MATED TO THE BEAST ALPHA BROTHERS
Chapter 62: Is this betrayal?

Chapter 62: Is this betrayal?

"You hesitate, Artemis."

The words slithered through the darkened chamber like a serpent, curling around Artemis like an invisible noose. Nemesis leaned against her throne, watching him with an amused smirk as she swirled a dark liquid in a crystal goblet. The flickering torchlight cast eerie shadows across the stone walls, making the place feel more suffocating than it already was.

Artemis stood rigid, his hands clenched at his sides. He shouldn’t be here. He knew that. But here he was.

"You summoned me," he said coolly, keeping his expression neutral.

Nemesis chuckled. "And you came. That says something, doesn’t it?" She tilted her head. "Perhaps you’re not as loyal to them as they think."

His jaw tightened. "I don’t betray my own."

"Don’t you?" Nemesis mused, setting her goblet down on the armrest. "Then tell me, Artemis, why did you come alone?"

Silence.

Her smirk widened. "Because something inside you wants to hear what I have to say."

He hated that she was right.

He hated that part of him was listening.

Nemesis leaned forward. "You want her, don’t you?"

His breath hitched, but he masked it well. "What are you talking about?"

She laughed. A slow, knowing sound. "Oh, come now. We both know who." She stood, walking toward him, the shadows of the chamber shifting around her like living things. "Haelyn. The mighty warrior princess, the future queen, the untouchable light you crave but can never truly grasp."

Artemis forced himself to remain still. To not react.

Nemesis circled him now, her voice a whisper against his ear. "She’s always just out of reach, isn’t she? No matter how much you fight for her. No matter how many battles you win. She looks at you, but she doesn’t see you the way you want."

His breathing was controlled, but his fingers twitched.

"And that kills you," she murmured.

Artemis turned his head sharply, eyes burning. "What do you want, Nemesis?"

She grinned, stepping back just slightly. "I want what you want."

He narrowed his eyes. "Doubtful."

Nemesis tsked. "Oh, but it’s true. Because what I want... is Haelyn’s son."

The air in the chamber shifted, the weight of her words settling over them like a thick fog.

Artemis felt a cold pit form in his stomach.

"Bring him to me," Nemesis continued, her tone soft, enticing. "And I will give you what you desire most."

He swallowed hard, a flicker of uncertainty crossing his face. "And what is that?"

She smiled, slow and wicked. "Her. Haelyn. Completely, entirely yours. No one else in the way. No destiny pulling her elsewhere. Just you."

His breath came shallower.

No destiny. No Chil. No Archer. No fate keeping her from him.

Just him and Haelyn.

For a moment, he allowed himself to picture it. To feel the weight of her body against his, the warmth of her lips, the sound of her voice whispering his name with nothing but love. Not duty. Not friendship. Love.

It was intoxicating.

But...

"Your desires will destroy you."

The voice echoed in his head, sharp and cutting.

His vision blurred, and suddenly, he was back there, standing before the ancient, shrouded creature that had guided them to Haelyn’s mother’s grave. Its hollow voice slithered through his mind once more.

"You think you want her. You think she is yours to claim. But desire turns to poison in a heart like yours, Artemis. It will devour you. It will ruin your bond."

He blinked. The memory faded. But another took its place.

Rowena.

Her soft, sorrowful gaze as she had grasped his arm.

"The path you walk will lead to nothing but ruin, Artemis. You cannot force love. You cannot steal what is not meant to be yours."

He exhaled sharply, his grip on reality snapping back into place.

Nemesis was watching him intently, waiting.

Waiting for him to break.

Waiting for him to agree.

His throat was dry. He forced himself to speak. "What do you want with Haelyn’s son?"

She smiled again, slow and predatory. "His blood is the key to unlocking the future we deserve. The future you deserve."

Artemis’ pulse pounded in his ears.

Was this betrayal?

Or was this just... taking what should have been his all along?

His lips parted...

A noise.

A shift in the shadows.

Artemis spun just in time to see movement at the entrance of the chamber.

Someone was watching.

And someone knew.

The wind rustled through the tall grass, carrying the scent of rain and pine. The lake shimmered under the golden hues of the setting sun, its surface untouched, mirroring the tranquility surrounding them.

Archer sat beside Haelyn on the soft earth, his arm draped protectively around her shoulders as they watched their newborn son nestled against her chest. His tiny hands curled into fists, his breathing soft, steady.

A rare moment of peace.

Archer broke the silence first. "So, have you thought of a name for him?"

Haelyn traced a delicate finger along her son’s tiny cheek, a small, knowing smile touching her lips. "Yes... something powerful yet calm, rare yet sweet." She looked up at Archer. "How about Rael?"

Archer repeated the name under his breath, letting it settle. "Rael..." His gaze softened. "I like it. It suits him. A name worthy of who he’ll become." He reached out, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "Rael it is."

Their fingers intertwined, and for a moment, it felt like nothing else existed beyond them and their son.

Then....

A crack in the air.

A pulse of dark energy rippled through the peaceful clearing. The temperature dropped, the once golden light now washed in an eerie twilight hue.

Haelyn’s grip tightened around Rael as Keres materialized out of nowhere, her spectral form shifting like liquid shadow.

But she wasn’t alone.

Arthur and Layla stood beside her.

And they weren’t the Arthur and Layla Haelyn remembered.

Their eyes...once bright and full of wicked mischief...were now void-like, laced with an unnatural darkness. Their very forms seemed altered, their features subtly warped, as if they had been reshaped into something no longer entirely human.

"They have something to say to you," Keres announced, her voice both amused and unreadable.

Haelyn stiffened. Her instincts screamed danger.

Arthur took a slow step forward. "Haelyn..." His voice was hollow, as if something else whispered through him. "We’re sorry."

Layla echoed the words, her tone just as distant. "We... aren’t who we used to be."

Haelyn’s heart pounded. "What did you do to them, Keres?"

Keres let out a laugh, her eyes flashing. "Me? Oh, Haelyn, don’t sound so horrified. I only did what should have been done long ago." She tilted her head. "I took revenge. On your behalf."

Haelyn’s grip on Rael tightened. "Revenge?"

Keres stepped closer, her voice mockingly soft. "You wouldn’t hurt them, would you? After all, they were your family once,No?." She leaned in slightly, her smirk widening. "Even though they betrayed you."

Archer was already on his feet, blocking Haelyn and Rael from view, his entire body tense. "If you’re here to gloat, Keres, then say your piece and leave."

Keres sighed dramatically, her fingers twirling strands of her ethereal form. "You wound me, Archer." Then her gaze sharpened, her amusement thinning. "You should be grateful. Now, they are mine. They will never betray you again."

Haelyn’s chest tightened, fury bubbling just beneath her skin.

"Keres, this is not what I wanted."

Keres grinned, unbothered. "Well, good thing I don’t need your permission, do I?" She tilted her head, amused. "Besides... you and I, we’re closer than ever, aren’t we?"

A pulse of power surged through Haelyn’s veins...the familiar, dark pull of Keres inside her, the way their souls had become intertwined. Keres used her body when needed, when vengeance demanded physical form.

She felt Keres’s amusement dancing through her mind.

And for the first time, Haelyn wondered..

Just how much of herself had she already lost?

Just how much more was Keres willing to take for vengeance?

Meanwhile, deep within the sacred halls of the elders, tension was beginning to brew.

Marius sat at the long obsidian table, his fingers tracing slow, deliberate circles against the polished surface. The other elders...once unwaveringly loyal to the Wolf King...were now shifting, their gazes uncertain. Doubt. It was spreading like wildfire.

"We are fools," Marius muttered, leaning back in his chair, his voice laced with quiet authority. "Fools to still believe in a king who has lost control over his own pack."

One of the elders, an older man with silver streaks in his dark hair, frowned. "Careful with your words, Marius. You speak against the King."

Marius smirked. "Do I? Or do I speak the truth?" His sharp gaze swept across the room. "How long has it been since our King led us to true victory? How many battles have we lost? How many times have our enemies escaped our grasp?" He leaned forward, voice dropping into something colder, sharper.

"Why do we continue to follow a leader who cannot protect his own bloodline?"

A murmur of uncertainty rippled through the gathered elders. Marius hid his satisfaction behind a neutral expression. Placing seeds of doubt was an art...one he had mastered.

"He still stands as King," another elder argued, but the conviction in his tone was weak. "He is the chosen one."

Marius laughed softly. "Chosen? By whom? Fate?" He shook his head. "Fate is cruel. Fate does not care for the weak." He let the words hang before adding, "And neither should we."

Another elder cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. "If not him... then who?"

Marius smiled. A slow, deliberate smile.

They were almost there.

But he wasn’t foolish. Not yet. He would let their uncertainty fester, let their questions go unanswered for now. They weren’t ready to hear his true ambition.

Not yet.

Instead, he stood, adjusting the cuff of his sleeve. "For now, we wait. But keep your eyes open, my brothers." He glanced toward the far end of the room, where two of his spies lingered in the shadows. His people.

"We are being watched. And we must be prepared."

As he turned to leave, a messenger entered hastily, whispering something into his ear.

Marius’s smirk faltered.

"They have found Arthur," the messenger said.

Marius’s eyes darkened.

It seems Haelyn and her precious allies weren’t as lost as he’d hoped.

For now.