Chapter 7

• Lyra POV
• In that moment, it felt like all the blood in my body rushed straight to my head.
• I spun around and stormed out.
• I had to find Kane.
• I needed to ask him—what the hell was he thinking?
• I found him in the main hall of the Pack House.
• He was huddled with a few Gamma warriors around a huge map, planning the territory’s defenses.
• When he saw me burst in, red-faced and furious, he waved the others away.
• “What now?” His tone was dripping with impatience.
• “The Moonlight Priestess apprentice spot.” I cut straight to the point. “You gave it to Maya?”
• Kane leaned against the table, arms crossed, and nodded like it was the most natural thing in the world.
• “Yeah. Got a problem?”
• “A problem?” I laughed bitterly. “That spot was mine! I earned it by passing Lady Seraphina’s test, by my own damn skill!”
• “Your skill?” Kane raised an eyebrow. “Lyra, have you forgotten who you are?”
• “A convict. A disgrace to Shadowfen. You really think you can be a priestess apprentice?”
• “How do you think the other werewolves in the territory see you? What about the elders?”
• “What about Morningstar Ridge?”
• With every word, he stepped closer, like he was trying to shove his judgment down my throat.
• “Maya’s different. She’s blood of Morningstar Ridge. She’s carrying my heir in her belly. Her becoming a priestess apprentice is an honor.”
• “But you? You’re just trouble.”
• His words hit me so hard I could barely breathe, but I glared right back.
• “So all my hard work, my skills—none of it means shit to you?”
• “Just because of where I come from, my past, I’m supposed to be stripped of everything?”
• “That’s not stripping you of anything, Lyra.” Kane’s voice turned cold. “It’s fixing a mistake.”
• “Seraphina’s old and losing it. She only saw your little tricks that don’t hold up, and forgot what’s best for the whole pack.”
• “As Alpha, it’s my job to set things right.”
• Looking at his cold, hard face, I suddenly felt like I didn’t even know this man anymore.
• Is this really the same guy who once promised me a future under the moonlight?
• “Kane, you have no right to interfere with the altar’s decision!”
• “I do.” He cut me off. “I’m the Alpha of Shadowfen. In this territory, what I say goes.”
• He stared at my clenched fists.
• “What, you don’t like that?”
• “Wanna take this to the elders? Go ahead. Let’s see if they’ll back a criminal with a record, or me—the leader who’s bringing powerful allies to the pack.”
• I took a deep breath, swallowing down the storm of emotions inside me.
• Anger wouldn’t fix a damn thing.
• “Fine,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I don’t need the apprentice spot.”
• “But I have to work in the herb garden. I don’t care about the pay—I just want to be near those herbs.”
• That was my line in the sand.
• I needed to learn. I needed to get better.
• As long as I could get my hands on those herbs, I could figure out another way.
• Kane narrowed his eyes, sizing me up.
• He was trying to read what I really meant behind my words.
• “No.”
• He cut me off sharp.
• “Starting today,” he said, each word heavy and deliberate, “I’m ordering you, in my Alpha’s name, to stay away from any and all witch medicine materials in the territory.”
• “Whether it’s the altar’s herb garden or the wild herbs in the forest.”
• “If you’re caught, you’ll be treated like you’re stealing tribal secrets—and you’ll be exiled on the spot.”
• I looked at him and suddenly smiled.
• “Kane, you’re scared.”
• His face darkened.
• “You’re scared I won’t need you anymore.”
• “You’re scared that once I have my own power, I’ll walk away without a second thought.”
• “You’re scared that the ‘weak, pitiful Lyra who needs your protection’ you created with your own hands doesn’t actually exist.”
• My words hit right under his fake mask.
• “Shut up!”
• He roared and slammed his hand down hard.
• The Alpha’s raw power slammed me against the wall.
• My back hit the stone, a sharp sting in my throat, and blood welled up in my mouth.
• But I swallowed it down hard.
• I wasn’t about to show weakness in front of him.
• “Get out.”
• Kane pointed at the door, his chest heaving like he was about to explode.
• “Disappear from my sight right now—before I change my mind and throw you into the northern stone prison.”
• I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, leaned against the wall, and slowly pushed myself upright.
• I didn’t look back.
• I turned and walked out of that cage, one step at a time.
• Kane’s path was closed to me.
• Shadowfen wasn’t a place I could stay anymore.
• I had to leave.
• But where the hell could I go?
• A broke werewolf, banned by the Alpha—how far could I really run?
• I wandered aimlessly through the woods, and before I knew it, I was near the Moonlight Altar again.
• I didn’t go in.
• I just stood back, staring at the massive ancient moon tree.
• Legend said when the moon goddess was disappointed in her people, the tree’s glow would dim.
• Right then, a strange bell tolled from deep within the altar.
• The sound cut through the air like it was piercing right into my soul.
• Right after that, I saw Seraphina and a few other high-ranking elder priests crowding around someone, slowly walking out from the most sacred inner chamber of the altar.
• The one they surrounded in the middle was Maya.
• And Kane was right by her side, his face glowing with proud satisfaction, like he was basking in the honor.
• This was the bloodline blessing ceremony.
• Only pregnant women recognized as the future hope of the tribe—those carrying the purest, noblest blood—were allowed to stand under the ancient moon tree and receive the blessing personally led by the high priest.
• That honor was supposed to belong to the true Luna.
• But now, it belonged to Maya.
• To this damn thief.