Zane's POV
Perfect chaos. I stood at the back of the great hall, watching the pack tear itself apart over one small omega girl.
Clara's voice echoed off the stone walls, demanding punishment for "poor murdered Jade."
Half the pack was howling for Lyra's blood while the other half claimed she deserved a fair trial. And Erik? My dear cousin was nowhere to be found. Coward.
He'd run off to play hero while his pack fell apart. Just like his father would have done. Just like the whole Varian bloodline—weak when it meant most.
"The evidence is clear!" Clara stood on the stage where Erik should have been, her blonde hair gleaming under the torchlight.
"Lyra Nightshade murdered my best friend in cold blood!" Liar. I'd seen Jade's body myself twenty minutes ago.
Throat torn out by claws, but the cuts were too clean.
Too exact. Jade had been killed by someone who knew exactly how to make it look like a berserker attack. Someone like Eleanor. But I wasn't about to tell anyone that.
This confusion was exactly what I needed. "Where's Alpha Erik?" someone yelled from the crowd. "Why isn't he here defending his mate?" "Because he knows she's guilty!" Clara's voice cracked with fake feeling. "He's probably helping her escape as we speak!" Better and better.
Nothing destroyed an Alpha's image faster than abandoning his pack during a crisis. My phone buzzed against my chest.
A text from Adrian. Is it time? I smiled and typed back quickly. Almost. Meet me at the old mill in one hour.
The crowd was getting uglier by the minute. Wolves were changing into their half-forms, claws extending and eyes flashing gold with rage.
The smell of violence filled the air like smoke. "We should hunt her down!" someone yelled. "Make her pay!" "She's probably long gone by now," another person added. "Erik's helping a murderer escape!" I stepped forward, letting my Alpha presence fill the room. Conversations died as heads turned toward me.
"Maybe," I said, my voice carrying easily across the hall, "we should ask ourselves why Erik isn't here." Clara's eyes narrowed as she spotted me. She knew I was dangerous, but she had no choice but to let me speak. Pack law required it.
"What are you suggesting, Zane?" Her tone was carefully bland. "I'm suggesting that a true Alpha would never abandon his pack in their hour of need."
I walked slowly toward the platform, every step planned for maximum impact. "A true Alpha would face the crisis head-on, not run away with his mate."
Murmurs spread through the crowd. I could see doubt creeping into their faces. "Erik is trying to protect an innocent girl," old Samuel spoke up from the front row.
"He believes she's been framed." "Does he?" I raised an eyebrow. "Or is he so blinded by the mate bond that he can't see the truth? That his sweet Lyra really is her father's daughter?" "You don't know that," Samuel shot back. "Don't I?" I pulled out my phone and held it up.
"I have security video from tonight. Would you like to see what really happened to Jade?" The hall went quiet. Clara's face had gone white as fresh snow. "Show us," someone called out.
I touched the screen, and the video started playing on the large display behind the platform. Jade appeared, walking alone through the omega apartments. She looked scared, constantly looking over her shoulder.
Then a figure stepped out of the darkness. The picture was grainy, but you could clearly see red hair and a petite frame. Lyra, approaching Jade with something in her hand.
"Turn it off," Clara said quickly. "We don't need to see the actual murder."
"Oh, but we do." I let the video keep playing. "Because this is where it gets interesting." On screen, Lyra raised her hand. But instead of a weapon, she was holding a flower.
A white lily—the kind Jade loved. The crowd gasped as Lyra hugged Jade softly, gave her the flower, and walked away.
Jade stood there alone for several more minutes, smiling and smelling the lily. Then another figure appeared. Tall, blonde, moving with killing purpose. Clara.
The real Clara charged toward the video version of herself, but I was already speaking. "Fascinating, isn't it? How the 'victim' was living and well after Lyra left. But look what happens next."
Clara on the video neared Jade from behind. Her claws extended in one smooth move. "Stop it!" the real Clara screamed. "This is fake! Zane's trying to frame me!" But the crowd was already turning on her.
Angry voices rose as they realized they'd been lied to. "You killed her!" Jade's aunt stepped forward, tears running down her face.
"You murdered my niece and blamed it on an innocent girl!" "I was protecting the pack!" Clara's mask finally slipped, showing the cold calculation underneath. "Lyra is dangerous! Her father was a killer!" "So are you, apparently," I said gently.
"The question is: what else have you lied about?" Eleanor burst through the hall doors, her silver hair wild and her eyes burning.
"Enough! That movie is doctored! My daughter would never—" "Your daughter just confessed," I pointed out.
"She admits to killing Jade to 'protect the pack.' How noble."
The crowd was turning into a mob. Wolves pressed closer to the platform, their growls filling the air. Clara and Eleanor backed against the wall, suddenly understanding how outnumbered they were.
"Where's Alpha Theron?" Eleanor demanded. "He needs to restore order!" "Alpha Theron is indisposed," I said easily. "Heart problems, I'm afraid.
The stress of recent events." That was a lie, but a useful one. I'd made sure Theron was locked in his study, convinced that Clara needed time to 'handle the problem.' By the time he noticed what was happening, it would be too late. "Then Erik needs to—" Eleanor began. "Erik has abandoned his responsibilities," I cut her off.
"He picked his mate over his pack. That's not the behavior of a true Alpha." I turned to face the crowd, spreading my arms wide. "I know you're all angry.
Hurt.
Betrayed.
But this is exactly why I've been telling you about Erik's weakness. A strong Alpha would never have let things reach this point."
"What are you saying?" Samuel asked, though I could see he already knew. "I'm saying the pack needs real direction.
Not someone who runs away when things get tough." I let my Alpha power wash over the room. "I'm saying it's time for a change." The crowd went quiet.
Challenge rights were important in our pack. If I officially challenged Erik for leadership, he'd have to accept or forfeit his position.
"Zane, no," Eleanor whispered. "This isn't the time." "This is exactly the time." I smiled at her fear. "Erik has proven himself unfit to lead.
Someone needs to clean up his mess." "The pack council has to approve any challenge," Samuel said desperately.
"The pack council serves the pack's best interests," I answered. "And right now, the pack's best interest is removing a weak Alpha who's brought murderers into our midst."
I wasn't talking about Lyra anymore. I was talking about Clara and Eleanor. But the crowd didn't need to know that yet. My phone buzzed again. Adrian.
Ready when you are.
Brought backup. Good. Phase two starting now. I tucked the phone away and faced the crowd again.
"I, Zane Varian, officially challenge Erik Varian for leadership of the Silverclaw Pack. He has twenty-four hours to accept or forfeit his job." The words rang out like a death sentence.
There was no taking them back now. "This is madness!" Eleanor shrieked. "You can't just—" "I can and I have." I turned to Samuel.
"As eldest council member, you're required to watch the challenge. Will you perform your duty, or do I need to question your loyalty too?" Samuel's face was gray, but he nodded slowly.
"The challenge is observed and recorded. Erik has until tomorrow night to answer."
Perfect.
By tomorrow night, Erik would be dealing with much bigger problems than a leadership issue. As the crowd began to scatter, arguing among themselves, I slipped out the back door.
The old mill was a ten-minute walk through the forest, far enough from the pack house to avoid curious ears.
Adrian was waiting in the darkness, along with three wolves I didn't recognize.
They wore the scent of faraway packs—rogues, probably, or mercenaries Adrian had hired. "Dramatic as always," Adrian said with a grin. "I heard the whole thing from here."
"Phase one complete," I answered. "Erik's reputation is destroyed, Clara's exposed as a murderer, and the pack is in chaos." "What about the girl? Lyra?" "What about her?" I shrugged. "She's served her role. Erik's concern with protecting her has cost him everything."
"You're really going to let her die?" "I'm going to let nature take its course." I pulled out my phone and showed him a tracking app. "Clara sent a hunting party after her an hour ago. Twenty wolves, armed and angry.
They think she killed Jade." Adrian whistled low. "That's cold, even for you." "Erik picked her over his pack. Now he gets to live with the results." I looked at the three strangers. "Are your men ready?" "They've been ready for weeks," Adrian revealed.
"The moment Erik accepts your dare, we strike. His pack will be too focused on the fight to notice us moving into place."
"And if he doesn't accept?"
"Then he forfeits, and you become Alpha by default.
Either way, you win." I smiled, feeling the pieces of my plan click into place like a perfect puzzle. "There's just one more thing," I said, pulling out a small bottle of dark liquid. "Insurance."
"What is it?" "Something to make sure Erik can't fight at full strength.
A little gift from an old friend." I tucked the vial away carefully. "One drop in his drink, and he'll be too weak to shift properly."
"You're going to poison him?" "I'm going to level the playing field."
My voice hardened. "Erik's had every advantage his whole life. Daddy's best. The beautiful boy. The chosen ruler. It's time he learned what it feels like to lose."
Adrian was looking at me strangely. "This is about more than pack command, isn't it? This is personal."
"Everything is personal." I thought about my mother, dead these fifteen years. About the 'accident' that had killed her when she got too close to finding Theron's dirty secrets.
About growing up in Erik's shade, always second-best, always forgotten.
"Your mother," Adrian said quietly. "She really didn't die in an accident, did she?" "No. She was killed.
By Erik's father. And tomorrow night, I'm going to return the favor." The forest around us had gone silent, as if even the animals could feel the darkness of my intentions.
"The girl," one of Adrian's men spoke up suddenly. "The omega. She's not going to survive the night."
"What do you mean?" I asked. "The hunting party found her. But there's something else out there. Something that smells like death and old magic."
My blood went cold. "What kind of something?" "The kind that turns weak little omegas into killing machines." Before I could ask what he meant, a howl echoed across the forest. Long, sad, and filled with power I'd never heard before. "That's not Lyra," Adrian whispered.
"No," I agreed, my mind running.
"That's something else entirely."
Another howl answered the first. Then another. And another. "The curse," I breathed, bits clicking together. "It's not just making her look dangerous. It's actually changing her."
"Into what?" I stared toward the faraway lake where Marcus had taken Lyra to hide. Where Clara's hunting party was closing in.
Where something ancient and terrible was about to be released. "Into exactly what this pack deserves," I said softly. Because if Lyra really was changing into something powerful, something uncontrollable, then my plans had just gotten much more interesting.
And much more dangerous.