Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 419

Chapter 419: Bounty

Hades

The air burned cold through my nostrils as I dragged it in, sharp and raw. The hunger painted everything red. My nails lengthened, black creeping over them like ink bleeding through parchment.

I knew what it was. I wasn’t supposed to—not with the wolf part suppressed, not with the vampire whispering louder—but instinct screamed the truth.

Deer.

Its scent was vivid, thick on my tongue as though I’d already torn into its hide. My vision shifted, the forest trail unfurling before me in strange, unnatural clarity. Each bent blade of grass, each broken twig gleamed like arrows etched into the earth, pointing me forward.

I stalked through the undergrowth, every step soundless despite the pounding in my ears. The path pulled me toward a pond, its surface silver with the touch of dawn.

And there it was.

The deer grazed, head bowed, unknowing. My muscles coiled, fangs pressing against my lip as I readied myself. The hunger roared louder—then froze.

Footsteps.

Not the soft, clumsy tread of prey. Heavy. Human.

I stilled, senses split as voices floated through the trees. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"...Alpha Darius’ men are back at it again," a man muttered, low but sharp. "The barricades—gods, they’ve never been this bad. Arrested civilians yesterday, all because they broke curfew. Came back this morning like ghosts, traumatized out of their wits. The Alpha’s losing it."

A hiss of breath. Then a woman’s voice, urgent, slicing his words.

"Quiet! Someone might hear. You’ll have us both reported for treason."

The man scoffed. "Treason? More like they’ll cash in. What’s the bounty again? A million? At least they’ll get their share."

Her laughter was bitter, cracking like twigs underfoot. "And for what? The message was vague at best. Foreigners, he said. Foreigners? Obsidian Pack has never once crossed our borders. Only the trading routes. Except..." She lowered her tone, hesitating. "...the Fangs. And I wouldn’t even know what a Lycan was, if not for their fangs."

My jaw clenched, heart rattling with more than hunger now.

So Darius was losing his mind. Throwing money, spreading fear, turning his own people into spies with coin dangling before them. If he was branding us as foreigners and beasts, then he was desperate enough to gamble everything.

And worse—he was looking for me. For us.

I backed into the shadow of the trees, forcing the hunger down my throat, forcing the wings still. The deer still lingered by the pond, but I no longer saw it. My eyes were fixed inward, mind burning with what I had just learned.

Darius wasn’t just building barricades.

I stayed crouched in the brush, every muscle strung tight until the voices thinned into the trees and were swallowed by distance. Their bright hiking gear—jackets slick with neon strips, boots crunching the undergrowth—marked them as civilians. Not soldiers. But they’d take the same path back, and I would need to be careful. Careless meant discovered. Discovered meant war before we were ready.

When the forest stilled again, my ears twitched toward the pond. The deer still lingered, unknowing, muzzle dipping to drink from the silver surface.

The predator in me moved before thought could follow. I lunged.

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