Scarred Wolf Queen Chapter 197

**Briony's POV**

We sat together in the Silver Pines clearing, neither wanting to break the peace.

Benjamin stood first, then pulled me up. We hugged again, trying to memorize each other's warmth.

"I should head back," he whispered, but didn't let go.

"Wait." I suddenly tensed. "You smell like me now. What happens when you get back to your place?"

If Max or Chris caught a whiff...

Without hesitation, Benjamin pulled off his T-shirt and handed it to me. "Take this. Most of the scent's on my clothes anyway. I should be fine going back like this."

I took the warm shirt, feeling heat creep up my neck. Under the moonlight, his bare chest looked... I quickly looked away, my cheeks burning.

"Won't you freeze?"

He laughed softly. "This weather's nothing. Just get back safe."

I nodded, carefully tucking his shirt into my bag, then turned to leave. After a few steps, his voice suddenly rang in my head:

*See you tomorrow, Bri.*

I spun around to see Benjamin grinning at me. He winked, then melted back into the shadows.

I stood there stunned. The mind link was actually working! Even though it was just between us, this was huge progress. Maybe the isolation spell didn't just block external control - maybe it accidentally fixed our severed connection too.

The thought made my steps lighter on the way home.

Everyone was still awake when I got back to the safe house. Seeing me return in one piece, they all visibly relaxed.

"How'd it go?" Freya was first to ask.

"It worked!" I couldn't hide my excitement. "The isolation spell totally worked. Benjamin's free from the control, and our mind link's back too!"

"Holy shit, that's amazing!" Mark jumped up. "Can we use the same thing on the others?"

"Yeah, but..." I remembered Benjamin's face twisted in agony. "It's brutal. Benjamin barely held on, and his control was probably the lightest. If it's Maxwell and Christopher..."

Everyone went quiet. If Benjamin suffered that much, what would happen to the ones under deeper control?

"There's another problem," Cyrus said. "How do we even get close to them? We can't exactly drag them somewhere private in broad daylight."

Good point. I rubbed my temples, exhaustion hitting me like a freight train. I'd burned through way too much magical energy tonight.

"Let's figure it out tomorrow," I said. "At least we know the method works."

Mark woke me up the next morning. When I cracked my eyes open, sunlight was already streaming through the curtains.

"What time is it?" I mumbled.

"Almost training time," he said. "Dora stopped by earlier. Made me promise to make sure you eat breakfast. Her exact words were, 'Look how skinny that child's gotten.'"

I realized I'd barely been eating lately. Stress and anxiety had killed my appetite completely.

After rushing through my morning routine, I headed to the kitchen. Dora had prepared a huge breakfast spread, and... Ethan?

Seeing him sitting at the table, I froze.

"Morning, Bri." He flashed that easy grin of his.

I walked over and hugged him tight. Even though we'd seen each other at training yesterday, we'd had to act distant then.

"Alright, alright," he laughed, patting my back. "Now hit me with that magic thing you used on Benjamin last night. I heard it was pretty wild."

I remembered I still hadn't given him his protective charm. I quickly dug through my bag for the one I'd prepared.

"You sure you're ready?" I asked. "Benjamin's reaction last night was... pretty rough."

His eyes widened. "But he told me it felt amazing! That bastard lied to me!"

Then he put on this mock-heroic expression. "Whatever. To break free from that psycho's control, I can handle a little pain."

I took a deep breath, gripped his hand, and started chanting.

Just like the night before, Ethan started groaning in pain the second I began. His reaction was even worse than Benjamin's - his whole body seemed to be getting torn apart by invisible forces, shaking and convulsing nonstop.

Halfway through, he was already curled in a ball, gritting his teeth to keep from screaming. Sweat had completely soaked through his clothes.

"Hold on!" I encouraged him while continuing the chant. "We're almost done!"

When I spoke the final word, the protective charm exploded with brilliant light. Ethan's body went limp - if Dora hadn't caught him, he would've hit the floor hard.

"Jesus Christ..." he gasped. "That was so..."

*It hurt like hell!* his voice suddenly rang in my mind. *But being able to talk again feels incredible!*

I laughed. "Welcome back."

*Thank you, Bri,* his mental voice was full of gratitude. *You have no idea how awful it was, not being able to speak freely these past few days.*

"Now we still need to get Noah, Maxwell, and Christopher," I said. "Any ideas on how to get close to them?"

Ethan frowned. "Noah's doable - he's been a mess lately, spends a lot of time alone. But those two are tricky. They're joined at the hip now, and..."

"And what?"

"Christopher looks at you like he wants to eat you alive," he said bluntly. "I think he's pissed at Benjamin, jealous that you two can still communicate."

So that was it. A mess of emotions hit me - guilt, heartache, and maybe a little satisfaction. After all, they'd chosen to stay neutral at first. Now they were suffering for it, but they were Ben's brothers and meant so much to me. Seeing them controlled hurt too. Better to fix this mess quickly.

After breakfast, we headed to the training grounds together. The atmosphere felt different today - all the warriors seemed distracted.

Training had barely ended when Cyrus rushed over. "Did you hear? Alpha Adam's throwing a birthday party for the boys!"

"What?" I was stunned.

"Yeah," Cyrus lowered his voice. "Their eighteenth birthday party was supposed to happen ages ago, but got postponed because of everything. Now Alpha Adam suddenly decided to make it up to them."

My heart sank. Alpha Adam wouldn't make a decision like this right now. This had to be...

"Victoria," I spit out the name.

"Probably," Cyrus nodded. "She's probably planning to use this to officially announce her Luna status. If she really controls Maxwell and Christopher, publicly confirming the mate bond at a birthday party - nobody could object."

Damn it! I wanted to punch that woman right now. Not only was she controlling their minds, she was planning to humiliate them in front of everyone, forcing them to accept someone they didn't love at all.

"We need to move faster," I said. "We have to save everyone."

That evening, I reached out to both Benjamin and Ethan through the mind link:

*Do you guys know about this birthday party?*

*What party?* they both responded almost at the same time, voices confused.

*Alpha Adam's planning to make up your birthday celebration.*

After a pause, Benjamin's voice came back: *We had no clue. Something like this should involve us, right?*

*Obviously,* Ethan cut in. *This is definitely Victoria's doing. She can't wait to become Luna.*