Page 68 of The Blood Moon Oath

“Elara,” my uncle says, his voice full of conviction. “We have proof, Finn. She’s been feeding them information. She’s the one who’s betrayed us. She’s the one who’s made us vulnerable.”

I feel the world shift beneath my feet, the words echoing in my mind like an explosion. Elara. The woman I’ve been so damn sure of, the woman I’ve trusted with my heart, my future. The woman I’ve been planning my life around.

I stare at my uncle, my thoughts racing. “No. You’re wrong,” I say, though the words feel weak, hollow. “She wouldn’t do that. You must be mistaken.”

But my uncle just shakes his head. “I wish I were, Finn. But we’ve traced the leak back to her. We have the evidence—emails, letters, meetings with our rivals. And now we know shetook something else, somethingimportant. The family heirlooms. Everything we’ve worked for.”

I can’t breathe. I can’t think. The ground beneath me feels like it’s slipping away, and I’m left standing in the ruins of everything I thought I knew.

“Elara?” I repeat, the name falling from my lips like a curse. “No. She waswith me—she was on my side.”

“I know how you feel,” my uncle says, his voice softer now. “But sometimes love blinds you, Finn. You didn’t see the signs. None of us did.”

My heart is hammering in my chest. I can’t believe this.I don’t believe this. This can’t be real. Elara was supposed to be the one. She was the one who made me feel something real, something beyond business, beyond family. We were going to build something together, something stronger than anything I had ever known.

And now she’s taken it all.

“Where is she?” I demand, my voice cold. The anger is building now, deep inside me, rising like a storm. “Where did she go?”

“I don’t know,” my uncle says, his voice tired. “But she’s gone. And she took everything with her. The ring, the heirlooms, all the damn leverage we had.”

I don’t wait for him to finish his sentence. I turn on my heel and leave the study, my mind spinning. I need to find her. I need answers. I need to see it for myself, to hear it from her mouth.

I head straight for her quarters, my steps heavy and fast. My mind races with the worst possibilities, but I still don’t want to believe it. I can’t believe it. Not yet.

I storm through the house, my steps heavy and quick, the air thick with a cold fury I can’t seem to shake. My mind races as I move from room to room, checking places she might havebeen, checking places she might’ve hidden. I don’t know where she is, but I don’t need to find her right now. I already know what I’ll find when I do.

The air feels different. The estate that once felt like home now feels like a shell, hollowed out and empty, a reflection of what’s been taken.

“Elara!” I shout, my voice echoing through the hallways. My breath comes in shallow gasps, my chest tightening. I want to believe it’s all a mistake, that there’s been some misunderstanding. But deep down, I know. I feel the truth in my gut, cold and hard.

I reach her quarters, the door slightly ajar, and I step inside without thinking. The room is eerily quiet, the perfume she always wore still lingering in the air, but everything else is... wrong. The papers on the desk are scattered, her clothes in disarray, and the small silver boxes that used to line the shelves are missing.

There’s a note, folded neatly, resting on the surface. I don’t even need to read it to know what it is. I know what I’m about to find.

I open the note slowly, almost afraid to see the truth, but I can’t stop myself. My hands shake as I unfold the paper. The words are written in her neat, elegant handwriting.

"Finn, I never wanted to hurt you. This was always just a job. I had to do it, for my family. But I won’t lie to you, I did fall in love with you. I just couldn’t stay. I’m sorry."

The words blur in front of me. My vision goes hazy, my mind struggling to comprehend what I’m reading.Just a job?She fell in love with me?

No. Sheused me.

I stand there for a moment, the note slipping from my fingers as I take in the empty room. The family heirlooms are gone. My father’s ring—gone.

I feel a deep, searing rage ignite inside of me. It’s like a fire that starts small and quickly builds, until it consumes everything.

She betrayed me. She took everything I believed in, everything I trusted. And she’s gone, leaving nothing but a note and a pile of lies.

I take a step back, my heart sinking as the reality hits. She wasn’t just a woman who betrayed me. She’s a thief, aconartist. A traitor to everything I thought I knew.

She used me. Used everything about me, everything I believed in, to get close, to steal everything we held dear.

But now it’s all falling apart. I can’t stay here. I can’t just stand in this empty room, wondering what the hell went wrong.

I stand before them,the weight of my family’s gaze pressing down on me like a hundred-ton stone. My heart pounds in my chest, but I don’t show it. I can’t. Not now. Not after what I’ve done.

The council is gathered in the great hall—my uncle, my father’s advisors, the family elders. The room, once so full of life, is now quiet, the only sound the crackling of the fire in the hearth.

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