The Lunar Queen Chapter 85

Cole POV

I pace my office “It’s like he wants to fucking die” I say more to myself then Tobias my steps sharp against the floor, back and forth, like stopping isn’t an option because the moment I do Zeus is going to push forward and finish what Mason started. A knock sounds at the door and Tobias opens it. I turn to see who it is and I stop dead in my tracks. “You, you, you look like my mate” I say as the room starts spinning not from weakness—disorientation, like my brain is trying to make her into Lyric and rejecting it at the same time. Tobias guides me to my desk chair. “Told you he would pass out, you owe me fifty dollars” Tobias says to his mate. She laughs “technically he didn’t pass out Toby so I win” she says closing the door behind her. I take a deep breath to calm my racing heart, Iris is a constant reminder but her It’s like looking directly at her minus the eyes and that difference is enough to make something in my chest tighten instead of settle. “How?” I ask voice lower now, controlled but not calm. “Are you her sister too?” I ask. She shakes her head “No, more like first cousin’s you could say, I’m the second daughter of Zachariah and Aurora” she says. Daughter. That word sits heavy. Older than she looks. Older than she should be. “Wait so that makes you almost 100 years old” I say. She smiles “You’re good, more like 125 years old but close” she says “My great grandmother granted my siblings and I with immortality I stopped aging at 21” she adds. That explains it. Doesn’t make it easier to look at. Immortality, power, bloodlines all of it circling back to Lyric while she’s still not here. “So why does the prophecy exist if you look just like your grandmother” I ask. “I’m no goddess, I just look like her and I inherited my father’s witch magic, my older sister got the wolf, my younger brother he got a wolf and he’s more Intune with nature but none of us are blessed the way your mate is, she is more powerful than I am” she says more powerful… and still trapped. That thought sits wrong. “Okay enough of that, why were you trying to kill the pup we don’t have time for history lessons and family trees” Tobias says bringing me back to what’s important. “That’s Lyric’s first mate, she rejected him but he’s in love with her and she still has feelings for him but she chose me, we are marked but he won’t let go, she tried altering his memories of her and that didn’t work, so she gave them back but now he’s pushing me, challenging me” I say irritated thinking about it my jaw tightening because saying it out loud makes it sound like something I should have already handled. “Oh and he’s an Alpha?” He asks “He is set to take over Moonveil in a few months” I say. He shakes his head “Does his father know he can’t take over?” “If he didn’t, he definitely does now” I say and next time I won’t stop where I did. “Dom somebody needs to put Mason in the cells, he can’t go with us tonight” I link Dominic. “Already done Alpha” He links back. Good, he already knew what I would do and that’s the only reason things are still under control. I spend the rest of the day talking to Tobias and Tabitha about the plans for the witch, for attacking David. We come up with a way to break the spell and to kill the witch. Every plan leads back to her. Every move forward reminds me she’s still there. By the time 5 rolls around Zeus is pacing in my mind not restless, waiting. “Okay everyone this is Tabitha and Tobias they are the Alpha King and Queen of the North and they will be aiding us in this attack along with some of their warriors” I say. “Sable and Tabitha will be handing out scent blockers, take them now it lasts 10 hours which gives us plenty of time, I will be linking with everyone remember incapacitate do not kill if you have no other choice then do what you need to save yourself but if it is avoidable then do that. Let’s move” I say drinking the scent blocker before shifting into Zeus the shift hitting fast and easy as I land on four paws and take off. Dominic runs on my right and Tobias on my left, Hunter and Jace flanking me. It takes us about 3 hours to reach bear territory. “Everybody stop 10 miles out” I link and everyone starts coming to a stop. Once everyone stops I address the group “Archers go ahead and take your spots along the border and be ready to attack, Elias you are in charge of the archers” I say “Yes Alpha” they say in unison before taking off the rest of the way. “The moment we get the all clear from Elias we storm the gate” I say to the rest of the group. “Cole there is a bear at the gate waving a white flag, he says he is James’s brother” Elias links me. White flag doesn’t mean safe. It means calculated. “Are the rest of the guards out?” I link back. “Yes, he is the only one here and there is no movement as far as we can see over the gate, I have my archers stationed and ready to assist” He links. “Good. Standby” I link “Copy” he says closing the link. I shift back and signal for James to shift back and Tobias shifts with me. “Elias said there is a bear waving a white flag claiming to be your brother” I say to James. “He is going to open the gates for us, he wants my father out just as much as me” he says. “Everybody move out” I say through the link, Tobias, James and I shift back and we make our way to the border. When we reach the gate Elias is standing at the gate with James’s brother. I shift back the moment I stop. “Are we ready?” I ask “Yes, but there are silent alarms in the ground, so the moment someone steps wrong it will sound the alarm that we are under attack” His brother says. I smile “Good I could use a good fight” I say because fighting is easier than thinking about what happens if I’m too late. “How many are loyal to dad?” James asks “Everyone, any bear that was not willing to fight he locked them in the cells and all the women and children left are being held in the daycare” He says. “Change of plans any bear you encounter kill on sight, I need a team to find their dungeon and free the captives and another team to find the daycare center and free the women and children. The rest of you kill on sight” I say. “Well in that case let’s announce ourselves” I say smirking “Elias Now” I say. His eyes glaze over and the first flame tipped arrow hits a tree. “Don’t hold back Cole, we can rebuild” James says. “Explosives” I link Elias. The moment the first explosion hits their alarms sound. “Showtime” Zeus says. I shift fully into Zeus, massive paws pounding the earth as I burst through the gates and charge toward the town the ground shaking under the force of it, everything narrowing down to movement, targets, blood. Bears erupt from buildings and houses like a tidal wave of fur and fury, chaos exploding in every direction. Snarls and guttural growls rip through the air all around me. A hulking brown bear barrels straight at me, but Zeus is primed, muscles coiled like springs. We drop low and roll, raking razor claws across his underbelly as he leaps over us. Hot blood sprays, soaking my fur in a sticky crimson wash. He roars in agony, crashing down heavy, and I twist free, rolling clear before surging onward toward the main house not stopping, not slowing, because none of this matters unless I finish it. Two more bears rush me head-on. The first one's paw slashes across my side, claws carving deep gashes that burn like fire. I snarl, whipping around just in time to clamp jaws on his throat, yanking hard ripping the flesh clean out in a gush of arterial spray. The second sinks teeth into my flank, pain lancing through me. I bellow a roar and rake claws across his snout, shredding it until he releases with a yelp pain sharp, real, but not enough to slow anything down. Tobias's wolf flashes up behind me. "Go—I got him", he links, diving into the fray. I don't break stride, pushing toward the main house because that’s the only place that matters now. James materializes through the swirling chaos, his bear form locking eyes with mine. He nods sharp we're closing in on the house. The mansion looms into view, a line of bears hunkered just outside, blocking the entrance like a wall of muscle and menace. James veers right; I go left. They scatter, splitting toward us in a frenzy. I seize one by the throat, jaws crushing windpipe, rear legs rearing up to slam claws into another's chest, sending it staggering. As I snap the neck in my grip with a wet crack, another bear swipes at my side, fresh agony tearing open old wounds and still it doesn’t stop anything just adds to it. Tobias's wolf barrels in, finishing the one I kicked with a savage pounce. Then necks start cracking on their own pop, snap, bodies crumpling like felled trees. I spin around to see Tabitha striding forward, her eyes blazing pure white. "Go, Cole. James. We got this," she commands. James and I bolt past, crashing through the mansion doors. When we burst through the doors its quiet. We both shift back into our human forms. Too quiet. Too easy. I don’t trust it. “Where would be hiding?” I ask James. He signals for me to follow him. Our scents are still masked so we can’t be scented as we creep through the halls of the mansion every step controlled, deliberate, like something is waiting for us to make the wrong move. We stop at a door and we hear talking a woman and a man. The sound carries too clearly through the wood no guards, no movement, just voices and that alone feels like a trap. My shoulders tense without me thinking, every instinct telling me this is too easy. “My mother” James mouths to me. I nod. My jaw tightens slightly because this is it, no buildup, no resistance, just the end sitting on the other side of a door. He counts down from three with his fingers and then we burst through the door. The wood slams open hard enough to echo down the hall behind us, breaking whatever calm was in the room. His mother screams but his father smirks. No flinch, no panic, just that smirk and that alone puts me on edge. “I didn’t think I would see you again son” He says “So which one of you are going to do it?” he asks like he already knows how this ends. His voice doesn’t shake, doesn’t rise, like he accepted this before we even walked in. James scoffs “No fight?” he says cold. His hands flex once at his sides, like he wants more than this, like he needed a reason to hesitate and didn’t get one. His father laughs short “I can feel my bears dying… I know better.” The laugh is dry, empty, no fight left in it, no pride either, just acceptance, and that makes the room feel heavier. “You made this too easy” James yells at him. His voice cracks at the end just enough to feel it. “Just do it son” He says. No movement, no defense, he just sits there waiting. Tears stream down James’s face as he walks over to his father and rips his heart from his chest without a word his movement sharp, almost rushed, like if he slows down for even a second he won’t be able to do it. His shoulders tense the moment his hand sinks in, breath hitching once, then it’s over. no hesitation, no second thought, just done. The sound is wet, final, and the room goes quiet for a second after, like everything has to catch up to what just happened. The king’s eyes go wide with shock just before he drops back into his seat and his mate screams out in grief. Her scream cuts through the room sharp and raw, the kind that lingers even after it stops. “NO. NO. NO James why would you do that, he didn’t need to die. NO you took my mate” she screams dropping to her knees at his side. Her voice breaks apart as she says it, raw and uneven, her hands shaking as she reaches for him, pressing against his chest like she can force the blood back in, like she can undo what just happened if she just tries hard enough. The sound of her crying fills the room, heavy and suffocating, sticking to the walls. “Yes he did need to die mother, get over it. Cole good luck getting my cousin back…” He says. His voice is flat now, too controlled, like he shut something off to get through that moment.“Yes he did need to die mother, get over it. Cole good luck getting my cousin back but I need to deal with things here and when you return home please let my people know they can return home” He says turning to me. His voice is steady, but his hands aren’t his fingers flex once at his sides like he’s holding something in, forcing it down before it can surface. He doesn’t look at her again. Not once. I give him a hug “Good luck and thank you for your help with everything” I say. My grip is firm, brief, no words for what that cost him, but I feel it anyway. “Retreat the bear king is dead” I link my wolves and howls can be heard outside the mansion and I smile the sound of the howls echoing through the walls, victory, but it doesn’t settle anything in my chest. one step closer but not enough. Not even close. I’m coming princess. The thought hits harder now, closer, real. The witch will die next and then David and he will die slow and painful the promise sits heavy, steady, not rage, not impulse, certainty. and when I finally get to him, I’m not stopping at death I’m making sure he understands exactly what he took before I end it. Every second he had her, every moment she had to survive him, I’m giving that back to him before I take everything.