Chapter 5

She blinked, then let out a short, contemptuous laugh.

"We're already this far in and you're threatening me?"

"Seren, you don't actually think you're still Ironclaw Pack's feared heir, do you?"

"Your position was given to you by Alpha Eliot."

"He gave it. He can take it back."

I straightened slowly.

"Ask him, then. Ask him whether Frost Pack still has the power to take anything back from me."

A shadow passed through Eliot's eyes.

"Seren. What are you implying?"

I looked at him through the rain.

"I'm implying that you should pray nothing happens to me tonight."

"Because if it does, tomorrow Frost Pack will be hosting a reckoning, not a celebration."

Laughter rippled through the crowd again. They thought I was bluffing.

Lola laughed so hard she bent forward.

"A reckoning? You're going to hold Frost Pack accountable?"

"Seren, did the cold freeze your brain?"

Eliot's expression went cold.

"Enough."

He looked at me, voice low.

"Seren, don't overestimate your importance."

"The hunting territories you control ultimately belong to both packs."

"The connections you've made — you made them through the platform the alliance built."

"Without Frost Pack, you're nothing."

I held his gaze, and in that moment the last ember of whatever I'd felt for him burned out completely.

"Fine."

"Then let's find out tomorrow, Eliot."

"Let's see which one of us ends up with nothing after we walk away."

Lola didn't like the look in my eyes.

She wanted me to cry. She wanted me to beg. She wanted to watch me lose every shred of dignity in front of the entire pack.

But I didn't give her any of that.

So the smile on her face slowly died.

"Seren. You've got more endurance than I thought."

She handed her umbrella to someone nearby and walked to the electronic lock herself.

"Since you won't admit you're wrong, let's make it harder."

She pressed another button.

The blackout curtains around the canyon began to drop. Heavy black panels slid down one by one, covering the transparent glass walls.

The light disappeared, and my breath lurched.

Enclosed.

Dark.

Water.

All three hit at once. My vision swam.

Lola stood outside the last narrow gap as the curtain fell.

"You said you were going to hold us accountable?"

"Come on then."

"Get out first. Then we'll talk."

The curtain dropped completely. The canyon fell into near darkness.

Only the lights at the top flickered on and off like something was broken, white and cold.

The water kept falling. Each drop felt like the snowmelt that used to leak through the ceiling of that old cave.

I heard my father's voice.

"Seren. Crawl out."

"Don't look back."

I bit down hard on my lower lip until I tasted blood.

I can't fall apart. Not yet.

There were still people outside waiting for me to break.

Eliot was still standing there, waiting for me to bow my head and give in.

I moved along the wall, feeling my way to the corner.

There was a decorative wolf bone altar set up in the canyon.

I used everything I had left to lift the heaviest bone from it and drove it into the iron gate.

The first blow left a hairline crack in the metal.

The people outside startled.

Someone shouted: "She's lost her mind!"

"That's an alloy gate. She can't break through."

"Seren, give it up. Just apologize and this all goes away."

I didn't stop.

Second blow.

Third.

My wrists went numb from the impact. The skin at my palm split open and blood ran down, mixing with the rain on the ground.

The cracks spread wider with every hit.

Lola finally panicked.

She slapped the door from outside. "Seren, stop it!"

"If that gate breaks, you'll get hurt."

I let out a cold laugh.

"Now you're worried about me getting hurt?"

Lola's face drained of color. She turned back to look at Eliot.

"Alpha Eliot, she's actually going to break it."

Eliot's brow furrowed hard.

"Seren, stop."

"All you're doing is making this worse."

I swung the bone and brought it down again.

With a sharp crack, the gate finally split open at one corner.

Cold air rushed in.

I drove my foot into the gap.