Chapter 4

The Blood Moon Summit was held in the Council's great hall.

Crystal chandeliers above, champagne towers along the walls, a ring of Lunas gathered around them. Every Alpha and Luna of the twelve Northern packs was in attendance. The pack alliance agreement was laid out on the long table, waiting for signatures.

Lucien wore a custom black three-piece suit, the silver Silvercrest crest pinned to his lapel. He came in with Vivienne on his arm, in a pale pink gown.

The Council had approved his proposal that morning. Vivienne's title of second Luna was a done deal.

"Alpha King." Lucien lifted a small Moon Goddess figurine carved from moonstone with both hands. His voice carried across the hall. "From my second Luna. May the Goddess watch over you."

The Alpha King, seated in the center of the room, gave a small approving nod. "Thank you, Lucien."

Lucien bowed his head. "I have a matter to bring before the Alpha King."

He hadn't finished when the doors at the back of the hall opened.

I walked in.

A murmur rose through the room, low but clear.

"Isn't that Nora? Crimson Moon's Alpha-blooded heiress?"

"The one who tore up the mate bond at her own mating ceremony? With the Shadowfang captive? The second Luna title is already settled, and she's still here?"

A few Lunas glanced at me sideways, then looked away, mouths twitching with anticipation.

Vivienne, standing next to Lucien, lowered her eyes and slipped a hand to her stomach.

I smoothed the line of my gown and walked in.

Lucien saw I was alone, and the corner of his mouth curled. "This is all you've got, Nora?"

Vivienne kept her eyes downcast, her voice soft and full of pity. "Nora. Why did you even come."

She paused, glanced up at me, then dropped her eyes again, as if she couldn't bear to finish. "The second Luna title is settled. Every pack in the North knows. Showing up like this — it's just heartbreaking to watch."

She said it lightly. The hall was silent enough that every word carried.

A few neighboring Alphas exchanged looks. Some pitying. Some amused.

I didn't engage with any of it. I walked straight to the center of the hall.

"Alpha King. As the Alpha-blooded daughter of Crimson Moon Pack, I have something to say."

Lucien jumped in before I could continue. "Alpha King. The morning after our mating, Nora defied the bond order, deployed Crimson Moon warriors, and surrounded my pack house. I'm her mate. I'll accept punishment for failing to manage her. But the warriors her father left, and the territory of the Northern Borderland, those I can't leave to her. I'd ask the Alpha King to take back Crimson Moon's territory and let me manage it on her behalf. Otherwise she might use it to collude with an enemy pack."

I let out a short laugh and turned to face the room. My voice was steady.

"Every Alpha here. Lucien likes to call himself chosen by the Moon Goddess. Every wolf in the North looks up to him. So let me ask one thing. We were bonded by the Moon Goddess herself on our mating night. Where was he that night?"

The hall stilled.

"Lucien says I'm crude. That I'm a disgrace to my pack." I glanced sideways at Vivienne. "So what does it say about him when he brings his pregnant adoptive sister to the Blood Moon Summit as his second Luna?"

The whispers swelled. A few of the older Alphas turned their faces away. The Alpha King's expression cooled.

Lucien laughed, lifting his chin with the same easy arrogance. "The Alpha King has approved the second Luna title. The Moon Goddess has shown no sign of opposition. Everything I've done has been by the book. You, on the other hand. You've deployed warriors against your mate, and paraded a Shadowfang prisoner across the entire Northern range. That's the real disgrace to this Council."

Vivienne raised her eyes on cue, her voice catching. "Alpha King. I'm just an Omega. I never wanted to compete with Nora."

She broke off as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I only ever wanted what's best for the twelve packs."

The Alpha King's expression eased. He glanced at her.

A few of Lucien's allies chimed in. The mood in the hall began to tip back his way.

I pulled a thick stack of documents from my clutch and slammed them across Lucien's face.

"Lucien. Look closely. Tell me who's the real disgrace to this Council."

The papers scattered. Alphas closer to the floor leaned in, and someone sucked in a breath.

"Is that a Moon Bank mortgage agreement?"

"He used the vintage Cartier necklace the Alpha King gave Crimson Moon as collateral? And the restored 1969 Mustang?"

I pointed at the papers, and my voice carried through the hall. "You took the Alpha King's gifts from my dowry and mortgaged them. Used the cash to plug holes in your bankrupt pack. Tell me what kind of Alpha does that."

Lucien's eyes locked on the floor. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Vivienne was shaking too hard to remember to cry.

The room erupted. Mind-link chatter washed over Lucien, low and pitiless.

Just as the tide was turning, the Council Elder Bran, seated next to the Alpha King and silent until now, spoke up.

"Alpha King. I accuse Crimson Moon Pack of keeping a private army, with the intent to break from the Alpha Council and declare themselves a second sovereign in the North."

The hall went dead silent.

Betraying the Alpha Council. By law, the penalty was death.

The Alpha King looked down at me, his expression unreadable.

Lucien's face, which had gone gray with shock, suddenly came back to life. He half-stumbled, half-threw himself in front of the Alpha King. "Alpha King. I've suspected Crimson Moon of moving against the Council for months. Please. Take back Crimson Moon's Alpha sigil. I'll hold it in trust."

In my previous life, that "betrayal" charge had stuck. The Alpha sigil had ended up in his hands.

I'd been stupid then. I hadn't known those hundreds of warriors and the Northern Borderland were the only things keeping Crimson Moon Pack alive.

I let out a soft scoff and pulled a wooden box from my clutch.

"Alpha King. I have something to show you."

The lid opened to reveal a scroll of white wolf hide, signed by the first Alpha King himself.

A Blood Pact. From a hundred years ago, when the Northern packs were first formed. Granting Crimson Moon Pack the right of self-governance, free from Council interference.

"Crimson Moon Pack has fought rogues for the Alpha Council for generations. The warriors my father left have held the line against rogue incursions and the Shadowfang border for over a century. And now, on the word of one Council elder and one false-blood Alpha trying to bite his way to my dowry, you'd brand Crimson Moon Pack as traitors?"

The Alpha King's face shifted.

The Council elders relaxed too, and Elder Marcus let out a long, slow breath.

Lucien's voice tightened. "Don't hide behind the first Alpha King's grace. You've been keeping a Shadowfang prisoner under your roof. If that isn't collusion with an enemy pack, what is?"

I turned and held up the hard-cover folder and the blood-sealed letters.

"Since we're talking about collusion. Here's the full record of Lucien's cheating during the Alpha succession trials. Bribes to Elder Bran. Advance knowledge of the Blood Trial route. Every payment to every witness Alpha. Every meeting, time, location."

"And as for collusion with an enemy pack." I paused. "Here are letters in Lucien's own hand. Verified signatures. The party he's been working with is the rogue Alpha of Northern Shadow Pack, the largest enemy pack outside our twelve."

Elder Bran went white, and collapsed back into his seat.

The hall erupted again.

Lucien's face cycled through three colors.

The Alpha King's expression grew colder by the second. His fingers tapped the armrest, and the pressure of his Alpha presence rolled out across the hall. The hair on every wolf's neck stood up.

Lucien whipped around and stared at me with that wild, cornered look in his eyes.

"Nora. You're ruthless." His voice was hoarse. "Fine. You win. I'll own it."

He pulled in a breath and lifted his chin, as if he'd just made a great sacrifice. "I'll take you back. I'll re-mark you. The primary Luna title is yours."

He paused, and pulled his mouth into a mocking line. The condescension hadn't left him for a second.

"But don't celebrate too soon. You've been parading around with a Shadowfang reject for days. Every Alpha in the twelve packs knows. A whore like you, do you really think anyone else would take you?"

His voice climbed. "Be grateful I'm willing. Who else is going to mark you?"

Not a sound in the hall.

Every Alpha and Luna in the room had their eyes on me. Pity. Amusement. Contempt.

I started to open my mouth, when the doors at the back of the hall pushed open from the outside.

Two warriors in black tactical gear with the Shadowfang crest on their shoulders came through first. They took positions at either side of the doorway, sidearms holstered, eyes forward.

Light from outside spilled into the hall.

Kieran walked in.

Every Alpha and Luna in the room went still at the same time. Hair stood up on every neck. The room itself seemed to hold its breath.

The pure Shadowfang Alpha presence didn't need a word to drop the whole room.

He didn't look at anyone. He came straight to me.

He took my hand. Laced his fingers through mine.

Then he turned. His eyes swept over the stunned faces of the Alphas and settled on Lucien's.

The hair on the back of Lucien's neck lifted, and he stepped back without meaning to.

When Kieran spoke, the Alpha presence behind it pressed down on the entire hall.

"I'll mark her."