The Silver Wolf (Diana and Talon) novel Chapter 40

Chapter Forty

Cham

“Why did you do it?” Asher demanded, his voice rough, barely holding together. “Why did you betray the pack? What did Diana ever do to deserve this, Rafe? To be treated like an enemy by someone she within the pack?”

Rafe stood rigid before him, head bowed, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles had gone white. He couldn’t bring himself to look up.

“You were my beta,” Asher continued, the words tearing out of him now. “My right hand. You stood beside me for years-through battles, through losses, through everything. You are not just my beta, Rafe. You are my best friend.” His voice cracked despite his effort to stay composed. “How could you betray us like this?

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Rafe’s jaw tightened, his lips pressed into a thin, unmoving line. He stared at the stone floor as if it might swallow him whole. Asher could feel the truth lodged in Rafe’s chest, heavy and poisonous, but the man refused to let it out.

“Answer me!” Asher suddenly roared, his restraint snapping. His alpha aura exploded outward, the force of his command rolling through the room like a physical blow. “Tell me the truth!”

Rafe staggered, his body locking up as the alpha command took hold. He fought it-every muscle trembling with resistance, but just like Hazel before him, his will began to fracture under the authority he had sworn to obey.

His mouth opened against his will.

“She… she was hurting my mate,” Rafe said hoarsely. “I was trying to protect my mate.”

The words hit the room like thunder.

“Your mate?” Diana echoed, disbelief sharp in her tone. She stepped forward, eyes locked on Rafe. “I’ve never met your mate. I didn’t even know you had one. How could I have hurt her, Beta Rafe?”

Once again, Rafe clamped his mouth shut, his face twisting with conflict and shame. His eyes flickered briefly toward Hazel-then away.

Before anyone else could speak, Talon moved. The Alpha King stepped forward, towering over Rafe, his presence alone enough to make the air feel heavier. His golden eyes burned with cold authority.

“Answer my luna,” Talon commanded, his voice low and absolute. “Tell us the truth. And leave nothing behind.”

Rafe’s knees nearly buckled.

“Hazel is my mate!” He burst out, the words spilling violently now that the dam had broken. “You-” his gaze snapped to Diana, anger and resentment flashing through the guilt, “you were hurting my mate with your attitude. With your lack of respect toward her position as Luna!”

Gasps rippled through the pack members.

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“You disrespected her,” Rafe continued, his voice rising, raw and unrestrained. “And you disrespected me. By being the strongest wolf in this pack after the alpha, it should have been me!”

Asher recoiled as if struck.

“And then,” Rafe snarled, pain bleeding into fury, “you had the audacity to abandon your duties. You resigned as a warrior because your parents died-when they died because of you. Because you were reckless. Because you were a disrespectful-”

“Enough!” Talon growled, power flaring dangerously.

But the damage was already done.

Asher staggered back a step, his face drained of color. His mind scrambled to make sense of what he had just heard.

“How…” His voice was barely more than a whisper now. “How can Hazel be your mate… when she is my

luna?”

His hands shook.

“She has been my luna for years. We were mating-” He stopped abruptly, horror dawning in his eyes as the truth finally aligned. His breath hitched. “Oh… my Goddess. Rafe…”

Rafe swallowed hard, tears finally burning in his eyes.

“In the beginning, it was agony, Alpha,” he said quietly now, the anger collapsing into something broken and ashamed. “You have no idea how painful it was. I tried to fight it. I tried to deny it. But I couldn’t reject my mate… and she couldn’t reject me.”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “She said every time she tried, it felt like she was dying from the inside out. I couldn’t do that to her. I couldn’t let my mate die because I rejected her.”

Asher’s heart shattered piece by piece.

“But then,” Rafe continued, voice trembling, “you stopped mating with her. I don’t know why-you never said-but after that… she came to me.”

The room was dead silent.

“She told me you wouldn’t feel it,” Rafe said. “Because you were not her true mate. And she was right.” His voice broke completely. “You never felt anything when I was with her.”

The truth hung in the air, heavy and irreversible.

Shock, betrayal, disgust, grief-every emotion collided as the pack members stared at their fallen Luna and Beta. Two pillars of leadership, rotted from the inside.

Crimson Fang Pack wasn’t just wounded, it was fractured.

And everyone knew the same terrifying truth: this betrayal would not end quietly-and the pack would never be the same again.

“You are stupid, Beta,” Diana said, her voice no longer entirely her own.

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It reverberated through the clearing, layered with Artemis’s low, feral growl-ancient, furious, and unforgiving. Power rolled off her in waves, pressing against every wolf present. Even seasoned warriors felt their instincts scream at them to bow.

“Rejecting someone will not kill you,” Diaña continued coldly. “My mate rejected me on my eighteenth birthday. You know this.” Her gaze snapped back to Rafe, sharp and unrelenting. “You were there. You watched it happen.”

Rafe flinched as if struck.

“You watched me break,” she went on, voice rising now, pain and rage bleeding together. “You watched me survive it. And yet you stood there and let a snake like Hazel whisper lies into your ear, until you betrayed not just your alpha…” Her eyes blazed. “But your friend.”

Her pupils flickered, forest green dissolving into liquid starlight, the mark of Artemis pushing closer to the surface.

“You abandoned your oath,” Diana said, every word precise and lethal. “You have no loyalty. Not to this pack. And especially not to your alpha.”

Rafe opened his mouth, desperation etched into every line of his face, but no words came.

Diana turned slowly, and her gaze landed on Hazel.

The former Luna stood frozen, eyes wide with terror, her scent sharp with panic. Gone was the arrogance. Gone was the false grace. What remained was a wolf finally exposed.

“You,” Diana said softly-and somehow that was worse. You are a cancer.”

Hazel whimpered.

“You rot everything you touch,” Diana continued. “You destroyed this pack from the inside, manipulated loyalty, twisted bonds that were never meant to be yours.” Her voice hardened, turning absolute. “And I will not let you hurt this pack any longer.”

The shift happened in a blink.

Bones snapped. Power exploded.

Artemis burst free-massive, radiant, and terrifying. Her silver fur gleamed under the sky, her eyes burning with ancient authority. Before anyone could react, she lunged.

Hazel screamed.

Artemis’s jaws opened wide, closing around Hazel’s neck with brutal precision.

Snap.

The sound echoed-final and unmistakable.

Hazel’s body went limp instantly, crumpling to the ground as life drained from her eyes. No mercy. No hesitation. Justice delivered in a single, decisive moment.

“No!” Rafe screamed.

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The anund lore out of him, raw and broken. He collapsed to his knees as the bond snapped violently, the pain ripping through his soul like claws. He clutched his chest, gasping, tears streaking down his face as he felt his mate die.

He couldn’t move.

Couldn’t fight.

Couldn’t even look away.

All he could do was watch the light fade from Hazel’s eyes.

Diana shifted back, Artemis retreating just enough for her to stand once more-blood splattered across the ground, her presence still crackling with power.

Silence followed.

Asher stepped forward, his face carved from stone, grief and resolve warring in his eyes.

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