Chapter 4

Just as the red-hot iron was about to touch my shoulder, a figure flashed between me and Nolan.

It was Skylar.

“Nolan, my love, don’t be rash.” Her voice was deceptively soft, dripping with false concern. “She is the future Luna, after all. Branding her would tarnish the Silvermoon name.”

Her words made Nolan freeze for a heartbeat.

Skylar took her chance, leaning into his chest.

She stood on her toes, pressing her lips close to his ear.

The movement was subtle, but my wolf-sharp eyes missed nothing.

I saw her mouth the words clearly. Heart of the Pack.

In the next second, the madness in Nolan’s eyes vanished. He lowered the brand.

But my heart turned to ice.

He didn’t stop because of my title.

He didn’t stop for our past.

He stopped for the power he craved—the power he needed me to sacrifice.

It was a truth I already knew, but it shattered my heart all over again.

Still, I let out a breath of relief.

Just when I thought it was over, I realized he wasn’t done with me.

“You’re right, Skylar.” Nolan stroked her hair, but his eyes locked on me like a viper. “That’s too crude. But disrespecting my true lover comes with a price.”

His gaze turned impossibly cruel.

“Della. Shift to your wolf form. Bow your head to Skylar and apologize.”

The entire hall fell dead silent.

Shift to my wolf and bow to a rogue?

It was the ultimate insult to a pureblood.

If my parents’ spirits could see this, they would tear Nolan to shreds.

“I refuse,” I hissed through my teeth.

“You don’t have a choice!” Nolan’s patience was gone.

He waved his hand, barking an order at the guards. “Throw her into the Forbidden Land! Let her rot in the Wolfsbane Swamp until she apologizes to Skylar!”

The Forbidden Land…

My parents kept that place sealed.

But after Magnus became Alpha, it became his personal playground for torturing prisoners and traitors.

Its very air is a toxic mist, a poison that devours a wolf’s strength.

The mud is choked with silverthread vines, designed to make a wolf’s very soul wither and die.

Nolan. How could he do this to me?

Several guards moved to restrain me at once.

I fought back. The power of my pure bloodline flared again as I tried to throw them off.

That’s when Skylar lunged.

Her nails flashed with an unnatural silver glint. Without a second of hesitation, she clawed at my arm.

“Della, why can’t you just obey Nolan? He’s the future Alpha!”

Her voice was sickly sweet, as if she were the reasonable one.

But an icy, sharp pain shot through my entire body…

I stared at her in disbelief.

Silver poison…

A poison that could cripple even the strongest Alpha in an instant.

My power drained away like a bursting dam.

Cold sweat soaked my body. My legs gave out, and I crumpled to the floor.

Skylar looked down at me, her eyes filled with the thrill of victory.

Nolan walked over.

He used the toe of his boot to tilt my chin up, his face a mask of undisguised disgust and scorn.

“Don’t look at me like that, Della. Letting you keep your title as Luna, letting you offer the Heart of the Pack at the ceremony… that’s the greatest mercy I can show you.”

His words were a dull knife, sawing away at what was left of my pride.

Two guards dragged me from the brightly lit hall like a carcass.

They threw me into the reeking, forbidden swamp.

The cold sludge swallowed my body.

The thick, toxic mist in the air rushed into my lungs, corroding me from the inside out.

My wolf soul cried out in agony.

I could feel its power fading, withering away.

Humiliation, betrayal, pain… everything swam into a black, buzzing void.

I curled up in the mud, my consciousness drifting in and out of the darkness.

In the final second, just before it all went black, I saw a blurred figure.

A man in black appeared silently at the edge of the swamp.

He dropped to one knee.

He held out a letter, and his voice cut through the toxic air, sharp and clear:

“Lady Della, hold on. This is a potion to fight the silver poison. In two days, at the full moon, Alpha Jaden will come for you himself.”