Chapter 5

LYRA'S POV:

The next morning, the pack is buzzing with a new rumor. Whispers of a "mysterious Alpha" seen in the Laurel Forest, "mad with love" as he comforted a weeping she-wolf under the moonlight. The romantic tale stars Alpha Kaelen and his beloved Seraphina. No one mentions the true Luna he abandoned to do so.

Kaelen brings Seraphina to me. He forces her to her knees, her eyes red-rimmed and full of fake remorse.

"I've punished her," Kaelen says, his voice cold and authoritative. "She was kept in the dungeons all night, reflecting on her disrespect to you."

It's another lie. I can smell the scent of his sheets on her skin.

To make up for it, he announces he will participate in the pack's Annual Hunt. "I will win the grand prize for my wife," he declares to the assembled pack members. "The Tear of the Moon gem. Nothing is too good for my Luna."

The hunt begins. Kaelen, a powerful and skilled warrior, easily takes the lead. He's a blur of speed and grace, his wolf form magnificent. But as the race nears its end, I see Seraphina talking quietly with one of the event officials. A moment later, an announcement is made: a new prize has been added for the second-place winner. A stunning ruby necklace.

On the final lap, Kaelen's horse suddenly stumbles, its leg buckling. He's forced to slow, his lead vanishing. He crosses the finish line in second place.

He comes to me, his face a mask of frustration. "I'm sorry, my love. The horse... it was a freak accident. I failed you."

"What about the second prize?" I ask, my voice neutral.

"Some worthless trinket," he says, waving a dismissive hand. "I already threw it away."

But I saw it. I saw him accept the ruby necklace, the same one I'd overheard gossips saying was a lost heirloom of Seraphina's ancestral tribe. He won it for her. On purpose.

"I'd like to ride," I say, changing the subject.

"Of course," he says, eager to please. He helps me onto a gentle mare, his touch lingering on my waist.

As I prepare to enter the riding course, Caelus runs up to Seraphina, begging her to ride too. She demurely refuses until Kaelen, with an indulgent smile, gives his permission.

She chooses a large, aggressive stallion and enters the course behind me. We ride, the wind cool on my face. For a moment, it feels almost normal.

Then, as I round a sharp bend, I hear hoofbeats thundering up behind me. I glance back and see Seraphina, her face set in a hard line. She yanks on her reins, deliberately steering her massive horse directly into the side of my smaller mare.

The impact sends me flying. I hit the ground hard, the air knocked from my lungs. Dazed, I try to push myself up, but a large shadow falls over me.

Seraphina is there, looming over me on her stallion. She kicks the horse's side, driving it forward. I see its heavy hoof, shod in iron, descending toward my head.

There is no time to move.

The world explodes in a flash of pain. As my consciousness fades into a black, roaring tunnel, the last thing I see is Kaelen and my son, Caelus, running.

They are not running to me. They are running to Seraphina, who has feigned a fall from her own horse a few feet away. They are running to her.

---