Scarred Wolf Queen Chapter 195

**Briony's POV**

"Layla left? Where'd she go?" The words came out sharper than I intended.

Benjamin shook his head, moonlight cutting across his face. "Nobody knows. She just left a note saying there was some emergency and she had to leave immediately. That's it." He paused, voice dropping. "Ethan's losing his mind. She just turned eighteen - we all knew he was convinced they were mates, but she just... disappeared. I think he's terrified he's already lost her."

My chest tightened. Anyone could see they were crazy about each other, just waiting to come of age to make it official. For Ethan, this had to feel like his world was collapsing.

"So this is where you are!"

We spun around. Dora was walking toward us with a heavy basket, wearing that gentle smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Dora?" I blinked. "It's pretty late for..."

"Luna Isabella asked me to bring you some food." She set the basket down, wiping her forehead. "Said you kids probably forgot to eat again."

Benjamin and I exchanged glances. Luna Isabella always looked out for us, but sending Dora with food this late felt like more than simple care.

"There's something else." Dora glanced around, then lowered her voice. "I need to tell you about Maxwell, Christopher, and Alpha Adam."

The air got thick. I felt Benjamin go rigid beside me.

"What's your take?" I asked straight out. We'd all seen the signs, but hearing it confirmed still hit like a punch.

Dora nodded slowly. "I think they ate something, then got hit with a spell. The boys didn't get as much, so they're still somewhat aware, but everything's... delayed. Alpha Adam's worse."

She looked at Benjamin. "You were with Briony every day before this. Victoria's family never got a chance to target you, so you don't act like a puppet the way the other two do."

"There's more," Benjamin said grimly. "The mind link's been cut. Not just between us - all mental communication in the pack is blocked."

Dora stood there like she wanted to say more, then just sighed. "I should head back. Can't stay too long or they'll get suspicious."

Benjamin looked between me and Dora. "I'll walk back with you. Should be getting back anyway."

He turned to me, eyes holding too much. I knew what he was thinking - these days, every goodbye could be the last one.

I stepped forward and hugged him tight, not caring about anything else. He tensed for a second, then pulled me close, burying his face in my hair.

"Be careful," he whispered.

"You too." I closed my eyes, memorizing his scent.

"Good thing it's windy out here," Dora said with a knowing smile. "By the time we get home, most of the scent should be gone."

I watched them disappear into the darkness, feeling hollow.

Back inside, I filled my teammates in on what Dora had told us. The silence that followed was suffocating.

"So now we know for sure they're being controlled," Mark finally said. "Question is, what do we do about it?"

"We need to break the control," Cyrus said. "But first we gotta figure out what kind of magic we're dealing with."

I walked to the bookshelf and grabbed Juniper's magic book. I'd been studying it for days without finding anything useful.

"What're you looking at?" Freya came over.

"The magic book Juniper gave me."

I flipped through pages when something in purple ink caught my eye. Different handwriting - someone else's notes:

*"When facing powerful curses, I once tried every complex method to break them, wasting enormous magical power for nothing. Finally, an old witch told me: 'Child, sometimes the simplest method works best. You don't need to destroy the mountain, just find a way around it.' Her words opened my eyes. Instead of fighting powerful magic head-on, why not find a way to cut off its influence..."*

I froze. A lightbulb went off in my head.

"I'm such an idiot!" I slammed the book shut, practically bouncing.

"What?" Everyone jumped.

"We've been thinking about how to break the control, but we missed something obvious - whoever's casting this is way stronger than us." I was talking fast now. "So instead of fighting it head-on, why not change tactics? We don't need to break the magic, just isolate them from its influence!"

"Isolate how?" Sophia frowned.

I flipped to another section. "Juniper taught me to make protective charms. I only made a few for practice and never had time to give them out, but now they might actually work!"

"Can protective charms really stop that kind of controlling magic?" Mark sounded skeptical.

"Individual charms might not be enough," I admitted, "but combined with isolation spells for double protection, they should block continuous outside influence. It's like..." I searched for the right comparison, "building a wall between them and the magic source."

Freya's eyes lit up. "So even without knowing exactly what magic it is, this could still protect them?"

"In theory, yeah."

We all jumped into action, hunting for charm materials. But we hit a wall pretty fast.

"Red agate, obsidian, moongrass..." Cyrus read off the list, face falling. "This stuff isn't hard to find in the pack, but now that we're cut off, there's no way to get it."

I chewed my lip, thinking hard. We really were trapped in an invisible cage.

"I'll try reaching Benjamin."

Even with the mind link severed, the Sentinel mark gave me stronger mental connections. I could still send one-way messages. I closed my eyes, concentrated, and tried pushing information to Benjamin through that barely-there connection. No idea if he could receive it, or if he could even help get the materials.

Night stretched on, wind howling outside. We sat in the living room, each lost in our own thoughts. Everything felt so critical, but all we could do was pin our hopes on these tiny protective charms.

It was our only shot.

Next morning, I dragged myself to the training ground on maybe two hours of sleep. My mind had been racing all night about the charms. I didn't know if Benjamin got my message, let alone whether he could help.

The training ground was already busy. With most warriors on missions, daily training fell to me. Looking at these familiar faces, my heart twisted. They had no idea their Alpha was being controlled, still working hard to protect the pack.

"Today we're doing coordinated tactics," I called out, trying to sound normal. "Pair up and simulate multiple enemy scenarios."

Warriors quickly formed groups and got started. I moved between them, correcting movements and offering tips. Everything looked normal on the surface, but I could feel the undercurrents.

As training wound down, Ethan walked over from across the field. His steps looked casual, but I noticed his eyes never left me.