Page 111 of Pack Captive

Tyra’s lips twitched, and her fingers tightened in the fur of one of the wolves at her side.

They were growling quietly, claws scratching at the ground as though they longed to drag them through us instead.

“It took you far too long to figure out our little game, but you were never the brightest, were you? All brawn, no brains.” Her gaze shifted to Calian. “All this time you’ve been chasing after the Bloodfang...you see, with what Fenris gave me, it was so easy to fool you. A simple little charm had you running after the wrong wolf.”

Tyra held out a hand, and a small ball of smoke coiled above her palm, twisting and writhing like a living creature.

She blew it towards us with a kiss, and the scent of cinnamon wafted over me.

Calian snarled when he realized. We’d been following a fake trail laid by Tyra.

She’d been killing our Warriors, leaving a trail that smelled exactly like Merikh.

Tyra let out a little chuckle. “You chose the wrong side, Ryden.”

His lip curled, his fangs lengthening.

Her eyes roved to me next, as hard as yellow glass. She sneered at me.

“You could’ve had power,” she told the Alpha. “Instead you have this. A scrawny little girl, worth nothing.”

“She must be worth something if Fenris sent you all the way here for her,” Calian said evenly. “Were you not enough for him?”

I wished I had a comeback, but I was speechless in the face of this woman.

It was hard to believe she’d once been a Moon Caller, with all the hate and vitriol boiling out of her...and that I’d let the legacy of someone so bitter bring me down.

Tyra smiled at Calian, but was tight, a muscle twitching in her jaw.

I realized that despite the power she had, she hated being here, seeing Ryden and his Second.

Maybe they were a reminder of everything she’d failed to take for herself.

“I do not question the orders of my mate,” she said, tossing her head. Then she laughed at the look on Ryden’s face. “Oh, didn’t I tell you? Fenris is my mate.Heknew what he had when he found me.”

She pulled down one of the bloodied wolf skins, exposing her shoulder. Red scars, a bite like the one Calian had left on me, glowed on her skin amidst the streaks of gore.

Ryden just shook his head. “I would expect him to have better taste than a power-hungry, third-rate Caller.”

Tyra scowled, her anger finally breaking through her smug mask. Her fangs flashed as she snapped orders to her wolves. “Vali, Sever. Hold them down.”

She raised her hands as the wolves lunged at us.

Black smoke coiled from her fingers, and the wolves melted in thin air, winding around us in dark ropes.

I struggled against them, but the bonds held tight. When the smoke had curled around us all, locking arms, legs, and heads into place, Tyra strolled forward.

I’d always had an image in my head of Tyra being a fairly useless Caller, considering everyone’s contempt for her.

But I was starting to realize how wrong I was...whether she’d taken to the Void like she was born to it, or if Fenris had somehow given her more power, she was truly dangerous.

She went to Calian first, dragging her nails across his cheek and leaving open red wounds behind.

He tried to bite her, his teeth snapping shut just short of her fingers.

Tyra waved her fingers over his lips, and the smoke followed, pinning his jaw shut. His dark eyes blazed over the ribbon of black.

“My terms are very simple. You are to surrender the city of Lykos, and send both the brat and this...” She looked me over, her nose wrinkled. “—girlto us, alive and in good health. If you can concede to these terms, Fenris is willing to negotiate an offer for your pack’s safety. Azura will be permitted to retain their name and sovereignty over this territory, so long as you bow to Fenris.”

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