Unclaimed Luna’s Desire
Chapter 50 The Betrayer

Aelros' POV:

Thanks to William's screw-up, most of the assassins got orders to ditch their spots and climb the cliff. That left way fewer guys around me on the ground, giving me a shot at escape. After some quick thinking, I managed to land on a thick tree branch nearby.

The leaves hid me pretty well, but the blood smell was a dead giveaway.

Sure enough, when William figured out I was gone, he sniffed the air and said, "Aelros is hurt. That blood smell won't go away. Find him, now." "Aelros, you can't run forever," he yelled in my direction.

I knew that even with my skills, I couldn't take on all these assassins at once. Eventually, they'd wear me down, and I'd either get caught or worse. Plus, I was already hurt.

William knew this too, so even though I got away for now, he stayed cool.

Using the trees as cover, I darted between them, trying to get out of there fast.

After leading the assassins on a wild goose chase, I circled back to the big tree where I first landed.

For now, I was safe. They hadn't caught up yet.

I leaned against the trunk, legs on the branches, trying to catch my breath.

I couldn't go too far from the cliff as this was where I told my friends to replace me and they'd lose track of me if I moved too far.

I couldn't even use minelink to contact them, 'cause that would tip off William and his goons.

I could only wait; there was no other option.

Three hours left before my friends showed up, and I had to hang in there.

Losing so much blood made me feel weak. I wondered if my body was going cold, but the Moonlight Herb in my chest was still burning my skin. When I lifted my shirt and took out the herb, my skin was blackened and blistered from the heat.

Luckily, I had a plan to throw these guys off my trail.

I put the Moonlight Herb in my mouth and tore my shirt into strips.

Dabbing blood from my bullet wounds, I smeared it on each strip, making sure they all had my scent.

I took a deep breath and pressed the Moonlight Herb to my wound, enduring the burning pain like my skin was on fire.

It hurt like hell.

I bit down hard to keep from making any noise.

It felt like a branding iron on my skin, sizzling and smoking, filling the air with the smell of cooked flesh.

It was weird. I could smell my own flesh burning.

But at least the bleeding stopped, even though the bullets were still in me.

Sweat dripped from my chin onto the cloth strips.

I rested for a bit. While the others hadn't caught up, I tied the strips to the tops of the trees.

I figured this would keep William, the idiot, busy for a while.

Sure enough, as I covered myself with leaves, William and his team showed up.

By chance, William stopped right under my tree, and I could hear everything.

I held my breath, staying still to avoid getting caught.

"The smell of Aelros is really strong here. He's here! Search everywhere. Don't let him get away!" William's eyes were red with anger, feeling the frustration of being outsmarted by me. "William, we've searched everywhere. All we found were these strips of cloth. No sign of Aelros," one of the assassins said. "Are you sure your info's right? Could Aelros have already bailed?" "That's impossible!" William slammed his fist into the tree trunk I was hiding in, gritting his teeth. "He wouldn't lie to me! He swore that even if Aelros escaped, he wouldn't leave this area!"

Someone had ratted me out to William.

That traitor had the nerve to stab me in the back!

Luckily, I didn't die because of it. I hung on, even though I was close to the edge.

I was furious! If I found out who it was, I'd personally kick them out of the Pack!

"What now? Do we stay here?"

"Wait," William said. "I'll catch this bastard for sure."

I sneered at William, thinking he was too dumb to catch me with his empty head.

A loud wolf howl echoed in the distance, followed by countless others.

From my spot, I could see figures rushing towards me.

I knew the time had come.

"William, it's Aelros' people!"

"Don't be scared of them. We have more men!" William had lost it. "I command you to kill all of Aelros' friends and capture Aelros, wherever he's hiding!" "There are too many of them!"

"Then split up and search. Don't let a single one escape!" William waved his fists, looking like a madman.

It was a tough call, but as subordinates, they had no choice. After hesitating, they decided to follow orders.

After resting, I had regained a lot of my strength.

I jumped down from the branch and kicked the unsuspecting William.

Clearly, William hadn't expected me to be hiding right above him. He looked shocked, mouth hanging open.

"Why are you here?" William pointed at me, stunned.

I mocked him, "I told you, you can't catch me, idiot."

My body quickly transformed, covered in silver fur, growing in size.

I kicked William again, and he rolled on the ground, covered in dust, looking nothing like his earlier aggressive self.

I swiped my claws at the fallen William.

He spat blood, unable to get up, only able to glare at me with rage.

"You bastard! How dare you play me!" William shouted. "I will kill you, you mongrel!"

"I won't kill you." I shook my head, ignoring his foolishness. "Go back and tell Joseph that this means war. I'll do everything to take him down from the Alpha's throne. The next Alpha will be me, not him, and definitely not you, you fool." After this mess, I headed home with the still fresh Moonlight Herb.

I was confident all along, thinking Ellie would love this gift.

But when I opened the door, the house was empty, not a soul in sight.

The whole place was pitch black, no lights on, lifeless and cold.

Ellie had only eaten one meal from the carefully arranged recipes I left in the fridge. The rest were untouched, just like when I put them in.

It seemed like Ellie had been gone for a while, her scent was so faint that if I didn't sniff around, I wouldn't even know she had been here. Ellie hadn't stayed home waiting for me. She had disappeared.

I still held the Moonlight Herb in my hand, now looking dimmer.

I tossed the Moonlight Herb into the nearest trash can and left the kitchen without looking back.

It was pointless.

Since Ellie didn't need the gift I brought, it lost its purpose, no different from trash.