Chapter 3

"I told you it was just a show to shut Mara up!" Silas barked, his face twisted in panic. "You know damn well I'm obsessed with you. Why the hell would you accept the rejection?"

He lunged forward and clamped his hands onto my shoulders.

His Alpha aura flared, rolling over me in suffocating waves, trying to bend my spine and force my submission.

"Admit it! You're only doing this to punish me!"

He didn't wait for a reply. Baring his fangs, he shoved me back against the wall, angling his jaw toward my throat to force a fresh claim mark.

I slammed both palms into his chest, shoving him off.

"You're obsessed with me?" I let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Then what the hell is Mara to you?"

Silas froze. "That was a mistake. I already explained that."

"And you think I broke our bond just out of spite?" My gaze turned razor-sharp. "Then how, exactly, do you plan to beg for my forgiveness?"

Desperation flickered across his face.

He leaned in, practically groveling, but the thick stench of his blood only made my stomach churn.

"Ophelia, name it," he pleaded, his voice ragged. "Whatever you want. Just say the word, and it's done."

I turned my head away, avoiding his touch entirely. "Exile Mara. I don't ever want to see her face again."

Silas didn't hesitate. "Done."

"I don't mean sending her to an outpost," I pressed, keeping my voice chillingly level. "I mean she leaves the Wastelands for good. Stripped of pack protection, along with whatever she's carrying in her belly. She never steps foot on this territory again."

The silence in the room thickened.

A war played out behind his eyes.

But under the weight of my icy detachment, he finally cracked, grinding out a single word:

"Fine..."

The door was kicked open with a violent crack.

Mara stood on the threshold, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. "Silas, you bastard! You used me!"

She let out a wretched sob, spun around, and bolted down the stone corridor.

Regret flared across Silas's features.

His fists trembled at his sides, but when he glanced at me, he swallowed his hesitation.

Without another word, he sprinted after her.

I followed at an unhurried pace.

He caught up to Mara at the courtyard entrance. The moment he reached for her, she whipped around and slapped him across the face with a sickening crack.

Instead of snapping his jaws, Silas pulled her into an embrace, shuddering with relief. "Mara, please... don't do something crazy like that."

Hearing my footsteps, Silas instinctively shifted, shielding Mara behind his back.

He let out a heavy, conflicted sigh. "Ophelia, she's carrying my pup. As an Alpha, I have a duty to keep it safe. What I promised... can we just table that for later?"

Mara peeked around his shoulder, smirking openly.

She stepped forward, devoid of fear.

"You threw away your sacred claim, Ophelia. You're not Luna now. Who do you really think Silas chooses—a disgraced shell, or the mother of his child?"

She was utterly delusional. I didn't waste a breath; I simply turned to leave.

Suddenly, a shadow lunged at my back.

Before I could dodge, Mara's nails dug into my jaw, wrenching my mouth open.

She jammed an open glass vial between my lips and dumped half the dark liquid down my throat.

Then, tilting her head back, she swallowed the rest herself.

Liquid fire tore through my chest. Every ragged inhale sent waves of agonizing heat down my throat.

Moonshade sap.

A black-market venom concocted specifically to rot highborn priestess blood from the inside out.

For any wolf, it crippled the spirit; in high doses, it was lethal.

Mara tossed the empty vial, laughing like a maniac. "Silas! Your pup is in my belly! Watch us drop dead right in front of you if you've got the guts!"

The poison surged through my veins. My knees buckled as numbness dragged my limbs down.

Silas lost his mind.

He dropped to his knees, prying Mara's jaws apart and slamming her back to induce vomiting.

Panicking, he scooped Mara up in his arms and looked at me with frantic urgency. "Ophelia! You carry the sacred bloodline of the North—your constitution can fight it off!"

"Mara is just a weak Omega, and she's pregnant! Walk behind us if you can! The second I get the healer to pump her stomach, I swear I'll come back for you!"

Tucked against Silas's chest, Mara curled her lips into a venomous smirk.

Silently, she mouthed the words: Told you he'd pick me.

A bitter laugh caught in my throat.

Silas wasn't entirely wrong. My father was the Great Alpha of the North, and my mother was the high Priestess.

A mouthful of Moonshade sap wasn't enough to kill me.

But as long as I breathed and remained within his borders, shackled by his guard patrols and the sheer military might of his pack, I’d never truly escape his cage.

What if I faked my death?

My inner wolf whined in distress.

Trust me, I whispered to her.

A second later, dark, corrupted blood erupted from my lips, soaking through my collar.

I willfully severed my aura, suppressing my heartbeat and letting my body collapse against the flagstones like a puppet with its strings cut.

Down the hallway, Silas's frantic footsteps suddenly ground to a dead halt.