Chapter 4 - Kira Discovered the Secret the Alpha Was Willing to Die For
Kira had spent her entire life preparing to become Luna.
She had trained at dawn.
Fought until her hands bled.
Studied pack laws.
Memorized treaties.
She had been taught that one day Nathaniel would choose her.
Then Lyra walked into his life.
Not as a warrior.
Not as a noble.
As a maid carrying herbs.
Kira hated her.
But anger quickly became something else when the first assassination attempt came.
It happened three nights after the mating ceremony.
Lyra was walking beside Nathaniel toward the healer's den when arrows struck the ground.
“Down!”
Nathaniel threw himself over Lyra.
Warriors rushed forward.
Three attackers vanished into the trees.
Kira had been nearby.
She saw one of them.
Black Claw.
But there was something else.
The attacker wore a silver ring.
A ring belonging to the Silver Crest council.
Someone inside the pack was helping the enemy.
She immediately went to Nathaniel.
“I saw something.”
He listened.
“A ring.”
“Whose?”
“I don't know.”
Nathaniel looked at her.
For the first time, there was no resentment between them.
Only urgency.
“Thank you.”
Kira hesitated.
“Are you really choosing her?”
Nathaniel nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He glanced toward Lyra.
“Because she is my mate.”
Kira closed her eyes.
The answer was final.
Then she said something unexpected.
“Then I will protect her.”
Nathaniel stared.
“You don't have to.”
“I know.”
Kira walked away.
Lyra watched her go.
“I don't understand her.”
“You don't have to.”
Nathaniel took Lyra's hand.
“We have bigger problems.”
That same night, the council demanded a private meeting.
Elder Bram slammed a sealed document onto the table.
“Moonborn legends are clear.”
Nathaniel looked at him.
“Legends aren't law.”
“They become law when they threaten the pack.”
Lyra stood beside him.
“What threat?”
Bram stared at her.
“Your blood.”
Rowena spoke.
“There was once a Moonborn queen.”
Lyra frowned.
“A queen?”
“She could unite wolves from different bloodlines.”
“That sounds good.”
“It terrified the elders.”
“Why?”
“Because a united pack could overthrow every old council.”
The room went quiet.
Lyra realized the truth.
Her gift wasn't dangerous because it was violent.
It was dangerous because it could change who held power.
Bram stood.
“The Moonborn must not rule Silver Crest.”
Nathaniel's voice became cold.
“She isn't trying to rule anyone.”
“Not yet.”
Lyra looked at the elder.
“What do you want?”
“Your exile.”
Nathaniel's chair scraped backward.
“No.”
“The council can invoke ancient law.”
“I am Alpha.”
“And the council can remove an Alpha who endangers the pack.”
Nathaniel's eyes went dark.
“Try.”
The air became so heavy that everyone instinctively lowered their head.
The Alpha command had not been spoken.
It didn't need to be.
Bram backed away.
Later that evening, Kira found Lyra alone.
“I owe you an apology.”
Lyra looked surprised.
“For what?”
“For what I said at the ceremony.”
Lyra nodded.
“It's all right.”
“No.”
Kira shook her head.
“It wasn't.”
She sat beside her.
“I spent years believing strength was the only thing that mattered.”
“And now?”
“Now I saw what you did in the cave.”
Lyra looked down.
“I wasn't strong.”
“You were.”
Kira smiled sadly.
“You just don't look like the kind of strong I was taught to recognize.”
Lyra almost smiled.
Then Kira's expression changed.
“I found something.”
She handed Lyra a folded page.
It was from an old record book.
The top line read:
Moonborn descendants will bear a silver crescent.
Lyra's heart raced.
At the bottom was another sentence.
The last known Moonborn daughter was Elena Blackwood.
Lyra stared.
Her mother.
Below that:
Her child carries the blood.
Lyra looked up.
“There is more.”
Kira pointed.
The final line was nearly destroyed.
When the child reaches twenty-two, the ancient bond awakens.
Lyra's hands trembled.
Twenty-two.
Her exact age.
And beneath it was a warning.
The Black Claw king will come.
Not for territory.
For the heir.
Before Lyra could ask what heir meant, the door exploded inward.
A warrior collapsed in the doorway.
Blood covered his chest.
“Alpha…”
Nathaniel rushed toward him.
The man grabbed his arm.
“They breached the northern wall.”
“How many?”
The warrior struggled.
“Hundreds.”
Nathaniel looked at Lyra.
“Stay here.”
Lyra shook her head.
“No.”
“This is not a request.”
“My wolf can sense them.”
He stared.
“What?”
“They aren't attacking the pack.”
Lyra closed her eyes.
Her silver wolf whispered inside.
They are coming for me.
Lyra opened her eyes.
“They're coming for me.”
May you like
Nathaniel's face hardened.
“Then they'll have to go through me.”
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