~ Cayden's POV ~
Daggering my brother was never a choice.
It was mandatory.
A cruel, bloodstained necessity I've had to live with every single day for four years.
Cyrius wasn't always like this. Gods, no. As kids, he was the softest of the three of us—the one who always tried to mediate, to patch us up after our fights, the first to laugh and the last to hold a grudge. He was the most excited about the prophecy, about the three of us taking the Alpha throne together.
He believed in the bond between brothers. In the idea of us.
But when the moon chose me—me alone—something in him snapped.
He didn't just distance himself. He didn't walk away. He turned rogue. Not in the traditional way—not with claws or violence or open rebellion. No, his betrayal was quieter. More venomous. He turned to the witches. To Crescent magic.
And if anyone ever finds out he's still alive…
It'll burn.
Everything.
The pack. The council. Our name.
And I'll have to kill him. Properly this time.
