Chapter 67

Gideon’s POV

The next day I felt a lot better the drug was gone from my system but the exhaustion I felt when I overworked myself was completely gone.

The room was quieter after the children had been taken out to rest, though the previous events didn't leave my mind at all. My Beta lingered by the doorway, his expression a mixture of relief and apprehension.

He had always been loyal, steady, my right hand when storms broke against us. But tonight his shoulders seemed heavier, his gaze sharper since what happened to me was a serious crime.

“Alpha,” he said with a serious tone, “Have you decided what you are going to do with Daphne?”

Her name made me feel very bitter and angry. The memory of her smug smile when she placed the glass of water on my desk burned fresh in my mind. How easily she did what she did. The haze that followed, the fire coursing through my veins—it was all her doing. And yet, that was only the latest in a long line of schemes.

“I know, but her crime is so big that I need to think about her punishment properly”,I answered my voice even, though my wolf rumbled beneath the surface.

Beta’s beta looked at me seriously and nodded understandingly. “The pack will expect your judgment. She has been caught red-handed this time. Mixing poison into your drink, targeting you, trying to exploit you in such a way… this is no small betrayal. What do you plan to do?”

I leaned back against the pillows, closing my eyes for a moment. My body still ached, but not as much as the ache twisting inside me.

I remembered how Daphne used to be when we were young—she used to smile freely and whispered promises of loyalty, who once used to be my white moonlight and my friend. A woman I thought I loved. A woman I wanted to protect, even when my instincts whispered otherwise.

And now?

Now she has revealed herself fully. A serpent hiding under silk.

I opened my eyes and looked straight into my Beta’s. “I know one thing for sure and that is Daphne will no longer hold her place here.”

Beta's eyes brows furrowed slightly, but kept his mouth shut.

“I will strip her of her title as Luna,” I continued firmly. “She has lost the right to stand by my side, to command the respect of this pack. She didn't just poison the glass of water but has poisoned my trust in herself—and that is something unforgivable.”

My Beta looked at me carefully. “You mean you want to exile her?”

“Yes.” My voice was cold, firm and filled with resolution, I thought of Claire. There was a hint of guilt in my voice. “Once I am discharged, I will face her myself. I will give her the same punishment I gave Claire, I exiled my mate for her now Daphne will have the taste of what it's like to be a rogue.”

I clenched my fists with determination “I will make sure that Daphne is gone for good.”

My Beta looked at me with satisfaction but his tone was still professional. “The pack will see justice in that.”

But I knew it wasn’t that simple. My wolf stirred at the thought, and my own mind followed suit.

Justice, yes. But what about the loyalty of the pack? What about the bonds already tangled and frayed within the pack? Daphne had been Luna for years. She is the woman who has been respected in the pack everyone bowed to her. Stripping her of that title would not pass without consequence.

“Will they question me?,” I asked myself, surprising even myself. My gaze turned thoughtful. “Some will see this as a weakness—an Alpha unable to keep his Luna in line. Others will whisper that I betrayed her, not the other way around. Wolves do not easily forgive the sight of their divided leaders.”

Beta spoke up with a firm voice. “And yet, if you do not act, they will see far worse. An Alpha who is blind about betrayal. An Alpha who lets poison fester in his own den. That would be far more dangerous to their faith in you.”

I gritted my teeth.I knew he was right. In my duty as the Alpha, clarity is the most important thing, demanding decisiveness. Even if they turned against me I knew I had to do the right thing.

“The pack needs to know the truth,” I said slowly. “They will hear what she did. They will know why she failed as Luna. No more veil, no more lies.”

My Beta bowed his head in agreement. “As it should be.”

After listening to my answer Beta bowed respectfully and left the room to prepare for my discharge.

The room fell back into a heavy silence.

I let out a sigh as I realised that I was holding my breath. My chest felt heavy, maybe because of the exhaustion or maybe because of the decisions I had to make.

I turned my head, and there she was—Raven. She is sitting quietly at the edge of her bed across from mine. Her eyes were lowered, but I could feel her awareness, the way the air shifted subtly between us.

“Raven,” I said with a soft voice which was very rare for me.

She looked at me startled, as though she hadn’t expected me to speak to her softly.

I looked into her eyes, forcing myself to speak past the knot in my throat. “Thank you. For earlier. For… saving me from Daphne.”

Her lips formed in a line. She shook her head and answered professionally. “It was just my duty, Alpha. I just thought that you are Leo's father, how can I let you get hurt.”

Her words were distancing, cold, and formal. But I caught a small glimpse of something else. Conflict. I can tell this was something she had been trying her best to hide.

I wanted to tell her it was more than duty and deny her words. That her presence had anchored me when I might have been lost to the poison’s fire. That she had become far more to me than I could admit aloud.

But the words I wanted to speak didn't come out of my mouth because of the weight of the shame, the misunderstanding and the responsibility.

So I nodded once, my expression calm though my heart was anything but. “I know it's your duty,” I murmured, “but still I owe you more than you know.”

I continued to say “If you weren't there to save me back then, I couldn't fathom what would have happened to me. The whole pack would have gone into the wrong hands.”

She looked at me with shock but then her gaze softened for a fleeting heartbeat before she looked away again, her hands folding neatly in her lap but then I saw the top of her ear becoming bright red.

And in that silence, with the moonlight spilling across us both, I wondered how much longer we could pretend this was only duty—when everything inside me said it was far more.