Chapter 5

Ryder POV:

The scent of her blood drove me insane. It was a sweet, copper tang that triggered every protective instinct in my biology. My wolf, *Fenrir*, was clawing at the back of my mind, demanding slaughter.

*Who touched her? Who dared to spill the blood of my soul?*

I walked through the sea of prostrate bodies. They were nothing to me. Insects.

I reached Sophia. She looked pale, but her eyes were fierce. She was beautiful. My Goddess.

I dropped to one knee in front of her-me, the Supreme Alpha, kneeling before a woman in front of the entire council.

The room gasped, but no one dared to look up.

"Sophia," I breathed, my voice rough with suppressed rage. I gently took her injured hand. The sight of the three claw marks made my vision swim with red.

"I'm okay, Ryder," she whispered, her other hand coming up to cup my cheek. Her touch was the only thing anchoring me to sanity.

"Mommy!"

Darren wiggled out of my arm and jumped down. He didn't care about the politics. He ran to Sophia and hugged her legs, burying his face in her dress.

"Who hurt you?" Darren asked, pulling back. His little toddler voice was trying to be scary, but his eyes were wet. He looked at the floor and saw a small diamond that had fallen from Sophia's bracelet during the scuffle.

He picked it up and growled. A tiny, high-pitched growl, but it carried the weight of my bloodline.

I stood up, pulling Sophia into my side, shielding her from the world. I turned to face the room.

"Rise," I commanded coldly.

Slowly, terrifyingly, the wolves began to stand, their legs shaking.

August was trembling so hard he could barely stay upright. He looked at me, then at Sophia, his eyes bulging out of his head.

"Supreme Alpha..." August stammered. "We... we didn't know. She... she came in unannounced. She's a Rogue! She attacked us!"

"A Rogue?" I repeated, the word rolling off my tongue like poison.

I looked at Sophia. "Did they call you a Rogue, my love?"

"They did," Sophia said calmly. "And a beggar. And human trash."

I released a dark, humorless laugh that made the Aurelis Alpha-August's father, who looked ready to faint-whimper.

"This woman," I announced, my voice booming to the rafters, "is Sophia Weyland. She is my Fated Mate. She is the Luna of the Lymerian Pack. And she is the mother of my heir."

Silence. Absolute, horrified silence.

August's face went grey. "No... that's impossible. She has no wolf. I rejected her! She is defective!"

I narrowed my eyes. "You rejected her?"

"Yes!" August cried, sweat pouring down his face as he realized the depth of his mistake, yet his ego refused to let him stop. "Three years ago! She is a latent! She is useless!"

I released a pulse of Alpha aura, focused entirely on August. He collapsed to his knees again, clutching his chest, gasping as if his lungs were being crushed.

"She is not useless," I snarled. "She is the White Wolf."

I ripped off my expensive dress shirt, buttons popping and scattering across the floor. I didn't care. I wrapped the silk shirt around Sophia's bleeding hand, tying it gently.

"You hurt her," I said to Hailey, who was sobbing silently on the floor. "You drew Royal blood."

"I... I didn't mean to..." Hailey choked out.

"Aurelis Pack," I addressed the room, my voice final. "You have insulted my Luna. You have injured her. You have questioned her lineage."

I pulled Sophia closer, kissing her forehead.

"Pray to the Moon Goddess," I whispered, staring directly at August. "Because I am going to make you wish you had never been born."

Sophia leaned into me, pointing a finger at August and Hailey.

"They offered me a job, Ryder," she said softly, her voice carrying in the silent hall. "They wanted me to be their maid."

My vision went red.

"Kill them," my wolf roared. "Kill them all."

*