Chapter 3

The guard's hand stayed locked around my arm.

His grip was controlled, but it made Silver Ridge's position clear. I was no longer being treated as a guest.

I looked down at his fingers. "Let go."

Molly stood beside Adrian with open satisfaction.

"No one is letting you go until your identity is verified. Outsiders do not walk into Silver Ridge, get close to our Alpha, and leave without answering questions."

I looked at Adrian.

"Are you allowing your guard to restrain someone you invited here?"

Adrian glanced at the guard, but he did not order him to move.

"Isabella, if you cooperate with the review, no one will hurt you."

"This is not a review," I said. "This is unlawful detention under Council law."

Molly laughed.

"Council law? What comes next? Are you going to claim the Council elders answer to you?"

I kept my eyes on Adrian.

"Alpha Vale, I am giving you one last chance. Order your guard to release me, make Molly apologize, and report what happened tonight through the proper authority. That is the only way Silver Ridge limits the damage."

His face darkened.

Molly smiled wider.

"Limits the damage? Who do you think you are?"

I turned to her.

"Isabella Draven. Daughter of the Alpha King."

The room went still.

For one second, Molly stared at me. Then she laughed.

"You really have lost your mind."

She looked at Adrian.

"She says she is the Alpha King's daughter. She came with no guards, no royal notice, and no verified pack record, but she expects us to believe she is royal blood."

Adrian did not laugh, but doubt was clear in his eyes.

"My elders only told me to attend a private meeting and treat it seriously," he said. "They did not mention Draven or the Royal Court."

Molly seized on that at once.

"You hear that? Even Silver Ridge's elders were not told you were royal. How far are you planning to take this lie?"

I was not surprised. If my father had hidden my identity, Silver Ridge would not have received anything that exposed me.

I had no reason to explain his test to people who had already failed it.

Molly's gaze dropped to my wrist.

"And that bracelet must be part of the act."

Her eyes sharpened.

"A true pink moonstone heirloom from the Royal Court belongs to the main bloodline. You either bought colored glass, or some Alpha bought it for you because you were useful to him."

"It is real."

"Real?" Molly scoffed. "Do you know what a true royal heirloom is worth?"

"Silver Ridge could operate for ten more years and still fail to pay for it."

Her face changed.

"You arrogant fraud."

She turned to one of the guards.

"Bring me an outsider tag."

Adrian frowned.

"Molly."

She ignored him.

A guard hesitated, then pulled a gray identification band from his belt pouch. It matched the review bands I had already seen near the door, except this one was stamped for border detention.

Molly took it and held it up.

"If you want to behave like an unverified outsider, we will mark you like one."

I looked at the gray band.

"Do not put that on me."

"Why? Afraid it will ruin the royal act?"

She reached for my wrist. I pulled back, but the guard holding my arm tightened his grip. Another guard moved in and blocked my shoulder.

Molly snapped the band around my wrist, forcing it close to my mother's bracelet.

The tag read unverified female.

Molly stepped back, pleased with herself.

"There. That suits you better."

I stared at the cheap gray band pressing against my skin beside the moonstone bracelet. My anger settled into something colder.

"You will regret that."

"I am sure you say that to every pack that catches you lying."

Molly looked over my dress, my watch, my bracelet, and my bag.

"I will give you one chance. Take off the fake heirlooms, register your real pack, and admit in front of everyone that you came here pretending to be royal blood because you wanted Adrian's Luna position."

Her voice hardened.

"If you do that, I may waive the twenty thousand security compensation."

I looked at Adrian.

He did not order the guards to remove the tag. He did not tell Molly to stop. He only watched, as if silence could keep his hands clean.

That silence gave Molly permission.

She pointed at my wrist.

"Take the bracelet first."

I met her eyes.

"If you touch it, Silver Ridge will not survive the consequence."

Molly's expression twisted.

"Still acting."

She looked at the guards.

"Hold her still."

Adrian finally spoke.

"Molly, do not take this too far."

Molly turned on him.

"I am protecting you. She is lying to your face, and you still want to be polite to her?"

Adrian said nothing.

Molly took his silence as agreement.

Two guards pinned my arms.

She reached for the moonstone bracelet.

"Let us see how precious a fake royal trinket can be."