Ch. I Refuse to Be Your Luna 194 I Refuse to Be Your Luna 194

Chapter 194 Stonehedge Betrayal

Lady Flourish’s POV

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Finished

The words on the archive wall stayed with me long after the lights came back on.

My wolf refused to settle because Ragnar’s name had become one more threat in a conspiracy that already felt impossible to escape.

Damian stood beside me, his expression controlled, but I could feel his anger through our bond.

“Do you believe him?” I asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Damian said.

The answer hurt more than I expected. “You don’t trust your uncle?”

“I trust the man I know,” he said, glancing at Magnus. “I don’t trust what we’re being shown.”

Caelan nodded. “That’s wise.”

Magnus laughed. “You are still trying to protect them.”

“Because they’re my family,” Caelan said, his eyes flashing.

I looked at him. “You called me your daughter.”

“I meant it.”

“Then tell me everything.”

He hesitated. “My relationship with your mother began before she met Garret. We loved each other.”

“Then why did she marry him?”

“Because I disappeared.”

“Why?”

“I was forced to leave. Magnus threatened Elara. He said if I stayed, he would destroy her family.”

I swallowed hard. “And my mother believed you were gone.”

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Chapter 194 Stonehedge Betrayal

“Yes.”

“Then Garret came.”

He looked down. “Yes.”

Tears burned my eyes. “She never stopped loving you.”

“I know.”

“Did Garret know?”

“Eventually.”

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Finished

I thought of the diary, the sadness folded into every page, the secrets my mother had carried alone. Damian reached for my hand, and I held it tightly. “I need to know what happens next.”

“We finish this,” he said.

A sharp alarm sounded, and Phina turned toward the entrance. “They’re here.”

“Who?”

“Stonehedge.”

Damian’s earpiece crackled. Rhys’s voice came through, clipped and urgent. “Alpha, Ragnar’s forces have surrounded the estate.”

Damian’s jaw tightened. “How many?”

“At least fifty.”

I looked at Caelan. “Why would Ragnar come for me?”

“Because he may already know what you are.”

I glanced at Damian, and he understood at once. “If Ragnar is working with Magnus, then Stonehedge’s fleet was never Karl’s alone.”

“Exactly,” Caelan said.

“Then what about Nerissa?”

“She knew,” Phina said. “She was part of the network.”

“And Karl?”

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Chapter 194 Stonehedge Betrayal

“An intermediary.”

Karl had never been the mastermind. He had simply been useful.

I turned to Magnus. “Why didn’t you kill me?”

“Because I need your cooperation.”

“You won’t get it.”

He smiled. “We’ll see.”

03

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Finished

The doors exploded inward, and Stonehedge warriors rushed in. Damian shifted immediately, and I followed.

The battle turned brutal fast. My wolf tore through the first attacker before another struck from behind, but Damian intercepted him before the blow landed. We fought back to back after that, moving without words.

Every time someone came at me, he was already there. Every time he was struck, my wolf reacted before I could think. Our bond had become instinct.

Caelan and Phina fought across the chamber while Mira stayed pressed behind the archive pillar.

A familiar scent reached me through the chaos. Ragnar. He walked forward through his own

warriors.

My wolf snarled. “Uncle Ragnar.”

“Flourish.”

Damian stepped in front of me. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to take her.”

Damian’s eyes flashed gold. “You’ll have to go through me.”

“I expected that.” Ragnar raised his hand, and his warriors closed in around Damian.

I stepped forward. “No.”

“You don’t understand what you’re carrying,” Ragnar said.

“I know enough.”

“You’re a threat to every Alpha who cannot control you.”

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Chapter 194 Stonehedge Betrayal

“That’s not my problem.”

“It will be.”

M

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Finished

He shifted, and his wolf was massive. Damian shifted too, and they collided hard enough to shake the chamber. I watched them fight, my heart pounding. Damian was stronger, but Ragnar knew him, and every attack was well calculated.

Ragnar caught Damian by the throat, and my wolf erupted. I attacked without thinking, but Ragnar threw me aside. I hit the floor hard, pain shooting through my ribs. Damian roared and broke free, attacking with renewed force. Ragnar stumbled back.

I pushed myself up. Then Magnus spoke.

“Flourish.”

He stood beside the archive platform. Mira was there too, Lydia behind her. My blood went cold. Lydia held a knife against Mira’s throat.

“Come here.”

My wolf snarled. “Let her go.”

“Open the archive,” Lydia said, smiling.

I looked at Damian, still fighting Ragnar. I looked at Caelan, pinned beneath two warriors. Phina was bleeding. Mira’s eyes met mine.

“Don’t,” she whispered.

Lydia pressed the knife closer, and I stepped toward the platform. My wolf screamed inside me, but I had no choice left.

I stood on the stone, and the archive activated. Blue light spread beneath my feet. Lydia smiled. Magnus raised his hand.

“Begin.”

Pain tore through my body, and I screamed. Damian turned toward me. “Flourish!”

“Hold him back,” Lydia laughed.

The ritual intensified, and my wolf fought it. Then another presence entered my mind, one that wasn’t Lydia and wasn’t Magnus. A familiar male voice whispered inside my head.

Don’t fight the ritual.

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Chapter 194 Stonehedge Betrayal

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Finished

I froze. The voice continued.

Let it open the archive.

My wolf recognized him before I fully did, and my heart stopped. It was Caelan’s voice, coming through the bond itself.

Flourish, trust me.

I closed my eyes, and then I understood. The ritual wasn’t taking my ability. It was unlocking it.

My eyes opened, burning gold. Every wolf in the chamber dropped to its knees. Ragnar froze mid motion. Damian stared at me in disbelief. Lydia stumbled backward, and Magnus’s composed expression finally broke.

I raised my hand, and every wolf stopped moving. Then my wolf spoke through me, my voice carrying further than it should.

“Release Mira.”

Lydia dropped the knife, and for the first time since I had met her, she looked afraid.

The archive doors opened behind me. Inside stood a man I had never seen before. He looked exactly like the photograph of Caelan, only older, weathered by years I couldn’t account for.

He stepped forward. “Hello, Flourish.”

My breath caught. Caelan stared at him. “Impossible.”

The man smiled calmly. “I’m the reason you survived.” Then he looked at me. “And I’m the one who ordered Garret to keep you hidden.”

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