Chapter 3

Liam’s hand closed around my throat, lifting me off the ground.

His strength was terrifying.

I felt his fingers tighten, cutting off my air.

"She tried to kill me!" Chloe screamed from the floor. "She's a traitor!"

I struggled to breathe. My lungs burned.

My legs kicked uselessly in the air.

"I should have killed you long ago," Liam's eyes were pure red, his pupils slitted. "You filthy Omega. Daring to harm my Chief Alchemist."

Black spots danced in my vision. My head went light.

But I had to speak.

"Kill..." I forced the word out, my throat raw. "...me..."

"What?" Liam lifted me higher.

"Who'll make... your potion?"

The words hit him like a lightning bolt.

Liam froze for a second. A flicker of reason fought through the rage.

I was right. He needed the potion.

He'd been injecting "Serenity" every single night since I first made it, just to stay sane.

Who else could brew it for him?

But it was just a second.

"I don't need you!" he roared, slamming me to the ground. "Chloe is better than you!"

He slammed me against a solid silver mortar.

Sharp metal edges cut into my back. Blood soaked through my shirt.

"Get up," Liam ordered, looking down at me. His voice was ice. "I'm announcing your sentence."

I pushed myself up, my hand slipping in the growing pool of my own blood.

"Harper, formerly of the Silverclaw pack," Liam declared, "is hereby Exiled for treason, for attacking the Chief Alchemist, and for endangering the pack."

Exile.

The worst punishment a wolf could receive.

"I strip you of your pack name. I strip you of your right to shelter. I strip you of your safe passage." Every word was a nail in my coffin. "From this moment on, you are a Rogue. Any wolf who sees you is free to attack."

Chloe got to her feet. The rash was still on her face, but she was smiling.

"Now get out of my territory," Liam pointed to the door. "I want you gone in one hour."

I didn't speak.

I didn't beg. I didn't argue.

I grabbed my bag off the floor. As I shoved a few of my tools inside, my fingers brushed against a small, cold vial.

I slipped it into the bag's inner pocket.

It was the mother strain of Serenity. The source. They didn't even know it existed.

Then I walked to the door.

"Harper," Liam called out from behind me.

I turned back.

"If you dare tell anyone our secrets, I will rip out your tongue myself."

I looked at this man.

Nine years ago, he was just a young Alpha losing his mind.

My potion gave him his power. My loyalty built his empire.

And now, he wanted me dead.

"Understood," I said calmly.

Then I walked out without looking back.

I left them with their perfect new alchemist and a lab full of formulas.

What they didn't know was that I'd just stolen the heart of "Serenity" itself.

They put their faith in that fool. Now let’s watch her try to keep the ‘glory’ of Serenity from crumbling.

The slums were a world away from the gleaming towers of the city's heart.

No neon lights here. No skyscrapers. Just crumbling apartments and streets filled with trash.

Humans eked out a living here. So did a few rogues with nowhere else to go.

I pushed open a rusted iron door.

"Dad, I'm home."

A frail old man lay on the bed.

Marcus. My adoptive father.

"Harper?" Marcus struggled to open his eyes. "Why are you back so early?"

I sat on the edge of the bed. His forehead was burning up.

Without his medicine, his illness was eating him alive.

"I was exiled," I said simply.

Marcus tried to sit up, but he was too weak. "That bastard! After everything you did for him—"

"It's okay." I took a small vial from my bag. It was diluted "Serenity." "Drink this first."

Marcus took it and drank it all in one go.

A few minutes later, his breathing evened out. The fever started to break.

"What do we do now?" he asked.

"We survive." I looked out the window at the night sky. "There's always a way."

Meanwhile, back at the Silverclaw tower.

Liam stood in the med-bay, watching a doctor check Chloe's face.

"It's just a superficial scratch," the doctor said. "It'll be fully healed in three days."

"Good," Liam said, relieved. "She can't miss the board meeting tomorrow."

Chloe leaned back on the bed. Her face was bandaged, but she was in a great mood.

"That bitch is finally gone," she said, pleased. "Now the lab is all ours."

"Of course." Liam walked to the window, looking down at the city he ruled. "The Werewolf Alliance deal is about to close. As long as we have the formula, we don't need her."

"She won't talk," Chloe scoffed. "She's a Rogue. Who's going to believe a word she says?"

Liam nodded.

He was sure he'd made the right call.

Harper was just a brewer. Easily replaced.

The formula was what mattered.

And all of those precious formulas were locked safely away in his lab.