Chapter Four

Kael’s Pov

The hall watched us leave in silence, their gazes fixated on us

Some of them looked stunned while some looked cheated that they had not seen Lyra dragged to a cell instead of led away with my ring in her hand. I saw Magnus trying to hide his relief, Selene trying to hide her rage, and Cassian face held bitterness he couldn't even hide.

Lyra did not look back once.

That was the first thing I respected about her.

My men opened the car door, and she entered immediately.

I got in after her, shutting out the noise of Black Hollow behind us.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

The road out of Ravenmoor cut through dark forest and scattered borders.

Night had come by the time Black Hollow disappeared behind us, and only then did I allow myself to breathe properly. I had secured a Luna, secured the alliance, and secured my throne for now.

That thought stayed with me throughout the journey.

In two days, Nightfang would hold the Moonbound Investiture, the rite that sealed an Alpha’s full command before the ancestral flame. An Alpha could not stand in that circle alone without a Luna at his side, he could not receive the final war blessing and the elders would have legal grounds to challenge his rule before the whole pack.

If that happened, the council would allow interested people to contest for the throne.

And Dave my younger brother wouldn't miss that chance.

What everyone saw was a younger brother who had always played the perfect loyal wolf, smiling at me in public and obeying all my commands but underneath it, was a man who would like to have my throne.

If I had returned without a Luna, he would have been the happiest being under the face of the Moon.

I turned my head and looked at the woman beside me.

Lyra was staring out the window

The moonlight caught the edge of her cheek, and for one moment,I saw the exhaustion under her eyes.

She had not eaten. I would bet on that.

“You need food,” I said.

Her gaze stayed on the window. “I don’t need anything from you.”

“That is not an answer.” I retorted.

“What will you eat, Lyra?” my voice came out harsher than I had intended.

She finally turned to me then, a stern look plastered on her face. “Nothing.”

“You have suffered enough humiliation already in your pack.”

“You had been sitting on a spot for half a day.”

“ You need food.”

“I said I need nothing.” she answered quickly, defensively.

I leaned back into the seat and folded my arms. “Do not faint in my car, Lyra. I have enough problems already.”

That pulled a reaction from her.

She hissed loudly.

“You speak as though I forced myself into your life.”

Her words were followed by a loud growl from her stomach.

I stole a quick glance at her and the car fell quiet again.

Near dawn, we stopped by one of Nightfang’s guarded waystations. The servants brought meat, bread, broth, fruit, and hot tea. Lyra looked at the table once and then looked away, which told me more than if she had complained.

“Eat,” I said.

“I said I’m not hungry.”

“You are hungry.”

“You do not know me enough to detect when i am hungry.”

That almost made me laugh, but I was in no mood for it. “You are tired, angry, humiliated, and running on pride. Pride is not a meal.”

Her eyes flashed with anger.

I held her gaze intently.

For the first time since leaving Black Hollow, she looked at me without pure fury.

And as though realizing that pride wouldn't feed the hungry worms scavenging for food in her stomach, she picked up the tea first. Then half a piece of bread.

I did not comment on the victory.

By the time Nightfang Citadel came into view, evening had started to gather over the mountain ridge. The pack house rose behind iron gates and black stone walls.

Fires burned along the upper balconies, and guards stood posted at every level.

The gates opened at once for my car.

As soon as we entered the inner grounds, loud murmurs erupted from the crowd.

Pack members had gathered along the entry path, more than there should have been at that hour. And because rumors fly faster than the wind, some must have likely heard I returned with a bride.

Their faces carried disapproval, curiosity, and open shock.

I wondered what exactly had reached them before I did.

Then I shoved the thought aside.

I stepped out first and turned back toward the door. Lyra emerged a moment later, steady on her feet hiding the tiredness in her face with a dry smile. The obsidian ring on her finger caught the torchlight, and the crowd noticed it at once.

That was when Dave came striding down the front steps.

He grinned before he even reached me, then threw an arm around the back of my neck in false affection.

“Brother,” he said, glancing past me. “You disappear for business and return with a woman. Who is she?”

I removed his hand from my neck and dropped it away from me.

Then I reached back and took Lyra’s hand.

It was a deliberate move. Dave noticed that. So did everyone else.

“My wife,” I said.

“Your Luna.”

The grin slid off his face.

For one clean second, he could not hide himself. His eyes widened, and the disappointment there was almost satisfying. Then he recovered and gave a thin laugh.

“A wife?” he said.

“That was so fast for you.”

“Get used to it.” I blurted.

Dave’s gaze shifted to Lyra. He bowed, but there was mockery in the angle of it.

“You must be very special.”

“You are right.”

“She is” I said.

That shut him up instantly.

Before he could say any other thing, Raine descended towards us, her lips curved in a smile.

She was the oldest healer in Nightfang, oldest elder still living, and the only advisor who had spoke to anyone without fear.

The moment she saw Lyra, she stopped, then her face hardened.

“What is she doing here?” Raine asked, her chest rising and falling fast.

I did not release Lyra’s hand. “She is Luna. Tell the elders to prepare for the mating ceremony.”

The courtyard went still.

Raine stared at me as if I had spoken out of madness.

Then she spat at the stone beside her sandal.

“The Moon Goddess forbids it,” she said sharply.

“A thief will not become Luna of Nightfang.”

Behind her, I saw Dave’s face light up.

That alone would have been enough to sour my temper, but Raine was not done. She stepped closer, pointing one rigid finger toward Lyra with all the judgment of an executioner.

“I recognize this face,” she declared.

“The Moon Goddess showed her to me. I saw her in a prophecy flame three nights ago. A dark-haired girl with a crown drowned in ash, bringing scandal to our gates.”

Lyra’s fingers went cold in mine.

Raine’s voice rose. “And not only that, the news has been announced everywhere.”

“Her picture had been everywhere.”

“She is a criminal and she is treacherous.”

“Is this what you dragged into our house?”

“Were you blindfolded.”

The courtyard began to stir again, louder this time and now the whole mumurs that had stirred when i stepped into the pack began to make sense to me.

Wolves whispered to each other and they drew back from Lyra as if guilt had a smell.

I turned my head and saw her face.

She had gone pale, color drained from her face.

This was the face of someone being thrown back into a pit she had barely escaped. Her whole body had tightened, and if I had not been holding her hand, I might not have noticed the small tremor running through it.

Raine lifted her chin higher. “Nightfang has stood for generations without stain. We are honest and had always been upright. We are feared amongst every packs.

“ No girl from nowhere will drag filth into this pack.”

That did it for me.

“A Luna you wanted,” I said, my voice cutting across the courtyard, “and a Luna you will have.”

Raine held my gaze, unflinching.

I stepped forward. “Nothing is going to happen to my throne. Nothing is going to stop that ceremony. Whether she is called a thief, a criminal, or anything else by frightened fools, she will be crowned Luna, the Moonbound Investiture will hold, and no one will take my title from me.”

Dave’s smile disappeared.

Raine’s eyes flashed with anger. “Would you throw the pack’s reputation in the mud for a woman you do not know?”

“I know enough,” I said.

“I know enough not to stay stupid and let my crown slip away from my head.” I thundered.

No one answered that.

The silence that followed was sharp and loud.

Raine looked ready to challenge me again, but I had no intention of standing there while my courtyard turned into another tribunal.

I let go of Lyra’s hand.

The cold left my palm at once.

“You will be shown to your chambers,” I told her, not looking at anyone else. “Rest and speak to no one unless I say otherwise.”

Then I walked past them all and into the pack house without another word.

The omegas scurried in safety as I walked fast.

By the time I reached my chambers, my blood was clearly boiling with anger.

I pushed the door open and on my bed was Lena.

She was half naked, draped across dark sheets with her cleavage exposed and one leg bent as if she had been waiting for a private invitation. The perfume in the room struck first. Sweet, heavy and familiar enough to irritate me further.

She smiled and rose slowly. “You’re back late.”

I shut the door behind me with more force than necessary. “Get out.”

Her smile faltered, then returned.

She crossed the room and reached for my shoulders.

“Seems you are tense. Let me fix that.”

I caught her wrist before she touched me. “I said get out.”

Lena frowned. “What is this mood? You disappear for days, then come back acting strange. You never complained when I waited in your room before.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?” she questioned.

“Before I brought home a wife.”

Color drained from her face. “You’re joking.”

“I am not.”

She searched my expression for some sort of playful expression but when she found nothing, her face turned icy.

“So that’s it? Some political tool walks in and I’m suddenly trash?”

“You were never anything before.”

The slap of those words landed harder than if I had raised my hand. Lena stepped back, with wounded pride.

I took one step toward the door and opened it.

“Leave now.”

For a second, her face turned red with fury as though she might attack me.

Then she gathered the discarded fabric at her feet, covered herself with shaking hands, and walked out without another word.

When the door shut behind her, the room felt no calmer.

I sat on the edge of the bed and pressed my hand over my mouth. The ceremony would hold. I would make sure of that. The elders could complain, the pack could whisper, and Dave could choke on his disappointment.

But Raine’s outburst had done what I did not need tonight.

It had shown the danger clearly.

Lyra’s name had reached Nightfang before her feet had even touched the floor of my house. Her reputation was poisoned already. If the pack rejected her publicly before the Moonbound Investiture, the elders could call it an omen and drag my right to rule into debate.

And if debate began, the throne would no longer be promised.

A hard knock hit my door.

I looked up, already annoyed. “What?”

The door opened before permission was given. Ronan stepped in, and one look at his face pulled me to my feet. He had never entered rattled.

“What happened?” I asked.

Ronan shut the door behind him. “You need to come now.”

My hand went to the knife at my belt by instinct. “What is it?”

His jaw tightened.

“Raine took her to the ancestral hall. She said if the girl means to stand in the ceremony, the goddess should judge her first and she must swear.”

My heart sank deep into my stomach.

I knew what that meant.

If she was guilty, then the Moon goddess would strike her to death instantly.

That would bring a permanent shame to my face.

I would mo longer rule and Alpha Magnus would make sure I produce his sister.

“What?” I yelled, running out of the room.