Chapter 4

The moment I opened the door, the temperature in the room plummeted.

Isla and Damian froze, like two deer caught in the headlights.

"What are you doing?" My voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Lyra, this isn't what it looks like—" Damian scrambled up, trying to shield Isla from my sight. But it was too late. I saw the mate-bond necklace—my necklace—glittering against her bare skin.

The primal rage of a she-wolf whose territory had been invaded roared to life in my blood.

Without a single spell, a crushing pressure slammed down on the room.

Damian's face went white.

He felt it—the absolute dominance of a superior bloodline.

"Lyra, listen to me," he rushed towards me, trying to use his pathetic excuses to calm me down. "Isla found a dark aura on the Unity Stone. She was helping me purify it..."

"Purify it?" I laughed. "My mate-bond is a 'dark aura' to you?"

I took one step forward.

The pressure was too much.

Damian's knees buckled, and he crashed to the floor.

He wasn't knocked down by magic.

He was crushed by pure, primal fear.

"What... what is this?" he gasped, looking up at me, his eyes wide with terror.

Isla shrieked and scrambled off the bed, clutching my necklace like it was a lifeline.

I didn't give them another glance.

I turned and walked out of the defiled room.

I shut the door and engaged the security lock.

The state-of-the-art security system I’d installed was finally earning its keep.

The next morning, a violent pounding on my door woke me.

"Lyra!" Damian's voice was furious. "Open this door right now! The Elder Council is waiting!"

I opened the door and walked downstairs.

The living room was full.

All seven members of the Elder Council were there.

Isla sat next to Damian, tears streaming down her face, playing the victim.

"Lyra," the Head Elder stood up, his voice grave. "You used dark magic to attack Isla," he declared. "And you bound your Alpha's will with a curse, forcing him to his knees."

I almost laughed. But I didn't.

I just nodded calmly.

"I see. So, what's the punishment?"

My compliance seemed to surprise them.

Damian brought out an ancient iron cage from behind him.

A low growl emanated from the evil thing sealed inside.

"The Rage Demon," Damian said grimly. "A fiend our ancestors sealed three hundred years ago. The seal is weakening. We need someone to take it to the Abyss of Exile for permanent imprisonment."

The Abyss of Exile. A suicide mission.

"If you can complete this task, you will prove your loyalty to the pack," the Head Elder continued. "We will forgive your crimes."

I looked at the cage.

It held enough raw power to annihilate a small pack.

And I smiled.

Damian wanted me gone. Gone, so he could have Isla.

He thought this would be his solution.

He wanted to exile me.

Then this pathetic pack deserved its own destruction.

"Fine," I said.

Just one word.

Damian and the elders stared.

They had expected me to fight, to argue, to get violent.

They never expected me to agree so easily.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Isla's face before being replaced by a look of triumph.

I walked to the heavy iron cage.

They all expected me to struggle.

But I simply reached out one hand and lifted the cage as if it were a basket of laundry.

The room fell silent.

"Of course," I said, meeting their shocked stares. My voice was dangerously calm.

"Anything for the safety of the Silver Moon pack."