Chapter 6
After everyone left, she called for her closest pack ally: “I need to arrange my legacy.”
Her trusted packmate Lyra and the Pack Law Keeper arrived together.
Seeing Ravenna lying pale and weakened on the healing den’s bed, her wolf spirit barely flickering beneath her skin, Lyra’s eyes filled with tears of rage.
“Those bastards! They’re monsters, treating you like this! I’ll challenge them before the Pack
Council!”
Ravenna held her back.
During her years of trying to win Valdrin’s favor, she’d met few true allies, but Lyra had been
different.
Lyra had always stood firmly by her side, the first to bare teeth in Ravenna’s defense no matter what storms came. Without her, Ravenna might not have survived this long.
Lyra was also the only one besides Valdrin who knew about her Moon Goddess Trial.
Now, Ravenna revealed everything–her plans to seek a new Trial target after her death.
“So you’ll finally be free of that heartless Alpha?” Lyra’s eyes blazed.
Ravenna nodded.
Lyra leapt up, joy in her movement. “Finally! The Moon Goddess shows mercy! You should have left that cursed wolf long ago. Let him suffer!”
Ravenna smiled at her friend’s fury, then turned to the Law Keeper. “I want to transfer all my pack shares and territory rights to my pack sister Lyra. My personal wealth should go to supporting tone wolf pups in the outer territories.”
The Law Keeper nodded, unsurprised, but asked formally: “And your blood family?”
They get nothing.
Lyra’s eyes gleamed with tears. “I’ll just guard it until you return in your new form. You must come
back to us.”
Soul Reborn
Ravenna nodded, reaching to wipe her friend’s tears.
From the doorway, Valdrin’s voice cut through the air: “Return from where?”
His eyes held dangerous suspicion.
Ravenna quickly explained: “I told Lyra I’m planning to visit the Northern Territories when I recover. She’s asking me to bring back ice crystals for her.”
Valdrin watched her for a long moment before his expression smoothed, though doubt lingered in his gaze.
“The healers are waiting for your strength assessment.”
Ravenna exhaled in relief.
Valdrin guided Ravenna through the ancient stone corridors of the healing den, his Alpha presence clearing their path. His touch on her elbow spoke of possession rather than tenderness.
Ravenna knew the truth behind this visit to the Pack Healer – they needed to ensure her wolf heart was strong enough for the sacred sacrifice.
Leaving the chamber, she encountered Winter.
Winter sat in a wheeled chair, her form delicate beneath the thin healing robes. Her silver hair fell loose around her shoulders, possessing an ethereal, sickly beauty. Just sitting there, she evoked every wolf’s protective instincts.
“Sister,” Winter’s soft voice broke the silence. “Alpha Valdrin says they’ve found a heart donor for
me.”
“Aren’t you happy for me?”
Ravenna met those dark eyes, so bright, so seemingly innocent. Yet beneath lay such deep malice.
Did she truly not know?
“Yes,” Ravenna smiled, with a touch of genuine feeling. “I am happy.”
When Ravenna didn’t react as expected, Winter’s satisfaction dimmed. She casually lifted her hand to brush back her hair, “That’s wonderful. You’ve always been so suspicious of me. I worried you might try to prevent my healing ritual”
Around Winter’s finger coiled a silver
moonstone band – an ancient symbol of mate bonds. The sam
The Alphia’s Sulisutute Lina. Al
stone that marked Valdrin as Alpha mate gleamed at its center, its blue light pulsing in perfect rhythm with the one on his hand.
Ravenna’s eyes caught the telltale glow, and Winter’s fingers instinctively moved to conceal it. But it
was too late.
“It’s not what you think, sister,” Winter’s voice turned honey–sweet, dripping with false innocence. “Alpha Valdrin merely gifted it to welcome me home to the pack. A gesture of… kindness.”
She twisted the band nervously. “The swelling from my weakened state forces me to wear it on this finger. You know the old ways – a true mate–bond ring would burn any finger but the marked one.”
Her last words came out as a whisper, “Don’t look at me that way, sister. Please.”
