The color instantly drained from Daisy’s face and her heart skipped a hard beat. "Sera..." her voice trembled as she forced out a shaky smile. "What is wrong with you?"

Panic clawed at her chest so tightly she could barely keep her footing. Raul was a member of the pack, so of course he had shown up at the banquet.

Before they arrived, they had agreed to stay as far apart as possible and avoid even making eye contact. All their conversation ever since Ravyn began to keep her close or bound to the pack house, had been through mindlink.

The less attention they drew, the safer they would both be. Everything had gone according to plan. So how... how did Seraphine know about him?

Seraphine didn’t bother answering. She calmly scanned the crowd instead. "Raul." Her clear voice echoed through the hall. "Come out."

No one moved. The guests exchanged puzzled looks while searching the room, but Raul was nowhere to be seen. A faint smile tugged at Damon’s lips. Without attracting attention he quickly sent Corvine a text message. ’He’s under table nine.’

Corvine quietly read the message before making his way across the hall, footsteps slow and steady. When he reached table nine he grabbed the edge with one hand and, with barely any effort, lifted the entire table.

A frightened gasp escaped from underneath. Raul was curled into a ball beneath it, trembling like a scared chicken. The moment their eyes met, Raul knew there was no escape. "Beta Corvine..." his lips quivered. "Please... let me explain."

Corvine looked at him with pure disgust. "Stand up." His deep voice carried a greater authority than a beta. Raul hurried to his feet, legs shaking so badly they could barely support him.

Corvine dropped the table back into place before grabbing Raul by the collar. Ignoring the man’s desperate pleas, he dragged him across the floor toward the front of the hall while every guest watched in complete silence.

Daisy’s breathing turned uneven and the color disappeared from her face all over again. She looked ready to collapse at any second.

Seraphine slowly stepped forward, her calm expression somehow making everyone even more nervous. She looked directly at Ravyn. "Alpha Ravyn." Her voice remained steady. "This man..." she pointed at Raul, "is Bryan’s biological father."

The hall erupted. "What?"

"No way!"

"That’s impossible!"

"Did she really just say that?"

Whispers exploded from every corner. Raul felt his entire body go numb, mind completely blank. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Beta Damon had promised to keep his secret.

A few years more, and Bryan would have become the Alpha of the centenary pack and then he could claim back his Daisy from Alpha Ravyn but now, everything was ruined.

Ravyn never even glanced at the pathetic man kneeling on the floor. His expression stayed cold. To him this was nothing more than another one of Seraphine’s tricks, another attempt to humiliate Daisy in public.

Besides, Seraphine had stooped so low to marry a mere human and that hurt him badly.

His jaw tightened. "Whatever game you’re trying to play..." his icy gaze finally landed on Seraphine, "it won’t work." His voice rang with absolute confidence. "Bryan is my son." Not a single trace of doubt could be heard.

Daisy quietly let out the breath she had been holding. Relief washed over her, and the color slowly returned to her face. None of the other accusations mattered.

As long as Ravyn still trusted her, she still had hope. The crowd stood frozen, no one knowing what to believe anymore. One shocking revelation after another had completely shattered everything, they thought they knew and yet, Alpha Ravyn was not having any of it.

Seraphine slowly looked around the hall, eyes searching for one person—Voren but he wasn’t there. A small crease formed between her brows. Where had he gone? This was exactly when she needed him.

Maybe, just maybe, he could knock some sense into Ravyn before everything got even worse. She immediately reached out through the mind link but strangely, it did not connect.

’Bloodfang blocked the connection,’ Marsha’s voice echoed inside her mind. ’I don’t know why.’

Confusion spread across Seraphine’s face. Why would Bloodfang stop them from communicating? Before she could think any further, something else caught her attention and she blinked. ’Marsha...’ she called out in her mind. ’You sound full of energy today.’ Last night her wolf had sounded exhausted, weak, almost lifeless. Now she sounded completely different.

Marsha gave a quiet chuckle. ’That’s because...’ her voice carried unmistakable excitement. ’I can smell blood.’

Seraphine froze. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Just last night Marsha had barely been able to speak. Now the possibility of bloodshed had somehow restored every bit of her strength.

Her wolf truly was impossible to understand. Still, judging by everything happening today, blood would almost certainly be spilled.

Seraphine slowly lifted her gaze and looked at Corvine once more. "Please..." her expression remained calm. "Bring Zane."

The moment Ravyn heard that name his entire body stiffened and his pupils shrank. Memories flooded his mind.

A few months ago he had asked Seraphine to hack into Zane’s information and she had refused. Then another memory surfaced, the day he confiscated Daisy’s phone, Zane had called her. His heartbeat suddenly became uneven.

Corvine didn’t ask any questions. He quietly walked out of the hall. Several long minutes passed while the atmosphere grew heavier with every second. Finally the doors opened again.

Corvine returned, walking beside a man dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit. His expression was calm, his posture straight.

Daisy’s eyes widened in horror and her breathing almost stopped. Had Zane been living inside the same pack all this time? How long had he been there? Days? Weeks? Months? She had absolutely no idea. Every frightening possibility raced through her mind.

As Zane approached the front of the hall, Seraphine calmly stepped in front of him. Her eyes locked onto Ravyn’s. Her voice was polite, but the warning behind it was impossible to miss.

"You will not touch him." She stood protectively before Zane without the slightest hesitation. "Because..." a faint smile crossed her lips, "he works for me."