Chapter 3

Three days later, I sat on the private terrace of my Tribeca penthouse.

I looked out over the Manhattan skyline, enjoying a glass of wine in perfect silence.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed.

It was Darien, the Pack Regent.

I answered and took a sip. "Speak."

"Valora! Thank God!"

Alarms blared in the background.

"You have to come back immediately! It's a disaster!"

"Why?" I asked coldly.

"The Blood Moon is tomorrow, Valora!" Darien panicked.

"Seren spent three days studying the spells, but it's not working! She just blew up the eastern altar, and the barrier is cracking!"

"Fascinating," I murmured. "Good luck with that."

"Valora, please! Name your price—"

"Give me the phone, you coward!" Seren’s voice screeched through the line.

"Valora! Don't listen to him. I've memorized the words perfectly. I don't need your help. Just sit in your apartment and watch me throw a perfect ritual!"

The line went dead.

The next evening, I went to the Metropolitan Founders’ Gala.

I wore a silver couture gown that looked like starlight.

Every wolf aristocrat in the room stared at me.

I was standing by the balcony when a commotion broke out at the door.

Graydon and Seren forced their way into the elite crowd. They looked unhinged.

Graydon’s suit was wrinkled. Seren's white dress was covered in soot.

She had dark circles under her eyes, and her power was wildly unstable.

"Valora!" Graydon roared, marching toward me.

His eyes flashed red. "Are you tracking me? Is this a game to you?!"

I took a slow sip of champagne.

"Don't flatter yourself, Graydon. I'm a board member here. You're trespassing."

"You sabotaged us!" Seren shrieked. "You changed the ritual books before you left!"

"I didn't change anything, Seren," I replied smoothly.

"You worked hard. But you simply don't have the blood for it."

Graydon puffed out his chest, trying to look dominant.

Malek stepped out of the shadows behind him.

"Don't lie, Valora!" Graydon snapped, pulling out his phone.

"Seren knows the magic. Elder Esmay is calling right now to confirm the barrier is safe. I'll show you that we don't need you."

He hit speakerphone, wanting to humiliate me.

But a horrific scream exploded from the speaker.

It was Elder Esmay.

"Graydon! The barrier is gone! The northern packs are inside the gates! The empire is falling—"

The room went silent.

Graydon’s phone slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor.

For a second, terror flashed in his eyes.

Then his jaw clenched. He sneered, stepping closer.

"Fine," he said. "A simple mistake. We’ll rebuild it without you, Valora. We don't kneel to a discarded woman."

He grabbed Seren's hand and turned to leave.

But Malek stepped right between us.

The crowd was talking loudly about the phone call, completely ignoring our corner of the room.

Malek leaned down. His amber eyes locked onto mine.

"Let him run back to his burning house, Valora," Malek murmured.

"They still think you were only their Luna."

I frowned slightly.

But Malek simply smiled.

He bowed his head to me in terrifying reverence.

"They have no idea," Malek whispered, a dangerous gleam in his eyes, "that the Blood Moon has always belonged to one family."

Graydon froze. He stared at Malek’s submissive posture, then at my cold face.

Graydon hissed, panic finally cracking his voice. "What did you just call her?"