Chapter 6: Lost Your Mind

The metallic scent of Jackson's blood still hung in the air as Larry released me from his grip, his silver eyes scanning the assembled pack with lethal precision. My legs trembled beneath me, threatening to give way, but I forced myself to remain standing. I couldn't show weakness now, not when every wolf in the circle was watching, waiting to see if their new Luna would crumble.

"Does anyone else," Larry's voice cut through the heavy silence like a blade, "wish to question my judgment?"

No one moved. No one spoke. Even Beta Marcus had dropped his gaze to the blood-stained earth, his earlier defiance extinguished like a candle in a hurricane.

Elder Catherine stepped forward first, her ancient joints creaking as she lowered herself to one knee. "Alpha," her weathered voice carried across the circle, "we acknowledge your strength and your right to choose. The Moon Goddess has spoken through you tonight."

One by one, the other Elders followed suit. Elder Thomas, who had lost two sons in the war my parents supposedly caused, knelt with visible effort. Elder Sarah, whose daughter had been among the casualties, pressed her fist to her heart in the traditional gesture of fealty. Even Elder Marcus, Beta Marcus's father, bent his knee, though his jaw remained tight with suppressed rage.

Through the mate bond, I felt Larry's grim satisfaction mixing with something darker. Pride, perhaps, or possessiveness. The emotions were so tangled I couldn't separate them.

"Rise," Larry commanded, and they obeyed. "The pack will accept Lyra Fenris as Luna. Not because I demand it, but because the Moon Goddess herself has decreed it. To reject her is to reject divine will."

"Divine will or divine punishment?" The voice came from the back of the crowd, young, male, reckless.

Larry's head snapped toward the speaker with predatory focus. "Step forward and repeat that."

A lanky wolf in his early twenties emerged from the crowd, his chin lifted in defiance despite the fear I could smell rolling off him. "I said, how do we know this isn't punishment? The Moon Goddess mating you to a traitor's daughter, maybe she's testing you. Maybe we're all supposed to reject this… this abomination."

The word hit me like a physical blow. Through the bond, I felt Larry's fury spike so violently it made my knees buckle. His hand shot out, gripping my elbow to steady me, and that simple gesture of support sent a ripple of shock through the assembled wolves.

"Your name," Larry demanded, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper.

"Evan. Evan Storm." The young wolf's bravado was cracking. "My mother died in the Great War. My father, "

"Your father," Larry interrupted, "died because he was too slow to dodge a blade. Your mother died because she charged into battle without backup.”

Evan's face flushed crimson. "That's not what Beta Marcus said, "

"Beta Marcus," Larry turned his gaze to the older wolf, who suddenly looked like he wished the earth would swallow him whole, "has been spreading his own version of history. One that conveniently paints his failures as someone else's fault."

Marcus's jaw clenched. "Alpha, I only told the boy what we all believed to be true,"

"What you wanted to believe was true." Larry's voice could have frozen fire. "Things happened but this was in the past."

The crowd erupted into chaos. Wolves shouted over each other, some in outrage, others in confusion. I stood frozen, trying to process what Larry had just said. He was defending me, or at least, defending the truth. But why? He'd spent eight years torturing me for crimes he now seemed to be saying never happened.

"SILENCE!" Larry's Alpha command rolled over the crowd like a physical force, compelling obedience.

The clearing went deathly quiet.

"The past is complicated," Larry continued, his voice hard. "But the present is simple. Lyra is my mate. She is under my protection. And anyone who challenges that protection will share Jackson Reid's fate."

Through the bond, I felt his emotions shift again, a flash of something that might have been regret, quickly buried under layers of cold authority.

Elder Catherine cleared her throat delicately. "Alpha, if I may… the pack requires certain assurances. Tradition dictates that a new Luna must be formally acknowledged by the Elders, must swear the oath of loyalty, must, "

"Must be paraded around like a prize mare so you can all decide if she's worthy?" Zara's voice cut through the clearing like poisoned honey.

She emerged from the crowd, her emerald dress now spattered with dirt, her auburn hair wild around her face. But it was her eyes that caught my attention, burning with such hatred that I instinctively stepped closer to Larry.

"Zara." Larry's voice carried a warning. "This doesn't concern you."

"Doesn't concern me?" She laughed, the sound sharp and brittle. "I've stood by your side for three years, Larry. Three years of waiting, of being patient, of being exactly what this pack needed. And you throw me aside for her?"

"The mate bond isn't a choice, "

"Bullshit!" Zara spat, and several wolves gasped at her audacity. "You could reject it. You could choose duty over some cosmic joke. But instead, you kill Jackson, Jackson, who was loyal to you since you were children, all to protect a girl whose very existence is an insult to everything we've lost.

"

Larry's hand on my elbow tightened, and through the bond I felt his wolf surge forward, barely restrained. "Jackson challenged me. He died for it. That's the way of our people."

"He challenged you because you've lost your mind!" Zara's voice rose to a shriek. "Look at her, Larry! Really look at her! She's weak, she's broken, she's, "

"She's mine." The words came out as a growl, and I felt the possessiveness behind them through our connection. "And you're dismissed, Zara. Leave before I forget we were ever friends."

For a moment, I thought Zara might shift and attack. Her body trembled with barely contained rage, her eyes flickering between human and wolf. Then she spun on her heel and stalked away, but not before throwing one last venomous look in my direction.

"She's going to be a problem," Elder Thomas murmured, just loud enough for Larry to hear.

Let her try." Larry's voice was flat, final.

Elder Catherine stepped forward again, her expression carefully neutral. "Alpha, regardless of the… complications… tradition must be observed. Lyra Fenris must take the Luna's oath before the pack, must accept the responsibilities and burdens of leadership. Without the ceremony, her position will always be questioned."

Through the bond, I felt Larry's reluctance, his desire to simply command obedience and be done with it. But he was Alpha for a reason, he understood that some battles couldn't be won through force alone.

"Fine." He turned to me, his silver eyes unreadable. "Lyra will take the oath. In the next bloodmoon…"