Chapter 4

The purification den was built beneath the Black Wolf castle.

The stone doors slammed down in succession, sealing away every scent and sound from outside.

Ronan confiscated every communication crystal I had.

Only the cracked fang pendant remained, hidden in the lining of my cloak.

Deep inside the den, iron racks stood against the walls, stained with dried black blood. Rusted chains lay piled in the corners.

This didn't look like a place to wash away a mate's scent. It looked more like a torture chamber.

Selena pulled on a pair of gloves and began mixing the Purification Potion in the cauldron. She poured the Silverthorn Elixir into the Rotroot Powder, and the mixture immediately frothed into a sickly gray-white foam.

The smell hit me, and my stomach lurched.

"Touch my cub, and you'll pay."

Selena stepped closer. "Pay? With what? You're nothing but a castoff. Trash, who bonded with a Rotskin Beastman. I'm Ronan's mate."

Ronan stood before me.

"Do as you're told, and I'll keep you as my secondary mate."

I slapped him.

The sharp crack echoed through the den.

Ronan slowly turned his head back. When our eyes met again, all warmth had vanished from his gaze.

"Hold her down."

Two she-wolves stepped forward and seized my arms. I desperately tried to shield my belly, but they forced me down into the stone chair.

Selena glared at me, her eyes blazing with hatred. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'll make sure you and the filthy little bastard in your belly die here. You were never worthy of competing with me."

I could feel the cub growing more restless inside me.

I slipped a hand to the cracked fang pendant. When Kaelren gave it to me, he had written on his board.

"Soak the grooves with blood. The Lion Guard will find you."

I gripped the pendant. The fang's tip pierced my palm.

Blood seeped into the grooves along the fang.

Ronan noticed my movement and ripped my cloak open.

The cracked fang pendant fell into view.

He snatched up the fang and let out a mocking laugh.

"So this is what that creature gave you? He couldn't even afford to give you a whole fang."

He yanked hard. The cord snapped. But the blood had already seeped into the grooves. A faint silver light flickered along the cracks, then quickly faded.

Ronan tossed the pendant on the ground.

"Make her drink it."

The two she-wolves grabbed my jaw while Selena approached with the rest of the Purification Potion.

I clenched my teeth.

"Evelyn, don't make me hurt you."

Ronan held my shoulders down.

"Once the cub is gone, you'll thank me."

The bowl touched my lips. At that instant, the entire underground den shuddered violently.

Then the deep, mellow blast of a war horn pierced through layer after layer of stone doors.

Everyone in the room went pale.

"The White Lion Court's war horn?"

The next second, the outermost stone door exploded inward.

The overwhelming aura of a royal beast spirit swept through the den. Every Black Wolf Beastfolk's knees buckled, forcing them to their knees.

Taren's head snapped up.

Heavy footsteps drew closer, one after another.

White Lion Guards poured into the den, crunching over the shattered stone.

A tall figure entered behind them.

Silver-white hair fell over his shoulders. His golden beast-like eyes were ice-cold. His strikingly handsome face was almost razor-sharp in its perfection, yet black scars from corrupted blood still marred the side of his neck. His claws remained half-retracted.