The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon (Celine and Bastian) novel Chapter 168

Chapter 168

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“You’re next, then your wife and the illegitimate bastard you wanted to marry me to. I’ll destroy all of them and avenge the death of my beloved Celine, Darius. If you want, run. Sooner or later, I’ll find you.”

His allies have abandoned him. The alphas no longer follow him. His warriors are dead, wounded, or disarmed. His son lies on the ground, and the castle he spent more than a year trying to conquer is still standing. For the first time since that war began, Darius is completely alone.

Tanner turns toward the men now waiting for his orders.

“Take care of the wounded.”

The warriors begin moving among the bodies. Some carry their comrades over their shoulders, while others kneel beside the wounded to examine their injuries beneath the rain. The dead remain in the mud, covered by the storm that shows no sign of stopping.

“Leave the dead here.”

No one questions the order.

Tanner watches the forest for several seconds. Beyond the trees, the castle towers are barely visible through the rain and darkness. For months, he believed the only way to reclaim his life was to destroy those behind those walls. Now he knows he was wrong.

“We’re going to the castle.”

Some of the warriors raise their heads. Tanner looks at the weapons scattered across the ground before turning his eyes back toward them.

“We’re not going to fight.”

The news spreads through the ranks like a murmur. The warriors begin dropping their weapons. Swords, spears, and knives fall into the mud one after another, forming small piles around the camp. Some remove the bows from their shoulders and place them beside the other weapons. Others raise their hands to show they are carrying nothing concealed.

Darius remains motionless, but within seconds he comes back to himself. He looks at his dead son, the very man who had insisted on creating that army and leading them into a war that is now ending before his eyes. Then he looks at the warriors who were once under his command and who now follow Tanner without even looking back at him.

His wife is with his daughter in the human world. He has to go to them and stay away from Lemuria. If he’s lucky, he can disappear.

He has nothing else.

No army. No allies. No son. And no longer the power he believed he possessed for so long. Everything he built around his hatred has collapsed within minutes, and now there is only him, standing beneath the storm, watching the men who once followed him abandon the camp behind Tanner.

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The Second Chance Of The Rejected Moon

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Tanner walks past him without stopping, without even sparing him a glance, as though Darius is no longer worthy of his attention.

“We’re going to surrender.”

The other alphas follow him. Behind them, hundreds of warriors begin leaving the camp and heading toward the castle. They no longer march as an army prepared to attack. They walk beneath the storm with empty hands, leaving behind the weapons they used for more than a year to try to bring down the walls of Lemuria.

Darius remains alone among the remains of the camp, watching the men who were once willing to die for him walk away. The rain strikes his face, soaks his clothes, and finally washes away the traces of blood around his feet.

For the first time in a long time, he has no plan. He only knows that he has to flee with his wife and daughter to the human world, disappear with them, and stay away so no one ever finds them again.

He can’t stay there. Not after losing his son, his allies, and the entire army he believed would lead him to the

crown.

He takes one last look at the castle and begins backing into the trees, but then the rain suddenly stops, as if someone has shut off a faucet over the forest. The silence that follows is even more unsettling than the roar of

the storm.

Darius raises his head and looks toward the walls. The enormous castle gates begin to open slowly, and behind them, thousands of soldiers emerge. The army of Lemuria advances until it occupies the ground in front of the walls, forming an endless line that blocks every possible escape route.

Darius stands motionless beneath the suddenly clear sky, realizing that he won’t even have the chance to flee.

They are surrounded.

Tanner is the first to drop his weapons. He lets them fall onto the wet ground and slowly raises his hands, while the other alphas follow his example and kneel when they find themselves surrounded by the soldiers.

For several seconds, none of them tries to resist. They believe they are facing the army that defended the walls and that, after surrendering their weapons, there is still a chance the king will listen to their reasons.

But then Tanner looks closely at the warriors surrounding them and realizes they aren’t the same ones they saw before. These wolves are different. Their bodies look unnaturally solid, their movements too precise, and there is something about the way they stand perfectly still that sends a shiver through the kneeling men.

The answer comes when several of them raise their heads at the same time and their eyes turn a distinctive shade of red.

“Vampires!” Tanner shouts, immediately getting to his feet, horrified by the presence of those creatures on the lands of Lemuria.

The others react on instinct. Weapons return to their hands, and within seconds, firearms are pointed at the soldiers surrounding them. Tanner’s warriors gather behind him, tense, while the vampires remain completely still, showing no intention of retreating.

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