Chapter 4

The door was locked from the outside, and I could hear the guards pacing in the hallway.

I was under house arrest.

I reached into my boot and pulled out my backup communicator, and then typed in a long, complicated code.

A blood red bat symbol appeared on the screen.

I typed out a message on the screen. [Target confirmed as a traitor. Execute the Sweeper Plan.] Then I pressed send.

*****

The next night, the pack meeting took place as scheduled in the most luxurious underground ballroom in Lasvikas.

Two guards escorted me in, and I stood in front of the stage wearing a thin black dress, my face pale.

The blood loss from before made every step feel like walking on broken glass.

On stage, Arthur stood tall in a custom suit, looking confident and completely in control.

Annabelle hung off his side in a flashy white gown with a long train, wearing the mating necklace that used to belong to me around her neck.

The Betas in the crowd started whispering among themselves.

"What's the Alpha thinking? Leaving Lady Norman down there like that?"

"I heard Lady Norman nearly bled herself dry saving the Alpha last night. So why is she getting treated like this today?"

"Keep your voice down. I heard that woman in the white dress is the Alpha's new girl."

Arthur walked up to the microphone and tapped it with his finger.

At that, everyone in the hall went silent.

"Listen up, everyone," Arthur started. "I called you here tonight because I have two big announcements to make.

"First, starting tonight, Annabelle Carter is officially our new second-in-command.

"She will have the highest level of authority to mobilize our people, second only to me."

The crowd stayed completely quiet. No one applauded.

A few of the senior werewolves looked clearly unhappy and started voicing their complaints.

"Alpha, this breaks the rules. The second-in-command position has always belonged to Lady Norman."

"Lady Norman has made huge sacrifices for this pack. So, what makes Annabelle qualified for the role?"

Arthur slammed his hand on the table and let out a commanding growl that echoed through the room.

"I set the rules here," he said. "Evelyn hasn't been feeling well lately, so she's stepping back to focus on her health. Anyone who disrespects Annabelle is picking a fight with me."

The senior werewolves lowered their heads under the pressure.

Annabelle flashed a smug grin. She picked up the microphone and said in a sweet voice, "Thank you all for being so understanding. I promise I'll work hard to learn the ropes."

She then waved at me like a queen summoning a servant. "Evelyn, why don't you come up here and hand over your seal?"

The guards pushed me, and I staggered onto the stage.

Arthur shot me a look and dropped his voice so only Annabelle and I could hear. "Hand over the seal and put on a smile. Don't make me smash your mother's ashes."

I looked at him and suddenly laughed.

My laughter grew louder and sounded completely out of place in the quiet ballroom.

Arthur's face fell. "What's so funny? Shut up!" he snapped.

I stopped laughing, reached into my pocket, and pulled out the solid gold seal that represented power.

Then, right in front of everyone, I hurled it onto the floor with all my strength.

The gold seal clattered against the marble, bounced, and tumbled down the steps.

Everyone in the room gasped.

"Arthur, do you really think I care about this stupid seal?" I shouted, making sure everyone heard me. "You think you're in control? Did you forget what keeps your whole pack's Berserk Immunity Shield going?"

Arthur's face went ghostly pale, and he lunged forward. "You wouldn't dare, Evelyn!"

I met his gaze without flinching. "Why wouldn't I?

"Three years ago, I used my essence blood to carve a protection ward onto the pack's totem.

"As long as I'm alive, none of you will have to turn feral on the full moon. But this ward is one way. It's only tied to me."

I raised my right hand, and the black ring on my index finger caught the light.

Annabelle started to panic. "Arthur, stop her. What is she trying to do?"

Arthur lunged at me with his claws out and barked, "Grab her!"

But it was too late.

I bit through the tip of my tongue without hesitating and spat blood onto the ring. "By my bloodline, I break this ward!" I shouted.

A massive crack thundered from the giant werewolf totem statue in the center of the hall.

A blinding red light shot up into the air, and then the statue split in half and crashed to the ground with a crash.

Chunks of stone flew everywhere, and the whole hall descended into chaos.

Every werewolf in the hall, including Arthur, grabbed their chests and cried out in pain.

With the shield gone, all the pent-up berserk instincts inside them burst loose and started raging out of control.

Arthur dropped to his knees, his body trembling violently. "You... you actually destroyed the shield. You're going to get all of us killed..." he gasped.

I shot him a cold look and said, "You brought this on yourselves."

Suddenly, the hall doors were blasted open by a terrifying force.

The massive bronze doors flew across the room like they were nothing but paper.

A group of men in black trench coats with burning red eyes strode inside.

The man leading them had silver hair and blood red eyes, and his presence was so chilling that the air around him seemed to freeze.

It was Lucian Drake, the Vampire Prince.

He walked straight toward me, his boots crunching over the rubble, and said in a low, teasing voice, "Had your fun, my little princess?"