Chapter 4

Karen stumbled a half step backward, desperately trying to maintain his composure.

"Everything I have achieved was through my own blood and sweat. It has nothing to do with you," he barked.

A wave of mocking laughter rolled through the crowd. Several of the senior pack warriors stood up, pointing aggressively at the stage.

"You ungrateful jerk," an old veteran spat. "You were freezing to death in the snow when Rachel saved your pathetic life. She brought you in, fed you, clothed you, and taught you how to read. And this is how you speak to her?

"If Rachel had not forced our hand, you would never even be allowed near this altar. Wake up from your delusional fantasy."

Lilith cowered behind Karen, tugging frantically at the hem of his jacket and begging him to fix the situation.

Karen took a deep breath, reaching inside his coat to pull out a document. "Do not let her fool you. I have hard evidence that Rachel has been committing treason with enemy packs. She lost the right to be our Alpha a long time ago."

The crowd fell into an uneasy silence. All eyes darted back to me.

I arched an eyebrow, gesturing for him to continue his show.

"Three months ago, our western supply depot was ambushed. Rachel was the one who leaked the coordinates. That is the only way they could have bypassed our patrols," Karen shouted, handing the documents to the nearest elder. "These are the encrypted communication logs I intercepted.

"Look for yourselves."

The elder scanned the pages, his face growing grim as he looked up at me. "Rachel, what is the meaning of this?"

I completely ignored the question, keeping my focus locked on Karen. "I have to admit, those forged logs look incredibly convincing. It is a shame you missed one critical detail."

"What detail," Karen demanded instinctively.

I explained, "My private encryption cipher with our informants changes every three days. The cipher used in your little document expired six months ago."

I walked up the final step, closing the distance between us. "You claim I leaked the coordinates. Then how do you explain the fact that on the exact night of the ambush, a call log between you and the Alpha of the Obsidian pack magically appeared on our internal servers?"

I gave Ben a signal to keep the footage rolling.

The massive display screen switched footage to show Karen's intercepted conversation with Donald Blackwell, the Alpha of the Obsidian pack, a day prior to the raid.

His voice echoed chillingly. "I sent you the coordinates to the depot. Hit it at exactly ten tonight. I want thirty percent of the stolen goods, and you need to forge a comms log framing Rachel for the leak."

The gruff, amused voice of Donald replied, "Consider it done. Once this is over, we will make sure you take the Alpha seat, and our packs will sign a permanent treaty."

The crowd erupted, and several young werewolves shifted into their half-forms, ready to rip Karen apart on the spot.

Karen's legs gave out, and he collapsed onto his knees, the forged documents scattering into the wind.

Lilith turned to sprint off the stage, only to find her path blocked by my elite guards.

"I didn't do it. She faked that audio. It is all a lie," Karen shrieked, his hand dropping toward his waist to draw a weapon.

I had anticipated his pathetic desperation. Before his fingers even brushed the hilt of his gun, I had my silver dagger drawn and pressed firmly against his carotid artery.

The freezing bite of the silver against his skin froze him in place.

I leaned down, my voice a deadly whisper meant only for him. "Did you really think I was blind to the disgusting games you and Lilith were playing? I gave you every chance to walk away quietly, but you had to dig your own grave."

Karen trembled violently, staring up at me with eyes wide with raw terror.

I stood up straight, turning to address the pack to announce their execution. But before I could speak, a figure in a black cloak launched out of the crowd. A blade coated in thick, dark venom slashed straight toward me.

Ben lunged forward, but he was a second too late. I twisted my body to dodge, but the tip of the blade sliced through the fabric of my sleeve, dragging across my arm. Black venom instantly seeped into the open wound.

I staggered back slightly, looking up at the assassin.

The cloaked man pulled back his hood, revealing a very familiar face. It was John Blackwell, Lilith's older brother, the Beta of the Obsidian pack.

He offered a vile, yellow-toothed grin. "Long time no see, Alpha Rachel. That blade was coated in a specialized toxin brewed by our witches. There is no cure. You will be dead in three hours. Let us see who is left to protect your precious pack now."

Seeing the tables turn, Karen suddenly found his courage. He shoved my blade away and scrambled backward, aligning himself with the assassin.

"I won," Karen laughed maniacally. "You never saw this coming, did you, Rachel? I made a deal with them months ago. Today is the day you die, and this pack belongs to me."

Lilith rushed to Karen's side, staring at me with arrogant glee. "I told you this throne was mine. Let us see how tough you act when you are choking on your own blood."

I looked at the three of them standing shoulder to shoulder and glanced down at the blackened veins creeping up my arm before I let out a soft laugh.

I wiped a smear of the venom off my arm, rubbing it between my fingertips.

"Did you all conveniently forget that my mother was the most legendary apothecary in werewolf history? I spent my childhood consuming every lethal toxin known to our kind to build immunity. A dose this weak is basically candy to me."

The moment the words left my mouth, a chorus of deafening howls ripped through the air. Hundreds of heavily armed pack warriors flooded the grounds from every direction, completely surrounding the assassins from the Obsidian pack.

I looked at the three traitors, who were now paralyzed with fear, and casually tossed a small glass vial in the air.

"Oh, and I almost forgot. I spiked the communal water supply with the universal antidote yesterday. All those sleeper agents you planted in the crowd have already been rounded up and detained," I declared.

Karen's knees gave way completely, and he slumped into a pathetic heap on the floor.

Lilith stared at the wall of snarling wolves closing in on them and burst into hysterical tears.

Realizing it was a bloodbath, John turned to flee, but two of my enforcers tackled him to the ground, pinning him under their massive weight.

I walked forward, looking down at Karen as he collapsed helplessly on the ground. "You want to be the Alpha so badly that I will give you a fair shot right now."

I tossed my silver dagger, letting it clatter onto the ground right at his fingertips. The blade caught the sunlight, gleaming with a deadly promise. "If you can survive three strikes from me, the Alpha title is yours."