Chapter 4

"Sophia, what are you doing here?"

The next second, Catherine threw herself into his arms, tears streaming down her face.

"Blake, I was just stopping her from going into your study, and she hit me!"

Blake frowned.

I lifted the hem of my shirt, showing him the ugly purple bruise spreading across my lower back.

"She shoved me first."

Blake's fingers twitched. He almost reached for the bruise.

I shifted away before he could touch me.

His expression darkened, his eyes turning vicious.

"Sophia, I've warned you not to hurt Catherine."

He gripped my chin, forcing my face up.

"Since you refuse to behave and won't participate in the Moon Ceremony, Catherine will take your place as officiant."

"You'll walk behind her and carry her train."

"And if you mess this up —"

He smirked and pulled a crystal bracelet from his pocket.

My mother's bracelet. The only thing she'd ever left me. The last piece of her in this world.

And now he was using it as leverage.

"Blake! Give it back!"

I lunged for it.

He raised his hand, his eyes like ice. "Carry Catherine's train. Behave. And I'll give it back."

"Otherwise, I'll smash it right now."

Carrying the train was the duty of the lowest-ranking servants. Blake was humiliating me to avenge Catherine.

His fingers tightened around the bracelet. One slip and it would shatter on the ground.

"I'll count to three."

He looked down at me.

"Three."

"Two."

I was shaking. My nails dug into my palms until they bled.

"One."

"I'll do it!"

The words scraped out of my throat, raw and broken.

Blake's lips curled in satisfaction.

He extended his hand, offering the bracelet. I reached for it carefully.

Then he let go.

"No!!!"

I dove for the crystal bracelet.

Too late.

It hit the floor and exploded into pieces.

I stood frozen, staring at the shards scattered across the ground. I didn't even notice the fragments that had cut my face.

Blake stepped forward, his boot grinding the broken pieces into the stone.

"Clumsy."

I looked up into his cold eyes — and laughed. Laughed until the tears poured down.

My mother's bracelet was gone. And with it, the last trace of anything I'd felt for Blake.

Blake. Catherine. You would both pay for this.

The Moon Ceremony began.

Catherine glided out in a flowing ivory gown, the Luna's crown — my crown — on her head. She looked every inch the future lady of the pack.

And I followed behind her in servant's clothes, holding her train.

Every step I took, I felt the pack's eyes on me, watching, savoring my humiliation.

Catherine walked deliberately slowly.

"See, Sophia? This is where you belong. A worthless Omega should know her place. Blake was always meant to be mine. The Luna title will be, too."

I kept my eyes down and said nothing, my fingers clenched around the fabric.

I was waiting.

Waiting for the perfect moment — the one that would destroy them both.

The ceremony began. Catherine bowed before the pack, ready to lead the invocation to the Moon Goddess.

The instant she bent forward, I released the train, pulled the encrypted phone from my pocket, and hit play.

Catherine's recorded conversation with the enemy wolves echoed across the ceremonial grounds.

Every drop of color drained from her face.

"No — it's not what it sounds like! Blake, the recording is fake! She's jealous of your love for me — she's framing me!"

I pointed at the two male wolves trying to slip away in the crowd.

"Those two are the spies sent from the outside. They were in the study with Catherine just now, finalizing the plan. Grab them."

Blake's face was ashen. He signaled his guards to seize them.

He might side with Catherine, but not when it came to the pack's survival.

"Lock all three of them in the holding cell until further notice."

Just the holding cell?

I thought of my past life — how Blake had called me a traitor and thrown me into the silver cell.

I let out a soft, derisive sound.

"Alpha, I'd suggest you think carefully. You carry the lives of every wolf in this pack on your shoulders."

"Don't forget the oath you made to them."

I turned to leave.

Blake's hand locked around my wrist, his expression dark.

"Sophia. Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from here."

He yanked me back. "You're not going anywhere. Until their identities are confirmed, you're a suspect, too."

Something told Blake that if he let go now, Sophia would vanish from his world forever.

His grip tightened until I thought my bones would crack.

I wrenched my hand free and looked him dead in the eye.

"Blake, you've known me for years. If I were a traitor, Blue Lake Pack would've fallen a long time ago."

"The pack has never wanted me as Luna. Take this chance — find a mate who can actually give you heirs."

"At least then the Elders will stop asking why I haven't gotten pregnant."

Blake's eyes lit up like he'd found something to hold against me. He opened his mouth —

A guard's shout cut him off.

"Alpha! The Alpha King of Blood Moon Pack is here!"