And then every emotion within me was crushed.

y hand covered my face as I looked at the fog from the gap between my fingers where she disappeared.