Chapter 3 DANGEROUS TRUTHS

LISA'S POV

The hot water stung my shoulder, but the wound was already starting to close. Werewolf healing was convenient, even if mine was slower than most. I let the shower wash away the blood and dirt, trying not to think about Ryan's hands on my skin.

A knock interrupted my thoughts. "Lisa? It's Nathan. The elders called another meeting."

Great. I'd been back less than twenty-four hours and already had two elder meetings. "Give me five minutes."

I dressed carefully in jeans and a loose sweater that wouldn't irritate my shoulder. The bite mark was now a pink scar that would fade completely by tomorrow.

Nathan waited in the hallway, his expression serious. "There's something you should know before we go in."

"What now?"

"The rogues we fought today? They were organized. Too organized. Someone's leading them."

"That's impossible. Rogues don't follow anyone."

"These do." He lowered his voice. "And Ryan thinks they're after you specifically."

"Me? Why would rogues—"

"Lisa." Elder Catherine's voice interrupted us. She stood at the meeting hall entrance, her expression unreadable. "We're waiting."

The hall was packed this time. Ryan stood near the front with Sophia beside him. Other pack members filled the benches. My father was there too, in a wheelchair, looking frailer than ever.

"The attack today changes things," Elder Catherine began. "We need strong leadership now, not next week. Lisa, you proved yourself in battle, but—"

"But she's been gone for three years," Elder James interrupted. "She doesn't know our current alliances, our struggles. She's an outsider."

"She's the Alpha's daughter," someone called from the crowd. "She has the bloodright."

"Bloodright means nothing without strength," another voice argued.

Elder Catherine raised her hand for silence. "There is another way. An old way."

The room went still. My father's face paled even more.

"No," he said weakly. "Catherine, you can't mean—"

"The Trial of Flames," she announced.

Gasps echoed through the hall. Ryan stepped forward. "That's barbaric. No one's done the Trial in fifty years."

"What's the Trial of Flames?" I asked, though my wolf already sensed danger.

Elder Catherine looked at me with something like pity. "Three challenges. Combat, wisdom, and spirit. If you pass all three, you become Alpha without question. If you fail..."

"She dies," Ryan finished harshly. "The Trial kills anyone who fails."

"That's the old way," Elder Catherine said. "But there's an alternative. Mate with someone of Alpha blood from another pack. Strengthen our alliances through union."

"She can't," Sophia said suddenly, her voice carrying clearly. "She already has a mate bond."

The hall erupted in whispers. Elder Catherine's eyes sharpened. "Is this true?"

I opened my mouth to deny it, but Ryan spoke first. "The bond was never completed. It doesn't count."

"But it was never rejected either," Nathan added helpfully, earning a glare from his brother.

Elder Catherine looked between Ryan and me, understanding dawning on her face. "I see. This complicates things."

"It doesn't complicate anything," Sophia said, her voice rising. "Ryan chose me. We're engaged. The Silver Creek Pack is expecting this alliance."

"An engagement isn't a mate bond," my father said quietly. "And Lisa's bond with Ryan, incomplete or not, takes precedence."

"This is ridiculous," I finally found my voice. "I don't want Ryan. He made his choice three years ago when he stood silent as I was sent away."

Ryan flinched as if I'd struck him.

"Then you'll take the Trial?" Elder Catherine asked.

"No," Ryan said immediately. "She can't. I won't allow it."

I laughed bitterly. "You won't allow it? You have no say in what I do, Beta."

His eyes flashed gold. "Lisa—"

"I'll take the Trial," I announced.

The hall went silent. My father rolled forward in his wheelchair. "Lisa, please reconsider."

"When?" I asked Elder Catherine, ignoring him.

"Three days. The full moon. You'll face the combat challenge first."

"Against who?"

Elder Catherine smiled thinly. "That would be telling. Meeting adjourned."

People filed out slowly, whispers following me. Nathan appeared at my side. "That was either very brave or very stupid."

"Probably both," I admitted.

Ryan materialized in front of us, Sophia nowhere in sight. "We need to talk."

"No, we don't," I said, trying to move past him.

He caught my arm gently, mindful of my shoulder. "Lisa, please. The Trial of Flames isn't just dangerous, it's designed to kill. The last person who attempted it—"

"Died, I know." I pulled free from his grip. "Better than being forced into a political mating."

"Is that what you think I'm doing with Sophia?" His voice was low, intense. "Playing politics?"

"I don't think about you at all," I lied.

Nathan coughed. "I'm just gonna... go... somewhere else." He disappeared quickly.

Ryan moved closer, backing me against the wall. "You're lying. Your heart rate just spiked."

"That's anger, not attraction."

"Your wolf says otherwise." His eyes were gold now, his wolf surface-close. "She's calling to mine right now."

He was right. My wolf was practically clawing to get out, to get closer to him. "My wolf is an idiot."

"Your wolf is perfect," he said softly. "Just like you."

"Stop," I whispered. "You have a fiancée. You have obligations."

"I have a duty to my true mate," he said. "That's you. It's always been you."

"Then where were you three years ago?" The words burst out of me, years of pain behind them. "When the elders said I was too weak? When they sent me away in disgrace? Where was my mate then?"

His face crumpled. "I was a coward. I thought if I let you go, you'd be safer. Happier. Away from the pack politics and the constant challenges."

"You thought wrong."

"I know that now." He reached up, his fingers barely grazing my cheek. "Let me help you with the Trial. Let me train you."

"While your fiancée watches? I don't think so."

"Lisa—"

A scream cut through the night. We both tensed, recognizing the sound of terror. Another attack.

We ran toward the sound, finding chaos at the pack's main square. But this time, it wasn't rogues.

A lone figure stood in the center, hood obscuring his face. Bodies of our guards lay unconscious around him.

"I'm looking for Lisa Marcus," the figure called out, his voice strangely familiar. "The lost heir has something that belongs to me."

He pushed back his hood, and my blood went cold.

It was Marcus. But not my father.

It was my brother. The one who supposedly died ten years ago.