power to make it happen. I’m not forcing you. The question is, what are you willing to sacrifice for him?”

I stepped back, my thoughts spiraling. “Give me time,” I said, my voice quiet but firm.

Her smirk was back. “You have until tomorrow by nightfall. After that, the deal is off. Cause he’d probably be dead… I don’t wanna ride a dead man, no matter how juicy he looks.”

I gritted my teeth as I turned to face my warriors, “Let us go.”

“Go?” Evelyn growled as she held my hand.

I nodded at her, “We can’t fight them… we are outnumbered and we still wouldn’t get the antidote, Dane would die and we too will die.”

Evelyn huffed as she kicked a tree stomp. “Calm down… Evelyn,” Trajan said as he passed stood beside us.

As we left, her voice called out light and taunting. “Tick tock, Luna. Tick tock.”

We made our way back to the edge of the forest, Kaida’s laughter ringing in my ears. I stopped abruptly, my chest heaving with suppressed rage. noveldrama

The warrior started to build a campfire. We needed to rest and wait till dawn before we moved back to the pack.

“Are you okay?” Trajan asked, low.

I shook my head, my words in a struggle to find expression. “She’s playing games, not just that, Trajan, but trying to break us.”

“She’s trying to break you,” Evelyn gently corrected.

I turned to her, the storm in my chest overflowing into my voice. “What am I supposed to do? Agree to this madness? Sacrifice Dane’s dignity for his life?”

Trajan’s eyes were level, though his jaw clenched. “It’s not a decision for you to make alone. You have the pack to consider. Dane gets a say in this too.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “His choice? You know what he’d say. He’d take the deal just to prove a point. He’d put himself through this humiliation and call it loyalty.”

Trajan sighed deeply. “And what about you, Aurora? What are you willing to sacrifice for him?”

Evelyn cuts in, “We can’t let her call the shots like this. It’s a trap meant to humiliate us… to destroy Dane’s legacy and undermine yours.”

“Agreed,” one of the younger wolves said, his voice shaking, yet firm. “But what do we do instead? We can’t let Dane. die.” His words stumbled, and he looked down to the earth.

The low rumble of a growl, another wolf joining. “Why not call her bluff? Storm her camp, take the antidote by force.”