MATED TO THE BEAST ALPHA BROTHERS
Chapter 66: Blood in the water.

Chapter 66: Blood in the water.

The air in the dark chamber was thick with the scent of burning incense, an eerie haze curling along the stone walls. The dim torches barely illuminated the figures standing in a tense standoff.

Alpha Marius clenched his fists, his patience wearing thin. "What is going on? I thought we had all this planned out!" His voice echoed through the chamber, rough with frustration.

Nemesis stood with her back to him, her crimson cloak flowing like liquid shadow. She didn’t turn, didn’t flinch. "Patience... one wrong move and all we’ve worked for will come crumbling down."

Marius let out a growl, his wolf barely restrained. "You promised to make me king. I’ve let you kill, I’ve set the lands on fire..."

"And I plan on fulfilling my end of the bargain," Nemesis cut him off sharply, finally turning to face him, her golden eyes gleaming with menace. "Do not mistake me for one of your trembling subordinates, Marius. You do not rush me."

From his throne, Zareth exhaled slowly, his fingers tapping against the armrest. "You and I both know that as long as Haelyn, Keres, and the Beast Alpha brothers are together in joint forces, we cannot win against them." His voice was calm, but the underlying fury was unmistakable.

Nemesis scoffed, her lip curling in distaste. "Then we break them apart. It’s a simple strategy. Divide. Conquer. Destroy."

Nemesis turned to glare at him again, her patience nearing its end. "You don’t even seem to be doing much. I do all the hard work here. Fighting. Burning. Killing. And you sit back, whispering riddles and playing with shadows."

Nemesis’s eyes darkened, and in the blink of an eye, she was in front of him. Marius barely had time to react before her clawed fingers gripped his throat, lifting him off the ground effortlessly. "Do not question me again," she hissed, her breath like venom against his skin. "I could end you right now and wear your pelt as a trophy. You do not dictate to me."

Zareth chuckled from his throne, amused by the display. "Play nice, Nemesis. We still need him."

With a growl, she released Marius, who dropped to the floor, coughing and glaring up at her with seething rage. He wanted to fight, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to take on Nemesis in her element.

Nemesis stepped back, adjusting her cloak as though nothing had happened. "Artemis is already slipping. The beast inside him is consuming him little by little. Soon, there will be nothing left but raw rage, a perfect vessel for me to control."

Zareth’s eyes gleamed with intrigue. "And how do you plan on making him do that?"

Nemesis let out a dark, sinister laugh. "I don’t need to do much. It’s already happening." She tilted her head, listening to something unseen. "Even now, he’s tearing through the forest, losing himself. Losing everything."

Marius wiped the blood from his mouth and narrowed his eyes. "And when he breaks? What then?"

"Then," Nemesis purred, "he will be mine."

Zareth leaned forward, his fingers steepled beneath his chin. "And Nyx?"

A slow, wicked grin stretched across Nemesis’s lips. "She will come to me, willingly or not. And when she does, the final piece of our puzzle will fall into place."

The chamber grew colder, a chill creeping through the stone as their laughter mingled with the crackling of the dying torches. The night was far from over, and the war was only just beginning.

The fire crackled in the dim-lit room, its flickering light casting shadows over Artemis’s sharp features. His body ached from the torment of his transformation, but none of that pain compared to the storm brewing inside him. He stood, arms crossed, eyes burning with a darkness that made everyone uneasy. His gaze lingered on Archer for only a moment before he turned away in disdain.

Haelyn’s soft voice broke the silence. "Artemis... please, talk to us."

He didn’t answer. He wouldn’t. There was nothing to say. His silence spoke volumes...contempt, resentment, betrayal. He had trusted them once, fought alongside them, and yet here he was, drowning in the bitter taste of the past.

"You can’t keep pushing us away," Rowena added, stepping forward cautiously. "We fought to bring you back."

"I didn’t ask you to." His voice was razor-sharp, slicing through the tension like a blade. "You should’ve let me die in the woods."

Archer clenched his jaw, fists tightening. "Don’t say that."

"Why not?" Artemis turned, his glare cutting through Archer like ice. "Because you don’t want to carry another body on your conscience?"

The words hit Archer like a gut punch. His breath hitched, his entire body going rigid. He knew where this was headed. He had always known.

"You don’t deserve her," Artemis seethed, stepping forward, his rage finally spilling over. "You never deserved Valeria back then, and you sure as hell don’t deserve Haelyn now."

A deadly silence filled the room. Haelyn took a step forward, eyes wide with panic. "Artemis, please..."

But it was too late.

Archer lunged, his fist crashing against Artemis’s jaw, sending him staggering back. Artemis barely had a second to recover before he retaliated, slamming his shoulder into Archer’s chest, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

The fight was brutal, primal.

They shifted mid-battle, claws ripping through the air, fangs snapping. Artemis slashed across Archer’s side, drawing first blood, but Archer retaliated just as quickly, sinking his teeth into Artemis’s shoulder.

They hit the ground again, rolling, snarling, bodies colliding with sickening force. Blood splattered onto the dirt, the scent thick in the air. Every movement, every strike, was fueled by years of unresolved rage and pain.

"You took everything from me!" Artemis roared, knocking Archer back with a powerful swipe. "You stole Valeria! You let her die!"

Archer coughed, spitting out blood, his chest heaving. "You think I wanted that? You think I don’t live with it every damn day?"

Artemis didn’t care. He lunged again, claws bared, but Archer caught him mid-air, slamming him to the ground with a force that cracked the earth beneath them.

"Valeria loved us both!" Archer snapped, pinning Artemis down. "And her death wasn’t just my fault!"

Artemis’s breath was ragged, his fury unrelenting. "I was supposed to protect her! And because of you, she died in my arms!"

Haelyn gasped, tears streaming down her face as she watched the two men she cared for most destroy each other. "Stop it! Stop it now!"

But neither of them listened.

Artemis flipped them over, his claws pressing against Archer’s throat. His vision blurred with rage, the past and present overlapping. He saw Valeria’s face, saw the blood on his hands from that night, saw Archer standing over her lifeless body.

"You don’t get to win this time," he snarled, pressing down harder.

Archer gasped, his body going still. He didn’t fight back. He just looked up at Artemis, his eyes filled with something Artemis hadn’t expected...regret.

"She begged me to save you," Archer rasped. "Even as she died... she chose you."

Artemis’s world tilted.

For a moment, everything froze. His grip faltered, his breath caught in his throat. He saw her again...Valeria, her silver eyes looking up at him, her bloodied hand reaching out.

Live, Artemis.

His hands trembled.

The rage that had consumed him for so long wavered, crumbling like sand slipping through his fingers. And just like that, the fire inside him..one that had burned for years..flickered.

Archer coughed, pushing himself up slightly, watching as Artemis stumbled back, his body shaking.

Haelyn rushed forward, placing herself between them, her eyes pleading. "Enough. Please... enough."

Artemis’s breath came in ragged gasps. His fists clenched, unclenched. The weight of everything crashed onto him all at once, and for the first time in years, he didn’t know what to do.

He turned away.

And walked into the night, leaving the past behind... but not yet ready to face the future.

The moon hung heavy in the sky, its silver glow casting eerie shadows over the abandoned ruins where a figure stood, cloaked in darkness. His breath came in steady exhales, eyes glinting with an unrelenting fury. The world thought him dead. Forgotten. But Tiago Frost had been waiting.

The blood debt was still unpaid.

His fingers clenched into fists as he watched the distant flickering torches of a nearby pack settlement. Archer and Artemis. Their names were carved into his soul like a curse.

"You thought you could kill my sister," Tiago murmured, voice dripping with venom. "You thought you could take everything from me and walk away."

His mind flashed back to the day he had lost everything...his sister Valeria, the one person in this world he had sworn to protect. Archer had wielded the killing blow, but Artemis had been just as guilty. Their war had cost him his sister, and yet they had continued on, living, thriving, while he had been forced to crawl through the shadows, rebuilding, waiting.

Now, the waiting was over.

A low growl rumbled from behind him. Tiago turned, his gaze meeting those of the men who had sworn loyalty to him...rogues, exiles, warriors who had no home, no purpose, save for the promise of vengeance.

"They will pay," Tiago vowed, his voice razor-sharp. "Every last one of them."

One of his men, a towering brute named Garrick, stepped forward. "We’ve tracked the progress of things. Archer and Artemis are together, their pack vulnerable. The time to strike is now."

Tiago smirked. "No. Not yet."

Garrick hesitated. "But we have the numbers..."

"I said not yet." Tiago’s voice was calm, but the air around him thickened with dominance, silencing any further protest. "They think they’re untouchable, that their past is buried. We will remind them that ghosts don’t stay dead."

His gaze flickered toward the northern mountains, where the Beast Alpha brothers had made their stronghold. Soon, they would know what it meant to lose everything.

Just as he had.