Chapter 2

Jack's face turned a sickly green. He wrenched his arm back, revealing five dark, bruised fingerprints embedded in his wrist.

He stared at the Beta he had always considered trash, shock flickering in his eyes before being swallowed by murderous intent.

Knowing he couldn't kill someone openly near the main hall, he gritted his teeth. "You'll both pay for this."

The very next day, Lily couldn't wait. She brought a squad of guards to raid the exclusive resources meant for the Luna.

Clinging to Jack's arm, she watched smugly as the guards hauled away crates of precious Silver Moon Essence and Bloodthorn Elixir.

She shot a disdainful look at Ryan, who stood silently behind me.

"Stuck with a scentless cripple, and you think you still get the royal treatment? These belong to me now."

Jack looked down his nose at us, his arrogance fully restored.

"If you regret it, kneel and beg. I might still show you mercy."

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling.

Lily had no idea that the potent Bloodthorn Elixir was the exact catalyst that aggravated Jack's sadistic frenzy.

In my past life, Jack's prolonged use of those exact herbs caused his violent urges to spiral completely out of control.

By stealing that elixir, Lily was personally hand-feeding the demon that would eventually tear her apart.

"If you want them so badly, take them all," I said coolly. "I hope they bring you endless joy."

Thinking I was backing down, Lily snorted triumphantly. She and Jack swaggered off, officially occupying my core territory.

But I knew they wouldn't stop there.

Sure enough, three days later at the pack assembly, Jack and his bought-off Council of Elders made their move.

"A disgrace! This is an absolute insult to the pack!"

The Great Elder slammed his hand on the table, pointing a bony finger straight at Ryan. Spit flew from his lips.

"The Red Wolf Pack worships strength! You expect us to bow to a defective mutt who can't even shift? We'll be the laughingstock of the continent!"

"Exactly!" Jack stepped forward, playing the righteous hero. "An Omega's privilege cannot override the survival of the pack. I motion to strip Ryan of his candidacy and select a new Alpha!"

The elders murmured in loud agreement, filling the hall with insults and demands for Ryan's head.

They were cornering me, using the weight of the entire pack to force me to my knees. To force me back to Jack.

Lily stood in the crowd, practically vibrating with schadenfreude, waiting for me to lose everything.

"If you want my mate's throne, you'll have to pry it from his dead hands."

I swept a freezing glare over the hypocritical old fools.

The Great Elder sneered. "Fine! If you insist on being stubborn, pack law dictates only one way he can prove his right to rule. He must survive the Blood Moon Trial!"

Dead silence fell over the hall.

The Blood Moon Trial. The Red Wolf Pack's most brutal forbidden ground.

It was a death trap swarming with mindless, mutated Frenzied Beasts. Even a top-tier Alpha would barely make it out alive.

Sending a Beta inside was a public execution.

"If he walks out alive, the Council will recognize his throne," the Elder declared. "If he's too much of a coward, he is exiled from the pack immediately."

Every eye snapped to the thin, quiet Beta standing behind me, waiting for him to piss himself in terror.

I turned to look at Ryan.

His head was still slightly bowed, his messy hair hiding his expression.

I turned back, locking eyes with a gloating Jack and the smug Council. My voice rang out like steel.

"Fine. We accept the Trial."