"Lyra!"

Chapter 4

Before his mouth could touch mine, a loud phone ring shattered the quiet tense atmosphere.

Thank the goddess...

​Kael froze, his lips hovering a millimeter from mine. He let out an irritated sigh and pulled back, reaching into his suit pocket for his phone. He looked at the screen, and his dark eyes narrowed in annoyance.

​"What is it, Marcus?" Kael answered, his voice hard and obviously pissed about being interrupted.

​"Alpha, sorry to bug you this late," his Beta said over the speaker, his voice clear and casual. "The delivery trucks from the southern packs just sent some supplies, but the gate system is frozen and won't let them in. The drivers are blocking the main road and waiting for your approval to bypass the security code."

​Kael’s jaw tightened, he looked like he was about to say the code, then he looked at me, and sighed deeply. "Tell them to park by the side gate. I’ll come down to the security office and sign off on it myself."

Oh...he didn't want me to know the security codes for his large gates? 

Well too bad, I have been here, lived here and died here... I knew this mansion like the back of my hand.

​He hung up and slid the phone back into his pocket. In a split second, the anger vanished from his face, replaced once again by that smooth, fake mask of comfort he had created just for me.

​"Go inside, Lyra, the guards will follow you in..." Kael said softly, stepping back to give me space while giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I need to handle a small glitch at the front gate...nothing for you to worry about. Go up to the guest suite, have one of the maids draw you a hot bath, and get some rest. I'll come check on you as soon as I deal with this."

​"Okay... thank you, Alpha Kael," I whispered, keeping my eyes wide, teary, and completely submissive as I wrapped his suit jacket tightly around my bare shoulders.

​I didn't wait for him to say another word. I turned and hurried through the massive double doors of the estate while his guards followed behind me. A young maid met me in the grand foyer, bowing her head as she led me up the staircase and down the quiet east wing.

​The second the door of the guest suite clicked shut behind her, the scared, helpless girl vanished.

​I threw Kael's heavy jacket onto the floor and walked straight into the bathroom, locking the door. I turned the shower handles all the way to hot, letting steam fill the marble room.

​I stripped off the dirty dress from the auction and stepped under the scalding water. I grabbed a bar of soap and scrubbed my skin until it turned bright red, trying to wash away the feeling of Kael’s hands on my face, the memory of his breath on my lips, and the phantom feeling of my own blood pooling on his floor.

​As the hot water poured over my head, my mind raced back to my previous life...to a quiet afternoon weeks after he brought me here.

​I remembered sitting on his lap, crying into his chest because I thought my family's entire heritage had been burned to ashes during the attack. 

I remembered the soft, comforting way he had stroked my hair while lying straight to my face:

​“Don't cry, my love,” he had whispered against my ear. “The Silverclaw land papers and royal decrees were burned in the fire when your pack house fell. They're gone, Lyra. But you don't need papers to be my queen. I will build you a new kingdom, right beside mine.”

​What a liar.

​Kael stole them and locked them away in his private study vault, waiting for the right time to make me sign over control under the excuse of "protecting" me, and I will be damned if I let him keep my birthright in his home one more fucking day.

"I will rather die than wait years to get my family's inheritance back. My father's pack documents and files...the proof of my place as alpha...they will never be yours."

​I shut off the water, wrapped a thick towel around myself, and stepped into the bedroom. The clock on the nightstand read 1:45 AM. Kael was not back, meaning he was going to be busy dealing with paperwork and deliveries at the gate for at least a little while.

​My heart was hammering against my ribs, but my hands were completely steady.

​I pulled on a dark silk robe and tied it tight around my waist. I quietly unlocked the door and stepped out into the dim hallway.

​I knew where his private study was. I knew where the secret safe was hidden behind the picture of his grandfather. And most importantly, I knew the four-digit code he always used...Vivian's birthday. 

The bastard was that arrogant.

​Tonight, I was going to take back everything he stole.

The hall was pitch black, save for the faint moonlight spilling through the arched windows. I moved like a ghost, my bare feet sinking into the plush carpet, making zero sound.

​I reached the heavy mahogany doors of Kael’s study at the end of the corridor, opened it and slipped inside, shutting the door behind me. Then I locked it from the inside just in case.

​The entire room smelled sickeningly of him... I had to force myself to concentrate or I would break down from rage.

​I walked past his massive desk all the way to the dark portrait of his grandfather hanging on the wall. Reaching behind the frame, I swung the painting forward, revealing the sleek digital safe built directly into the wall.

​The keypad glowed faintly in the dim light.

​I inputed Vivian's birthday... 0 - 9 - 1 - 2.

Kael’s ultimate trophy date.

Funny how I knew this code in my past life but never cared enough to use it... I was such a love-sick fool.

​A beep sounded, followed by the weird mechanic sound of the vault unlatching. I opened the safe door open, my pulse throbbing in my throat.

​There, right on the top shelf, sat a thick, leather-bound folder bearing the silver crest of my family. I snatched it out and flipped it open. The original Silverclaw land deeds. The royal decrees. The ancestral pack registry. Every single document proving that I...and I alone...was the sole ruler of the Northern Lands.

​Got you!!!

​I was about to close the safe when something else caught my eye...a thick black binder marked with the crest of the Nightbane Pack. I pulled it out and flipped through the pages.

​My breath hitched... This was getting better and better...

"Oh Kael, you naughty naughty boy...you've been keeping secrets from me..."

Kael was keeping records of his own fucking crimes.

​"Kael... smuggling operations? human trafficking deals? Oh... You even have off-shore bank accounts you're funding through illegal territory seizures...my my..." 

The ledger was a fucking goldmine. It contained every document showing how he laundered money, deceived and then stole money from other packs... 

This single ledger didn't just belong to his pack...it was the backbone of his entire financial empire. If the Werewolf High Council saw this, Kael wouldn't just lose his Alpha title...he would be stripped of his status and executed.

​I tucked both the Silverclaw folder and the black binder tightly under my arm. My revenge was just beginning...

​Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway outside just outside the door.

​"Lyra?"