Chapter Four

"You think you can just walk away from everything you did?"

The voice jolted Miranda awake. For a split second, she thought Daniel was in the room with her, his hands around her throat again. Then she realized it was just a nightmare, her own mind replaying the betrayal on an endless loop.

She sat up, drenched in sweat, her heart hammering against her ribs. The unfamiliar room came into focus. Right. The Raven Pack. The dead Alpha. Three brothers waiting for her to choose one of them.

Miranda buried her face in her hands. How was any of this real?

A knock sounded at the door, making her jump.

"Miranda?" It was Kyson's voice, calm and measured. "Bernard sent breakfast. May I come in?"

"Yes."

Kyson entered with a tray. He took one look at her face and set it down on the dresser. "You look like you did not sleep at all."

"I slept," Miranda said. "I just kept waking up."

Kyson nodded like he understood. "We have guards watching day and night to keep you safe. No one from your old pack can reach you here. You do not need to be afraid."

Miranda wanted to laugh. Afraid was the least of what she felt.

The following morning, Miranda woke feeling slightly more grounded. She had managed to sleep through the night without nightmares, and her body felt less like it was moving through water. Someone had left new clothes in her room, simple but well-made.

She was examining them when Lucas knocked and walked in without waiting for an answer.

"Good morning," he said, and his smile was the first genuinely warm thing she had seen since arriving. "I am taking you shopping."

"What? No, I do not need—"

"Yes, you do." Lucas crossed the room and took her hand, pulling her toward the door before she could argue further. "You have been wearing the same clothes for two days. Come on."

In the hallway, Kyson appeared, clearly planning to join them. Lucas shook his head. "I asked first, brother."

Kyson's expression darkened, but he stepped aside.

The shopping district made Miranda feel like she had stepped into a different world. Everything gleamed, from the storefronts to the people walking past in clothes that probably cost more than her entire pack's monthly budget.

Lucas pulled her into a boutique that screamed wealth.

"We need everything," Lucas told the staff who immediately surrounded them. "Gucci, Louis Vuitton, whatever you have. Clothes, shoes, jewelry. Show us the best pieces you have got."

"Lucas, this is too much—"

"It is not." He turned to her, and something fierce flashed in his eyes. "You lost everything yesterday. Let me give you something back."

Miranda's throat tightened. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

The staff brought out pieces that made her breath catch. Dresses in fabrics she had never touched before. Shoes that looked like they belonged in a museum. And then the jewelry.

One woman approached with a velvet box. When she opened it, Miranda forgot how to breathe. A necklace of diamonds and sapphires, arranged in an intricate pattern that caught the light like frozen moonlight.

Lucas took the box before the woman could say anything. "Turn around."

Miranda obeyed. She felt Lucas move behind her, felt his warmth against her back as he lifted the necklace. His fingers brushed the nape of her neck as he fastened the clasp.

The second the metal touched her skin, lightning struck through her entire body.

Miranda gasped. Lucas went completely still behind her, his hands gripping her shoulders now like he needed to steady himself.

Then he leaned down, his breath hot against her neck, and pressed his lips just below where the necklace rested. "Beautiful," he whispered against her skin.

Every nerve in Miranda's body screamed. This was nothing like what she had felt with Daniel. This was primal, undeniable, a pull so strong it physically hurt.

Is this what a real mate bond feels like?

The shop owner appeared beside them, breaking the moment. "It suits you perfectly. You should take it."

Lucas stepped back slowly, and Miranda could see his hands were shaking slightly. "Wait here. I need to find something to go with this."

He disappeared deeper into the store. Miranda stood frozen in front of the mirror, touching the necklace with trembling fingers, trying to understand what had just happened between them.

The door chimed.

Miranda was still staring at her reflection when a voice like nails on glass cut through the air.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here. Miranda, did they sell you to this mall? Are you their new janitor or something?"

Miranda's blood turned to ice. She knew that voice. She spun around.

Sasha stood in the doorway, Daniel beside her, both of them grinning like wolves who had just cornered wounded prey.

"Sasha." Miranda's voice came out as a snarl. "Daniel. You backstabbing animals."

She lunged forward, her hand raised to strike, but before she could reach them, her entire body locked up. An invisible force crushed down on her, freezing her mid-step. She could not move. Could not even twitch a finger.

Sasha's hand glowed with a sickly green light. "Oh, did you forget, darling? I am not just a wolf. I have other talents."

Panic flooded through Miranda. She had known about Sasha's magic, but her friend had always downplayed it, made it seem like parlor tricks. This was not parlor tricks. This was real power.

Sasha walked closer, circling Miranda like a predator. "You know what is funny? The whole Moonstone Pack has a bounty on your head now. Dead or alive. Quite a generous bounty too." She leaned in close, her smile vicious. "Daniel and I are thinking about collecting it ourselves. The money would be nice for the baby, do not you think?"

"I was really hoping you would just die on your own," Daniel said, stepping forward now. His face twisted into something ugly and cruel. "Would have saved me the trouble. But this works too. Actually, this is better. I get to watch."

His hand shot out and wrapped around Miranda's throat.

The pressure was immediate and crushing. Miranda tried to scream, tried to fight, but Sasha's magic held her completely paralyzed. She could only stand there, frozen, as Daniel's fingers dug into her windpipe.

"You always thought you were better than everyone," Daniel hissed, his face inches from hers now. "The Alpha's precious daughter. Too good for the rest of us. Well, look at you now."

He squeezed harder.

Miranda's vision started to blur at the edges. Her lungs burned, screaming for air that would not come. She could feel her heart racing, pounding desperately as her body fought for oxygen.

Daniel's face swam in and out of focus. His smile widened as he watched her struggle.

"Die, Miranda," he whispered. "Just die already."

The world was turning grey. Miranda's eyes rolled back as consciousness started slipping away. Her last thought was that she was going to die in a shopping mall, wearing a necklace that cost more than her life was apparently worth, killed by the man who had promised to love her forever.

Her body went limp in Daniel's grip, held upright only by his hand around her throat and Sasha's magic pinning her in place.