Chapter 4

Lilith POV

Irene bandaged me up, her hands shaking violently.

She didn't argue when I refused the sleeping draught. She knew I couldn't afford to sleep.

"Take this," she whispered, pressing a small, rough-spun pouch into my hand. "Dried meat. Herbs for the pain. It's all I could scrounge."

"Thank you," I rasped.

Standing up was agony. The claw marks on my back felt like lines of liquid fire searing into my spine.

I slipped out of the infirmary while the Pack was distracted with the cleanup and the frantic council meeting about the attack.

The chaos was my cover.

I limped toward the river that marked the northern border. It was the most dangerous route-the current was deadly, and the rocks were treacherous-but it was the only place not heavily patrolled.

I reached the riverbank, the sound of rushing water filling my ears like a roar. The moon was hidden behind thick clouds now, plunging the world into shadow.

"Going somewhere?"

My heart stopped.

I turned slowly. Kane stepped out from behind a tree, shadows clinging to his jaw.

He wasn't alone. Serra was with him, a smirk playing on her lips before she smoothed it into a mask of concern.

"I'm leaving, Kane," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. I was too tired to be afraid. "I'm going Rogue. You won't have to see me again."

"You think you can survive out there?" Kane laughed, a harsh, barking sound that grated against my nerves. "You're weak, Lilith. You're injured. You'll be dead in an hour."

"Better dead than here," I said.

"See?" Serra chimed in, clinging to his arm like a vine. "She's ungrateful. After you saved the Pack, she tries to desert us. It's treason, Kane."

Kane's face hardened. "Serra is right. No one leaves the Blood Moon Pack unless I exile them. And I haven't finished with you."

"I reject your authority," I spat.

Kane's eyes flashed red-the Alpha color. He took a threatening step forward. "You don't get to reject me."

I backed away, my heel catching on a wet, moss-covered stone.

I stumbled, sliding down the muddy bank toward the icy water.

I cried out as my injured back slammed against a rock.

Kane watched me fall. He didn't reach out.

"Help her, Kane!" Serra said, but her voice was laced with a strange, mocking tone. "Oh, wait, don't. She might pull you in."

I scrambled to get up, mud coating my fresh bandages.

Serra took a step forward, peering down at me. Then, with a theatrical gasp, she threw herself backward onto the grass.

"Ah! She attacked me!" Serra screamed, clutching her ankle. "She threw a rock at me!"

It was a lie so blatant it would have been laughable if my life didn't hang in the balance. I was ten feet down the embankment. I couldn't have reached her if I tried.

But Kane didn't look at the logic. He looked at his screaming 'Luna'.

He roared.

He jumped down the embankment, grabbing me by the throat. He lifted me off the ground, his fingers crushing my windpipe.

"You dare touch her?" he snarled, his spit hitting my face.

"I... didn't..." I choked, clawing at his hand uselessly.

"Liar!"

He slammed me backward. Not onto the bank, but into the river.

The freezing water engulfed me instantly. The shock seized my muscles like a physical blow. The current grabbed me, dragging me down.

Kane held me under. His hand was a vice on my neck.

I stared up through the distorting surface of the water. I could see his face, twisted in rage. I could see the moon, wavering and dim.

My lungs burned. My vision began to tunnel.

This is it, I thought. My Mate is killing me.

The water turned pink around me as my wounds reopened.

"If you ever try to hurt her again," Kane's voice was muffled by the water, but the Alpha Command vibrated through the liquid, rattling my very bones. "I will make you wish you were dead."

He let go.

He didn't pull me out. He pushed me further into the current.

I was swept away.

I tumbled over rocks, swallowing water, drowning in the darkness.

I had no strength left. I stopped fighting.

Then, a hand.

Not Kane's.

A massive hand grabbed the back of my shirt. With a heave that felt like it nearly dislocated my shoulder, I was yanked from the water.

I hit the rocky shore, coughing up water and blood.

I looked up, my vision swimming.

A man stood over me. He was huge, towering over even Kane. His energy wasn't like the storm-it was like the mountain itself. Solid. Unmovable.

He wasn't looking at me. He was looking across the river, where Kane stood on the opposite bank.

"She is not your property," the stranger growled.

His voice was deep, resonating in my chest like a bass drum.

"Your Alpha Command has no power here."

I blacked out.