BloodMoon: Captivated by the Forbidden Lycan Alpha
Chapter 233: A SENSE OF WORRY

Chapter 233: A SENSE OF WORRY

ROU’S POV

The Mira home was too quiet.

Even the wind did not dare whisper through its old wooden bones, as if the house itself knew what was coming and chose silence over false comfort. The air smelled of herbal oils, salt, and something older like the breath of the mountain itself had slipped through the barrier, curling at the edges of the stone-tiled floor.

I paced the rear veranda, jaw tight, hands flexing uselessly at my sides. The moon hung low, half-veiled in mist. Just enough light to feel exposed. Not enough to feel safe.

"Rou."

Dante’s voice came from behind me, low and familiar. He leaned against the doorframe, arms folded, casual in posture but sharp in the eyes.

"You’re twitching again," he added, stepping out into the open air beside me.

"Didn’t know I had a twitch," I muttered.

"You do not. Not unless you are thinking too hard about someone getting killed."

I did not answer. The Mira homes wrapped around us like fog.

Dante stayed silent for a moment, letting the weight sit between us. Then, softer, "It’s Rita, isn’t it?"

I exhaled slowly and hard. "She is going into that cursed mountain like it is a warpath carved just for her. And I know that she is fierce but if they slip even once..."

"They will not be alone. Rolan and Qadira are going with them, "Dante interjected.

"No. But they’ll be seen eventually." I turned to face him. "And when they are, it will be Lord Marcel himself waiting. He will not want to kill her. He will want to break her."

Dante’s eyes darkened. "Because she is light. And he is the dark that eats it."

"Exactly." I leaned forward, forearms braced on the railing. "I know what that kind of darkness does to people. I have led warriors who never came back whole. I have seen it take more than lives. It takes the truth. Leave only fear and hunger."

Dante joined me at the railing, his voice quieter now. "So, what do you want to do, Rou? Chain her down and keep her safe?"

"Yes," I said without thinking. Then: "No. Gods. I do not know. She is stronger than I in ways I cannot name. But that mountain... It is sentient. It knows who is walking through its gates."

"She’ll come back," he said. "They both will."

I looked at him. "How do you know?"

"Because they must. We do not get to fall apart if they do not."

His words hit like iron, and inside, I could hear faint murmurs. I could feel the house bracing itself.

"I hate waiting," I said.

"You’re not waiting," Dante replied. "We also have our planned journey."

I managed a tight smile. "Just promise me this: if I don’t make it back—"

"You will," he said, not even letting me finish.

"And if they don’t," I added, eyes narrowing, "then we burn that mountain from the inside out."

Dante nodded. "Deal."

We stood in silence a moment longer, two shadows bracing for the storm, and then finally we walked into the house. They all looked up when I entered.

Tor’s arms were crossed. "Took your time."

"Wasn’t wasting it," I said, moving into the room. "Just needed to clear my head."

Sierra offered a soft nod. "The mountain shakes even the strongest. It is wise to let the thoughts breathe."

Freyr stepped forward, his cloak already secured, obsidian blade strapped to his back. "We’ve mapped a path through the eastern vein," he said. "Less watched. More dangerous."

"So, the usual," I muttered, earning a half-smirk from him.

Tor turned fully to face us. "The cloaked creature is a shadow-born siphon. If we sever its link to Ash Marcel, we might collapse some of the internal protections around the core."

"Which gives Flora’s team more room to strike," Freyr added, voice clipped, focused.

I nodded. "Then that is our job. Draw blood, unravel magic, make it hurt."

Sierra walked closer, her silver eyes calm but piercing. "But be wary. This is not just magic we are walking into. It is a memory, and Ash Marcel will be prepared.

I felt a chill rise up my spine. "Fuck them and take them down."

Tor’s gaze sharpened on me. "Rou. If we are separated, we hold the creature long enough for Flora and Rolan to reach Marcel."

"And if they fall before then?" I asked.

He did not answer right away. "We don’t," Freyr said instead. "We don’t fall."

The fire popped behind him, sending a brief flare of light across his face. Siera handed me a rune-slicked strip of cloth. "Tie this around your left wrist when you get close. It will anchor your thoughts. It is not much, but it might give you enough clarity to strike true."

I took it. "Thank you."

Tor finally uncrossed his arms. "We leave in an hour. "

Dante moved beside me, quiet as ever.

I glanced at Freyr. "You ready to stare down a creature born from shadow?"

His teeth flashed. "I’ve been looking for something to hit those fights back."

Sierra placed a hand on both our shoulders light, brief. "Then may the dark know fear when you come."

Half an hour before we left, I stood in the hallway, watching Alpha Tor as he stared out at the mountain.

I cleared my throat. "Got a minute?"

He did not look up. "If this is about the route or the wards, I’ve already confirmed—"

"It’s not that." I stepped forward. "It is about Belle. Commander Belle Mortas."

That got his attention. His head lifted, and the sharpness in his gaze met mine. "What about her? Do not tell me you want her to join us? Impossible"

"No, that is not It "I huffed.

Tor’s silence was answered enough: Get to the point.

I exhaled. "She’s my mate."

His brow rose slightly. He did not speak, did not react not right away.

"I realized this before we left Bay Shifter lands, and now that we are going back to Bloodstone Mountain and might not return.... Tor crossed his arms slowly, like he was weighing the words I had not said yet. "I needed someone to know," I said. "In case I don’t make it back."

Still, he did not speak. But his eyes did not leave mine. Tor finally let out a breath. "And what would Belle say to you right now? "

I huffed a quiet laugh. "She would call me a fool. Then tell me to keep my ass alive and stop being dramatic."

His mouth twitched slightly, just short of a smile. "You love her," he said, not a question, just a fact.

"I do. And when we parted ways, she was stubborn about us, and I hate that I might disappoint her."

Tor nodded once. "Then return."

"I will. For her. For all of them." He clapped a hand on my shoulder, solid, brief. "We all leave people behind. Just make sure we come back with a reason."

"I hate this feeling, and I just wanted you to know. I will also step down as the Alpha of the Rou clan and leave it for Ralph. I just want to leave quietly in peace."

Tor’s eyes narrowed. "Then fight like hell to get back to her."

I turned to go, the ache in my chest heavier but also clearer. Because love is not a weakness out here. It is the reason we survive. We finally left the Mira house and moved to the path we had agreed on. The trees parted like they were afraid of what waited ahead. The mountain loomed ahead, silent and watching. The trail was gone now, no more markings, no more comfort. Just jagged stone and the choking hum of power pulsing through the earth like a second heartbeat. We moved fast and quietly, but even the air here made my skin itch. Magic old, corrupted, and hungry.

Freyr walked beside me, every step as measured as mine. Alpha Tor was just behind us, and Sierra, sharp-eyed and silent, brought up the rear, and Dante was behind us. This was the path the Mira magic had whispered about, the forgotten route, carved through time and death, meant to bypass the worst of Blood Stone’s defences.

But as we crested the last ridge, the world changed, and I dropped low behind a rock shelf, signalling the others to halt. My stomach turned the second I saw them. Dozens of them. More. Infected. Once vampires now shells. Their skin was stretched thin over muscle and madness, grey and glossy like rotting wax. Their mouths moved constantly, even when they made no sound, lips peeling back to reveal broken teeth. And crawling over every inch of them were the bugs, Blood Stone parasites, slick, black creatures the size of my knuckle, burrowing in and out of their hosts like they were just... meat.

"Gods," Freyr whispered next to me.

Tor let out a breath behind us. "This was supposed to be a quiet way in."

"They’re not just loitering," I muttered. "They’re guarding something."

Sierra stepped forward, crouching beside me. "They have clustered at the mouth. There is a pulse behind them—feel it?"

I nodded. I felt it in my teeth and Something in that mountain was calling to them. Drawing them like carrion. And it was not just the stone.

"We can’t take them head-on," I said. "Not without losing the advantage."

"Or our lives," Freyr added grimly.

Tor’s expression darkened. "Flora’s team will be closing in from the north cliffs. If we start a fight now..."

"We risk everything," I finished.

But my eyes stayed locked on those creatures those ruined souls and the Blood Stone bugs had not just infected them. They had merged with them.

This was not just a plague it was a goddamn evolution. I sucked in a slow breath, grounding myself. "We need to draw them out. Split them. Find a way around or lure them away."

"We don’t even know how deep that entrance runs," Freyr said. "For all we know, the Ash Marcel is behind them.

I nodded. "And we will find out. But not by dying in the dirt." I stood slowly, just enough to get a better angle, and felt the mountain hum under my feet.