Chapter 4
Margot's lips curled into something that might have been a smile if smiles were made of venom and old grudges.
'You think you can just walk away?' She took another step forward, her voice rising. 'After leeching off this pack for eight years? After spreading your legs for our son and trapping him with some bastard pup that probably isn't even his?'
The words landed like physical blows. I felt my jaw tighten. Felt my wolf stir beneath my skin, a low warning growl building in my chest.
Vincent moved to flank me on the other side. 'You're an Omega-level disgrace. A parasite who's been feeding off Crescent Pack resources while contributing nothing of value. And now you think you can steal pack property and disappear into the night?'
'Pack property?' I repeated slowly.
'Those journals.' Margot pointed at my bag with a perfectly manicured finger. 'Those maps. Every strategy, every alliance contact, every piece of intelligence you've hoarded like some kind of dragon sitting on gold. That belongs to the Crescent Pack. You developed it on our time, using our resources. It's ours.'
I felt something cold settle in my stomach. They weren't just trying to humiliate me. They were trying to rob me.
'Hand them over,' Vincent commanded. 'Now. Or we'll take them by force.'
He gestured to the guards surrounding us. Six of them. All larger than me. All with that particular look in their eyes that said they were just waiting for permission to put their hands on someone weaker.
I shifted my bag behind me. Both hands came up to rest over my belly.
'No.'
Margot's expression hardened. 'Guards. Strip her of those belongings. Use whatever force is necessary.'
The guards moved forward. Slowly. Deliberately. Enjoying this.
I didn't move. Didn't back down. My wolf surged to the surface, and I felt my eyes flash silver—that dangerous, brilliant silver that had started appearing more frequently since my pregnancy. My voice came out low and deadly calm.
'Touch me, and I will make you regret it.'
One of the guards laughed. 'You're seven months pregnant and unranked. What exactly are you going to—'
He didn't finish.
Because the temperature dropped.
It happened so fast I almost didn't register it. One moment, the courtyard was warm with late afternoon sun. The next, frost was crystallizing on the stone beneath our feet. My breath came out in visible puffs. The air itself seemed to thicken, pressing down with a weight that had nothing to do with weather.
The scent hit next.
Earth. Rich and deep and ancient. Layered with something else—raw, primal power that made every instinct in my body scream both danger and safety at the same time.
The guards froze mid-step. Their faces went pale. Their wolves immediately tucked tail and whimpered inside them, recognizing something their human minds were still struggling to process.
Then the aura rolled over us.
It was like being crushed under an avalanche. Like the sky itself had decided to press down on the earth and grind everything beneath it into dust. The sheer force of it drove every wolf in the courtyard to their knees.
Not me.
But everyone else.
Vincent hit the ground first, his face slamming into the dirt with a sickening thud. Margot followed a heartbeat later, her elegant composure shattered as she collapsed beside him. The guards dropped like puppets with cut strings, their bodies forced into submission by something so far beyond their comprehension that their wolves simply shut down.
I heard movement behind me. Turned my head slightly and saw Jayson stumbling out of the pack house, Camila at his heels. They made it three steps before the aura hit them too.
Jayson's knees buckled. He went down hard, his hands scrabbling at the stone like he was trying to find purchase against the crushing weight. Camila collapsed beside him, her face pressed against the ground, her earlier confidence completely obliterated.
The entire Crescent Pack was on their knees.
Every single one of them.
Bowing. Submitting. Unable to do anything else.
I stood in the center of it all, my hands still protective over my belly, and watched as the crowd parted.
Footsteps. Slow and deliberate. Heavy boots against stone.
A figure emerged from the tree line.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Moving with the kind of lethal grace that came from absolute confidence in one's own power. His presence alone made the air feel heavier, made the shadows seem darker, made every wolf in the vicinity instinctively bare their throats in submission.
Lucien Black.
The Lycan King.
My mate.
His eyes found mine across the courtyard. Golden. Glowing. Filled with a protective fury that made my wolf purr even as everyone else around us trembled in terror.
He didn't say anything. Didn't need to.
He simply walked toward me, his aura crushing down harder with every step, until he was standing between me and the wolves who had dared to threaten what was his.
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