Chapter 4

I froze, staring in horror at the new drama she was staging. This was worse than anything I could have imagined.

Downstairs, pack members gasped as the scent of blood filled the air.

"Help! Someone's hurt!"

The cry shattered the silence. Footsteps rushed in from all directions.

"Isabella!" Damien's roar tore through the air like a physical blow.

He rushed to her, his eyes locked on the bloody wounds on her throat. He gathered her into his arms.

Her face was pale, blood gushing from her neck.

"Baby, wake up!" Damien's voice was shaking with rage and fear.

The other pack members crowded around, their eyes like daggers aimed at me.

"She attacked her!" someone shouted, pointing at me. "Seraphina tried to kill the Luna!"

"I smelled the struggle! It was her!"

"Murderer!"

I opened my mouth to explain, but no sound came out.

This was a thousand times worse than the last life.

"No... it wasn't her fault..." Isabella’s eyes fluttered open, her voice a pathetic, broken whisper.

Everyone fell silent.

"Isabella, don't talk. The doctor's on his way," Damien held her tighter.

"It wasn't... her fault…" she sobbed. "She just… she just lost control… Please, don't blame her. I know she's jealous of me, but…"

Her words were gasoline on a fire.

"She went feral!"

"How could Seraphina do it! She's a monster!"

"Enough!" Damien shot to his feet, a murderous inferno burning in his eyes.

He stalked toward me, his Alpha aura a crushing tidal wave.

"The cameras..." I managed to force out. "Check the cameras..."

"Shut up!" His roar made my ears ring. "The evidence is on her throat! You dare lie to my face?"

He turned to the guards. "Bring her to me!"

Two guards lunged forward. They grabbed my arms in a death grip, hauled me across the floor, and threw me at Damien's feet.

My knees slammed into the cold marble. My head hit the floor, hard.

Pain exploded through me. Blood streamed from my forehead, blurring my vision.

"Look what you've done!" Damien towered over me, his voice a low snarl. "You'd try to kill the future Luna just to get my attention?"

"I didn't..."

"Still denying it?!"

His body began to change.

Bones cracked and popped with an awful sound. His nails lengthened, sharpening into vicious claws.

"No... Damien, don't..." I scrambled backward in terror.

But there was no escape. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. His claws glinted in front of my eyes.

"You wanted to mark her throat?" he sneered, his face a mask of pure cruelty. "Let's see how you like it!"

The next second, his cold claws slashed across my cheek.

Flesh tore. Blood gushed. The agony almost made me black out.

The crowd gasped, but no one moved to stop him.

Damien licked the blood from his claws, a predator tasting his prey. He was about to strike again when he suddenly froze.

His pupils trembled violently, his eyes fixed on my bloody face.

In that instant, a bizarre shift happened in his eyes.

"No..." he whispered, so low only I could hear. "And I wouldn't mind tearing you apart all over again! Now, get on your knees and beg!"

All over again?

He remembered. He remembered the last life.

I stared at his twisted face. A bone-deep chill turned into a tidal wave of hate.

He humiliated me and killed me in our last life, and he wanted to do it all over again?

"I refuse," I said, my voice low and hard.

"What did you say?!"

I spat a mouthful of blood onto his face. "Damien, you disgusting coward," I screamed, "Just die!"

"Then you die!" He completely lost it, raising his claws to rip my throat out.

BOOM—!

The entire hall trembled. A crushing, royal power slammed down on everyone before Damien's claws could land.

An ice-cold voice thundered through the room.

"Who gave you the right to touch my Mate!"