Riannon gathered her hair at the back of her head and dressed up quickly into apair of blue jeans, comfortable leather boots and an oversized blouse, part ofwhich she tucked under her belt.

All while she was calling Ash and Maya in turns.But to her disappointment and horror, none of them was replying.She tried to steady her breathing as panic almost overwhelmed her.

She couldn’tlose Maya.

Not again.

She already lost her once and it almost broke her.It did break her.

This was the point from which everything went downhill.She remembered every detail even now.

Roxy was launching attack after attackon her.

But Maya was helping to protect her best friend and helped Riannon toavoid traps more than once.

She was very snarky towards Roxy always andquickly got under her radar.So, one day she was accused of treason.

There was no evidence against her.Just a confession of a warrior from one of the enemy packs from the East, whoinsisted that she was trading secrets with them in the hope to become the nextBeta after Ash was accidentallykilled.

Even Ash wasn’t convinced but her loyalty was compromised.

And thatwas when Brayden came up with a good solution as he called it.

To send Maya tothe border to serve as one of the guards there.

Just several days later her postout of all others was under attack.

Moreover, she was one of the very few dead.Closing her eyes, Riannon felt a tear roll down her cheek as she remembereddriving all the way to the border with Ash as soon as she received the news.Brayden couldn’t look her in the eye and she did not want to see him anyway.The Beta brought her to one of the small cottages of the border village and thereon a table lay her best friend, covered with a white sheet.

They already cleanedher body after they heard that the Luna was coming.

But they still couldn’t doanything about the claw marks which didn’t grow well together after she shiftedback to her human form after her death.

Those ugly uneven scars were going

through her face and neck, some were on her chest.

And just by looking at them,Riannon could tell that several beasts were attacking Maya.She was so cold.

So lifeless.

A shell of the person that she knew.

It was hard torecognise in that vacant face the person that Maya was.

The strong girl, who wasa fighter in heart and could barely spend a minute without cracking a joke wasn’tthere anymore.Riannon remembered how she wept over her friend’s body.

How painful itwas.How Ash tore her off and how she cried into his chest for hours in thatcottage...But all that happened much later in time in her previous life.

What was happeningnow? IfShe took her bag and went downstairs, hoping not to meet anyone and find a careasily.

If anything, she was sure she could ask for some assistance from Savvy.The princess seemed like someone who could understand the situation.However, the first person Riannon met was Reid.

He was reading something inhis Ipad in the living room when she passed it.

But he jumped to his feet as soonas he noticed her and followed her.“Where are you going?” he asked, slightly shocked seeing her ready to leave.

“Ineed to get back to my pack,” the Luna stated plainly as she kept walking to theexit.“Absolutely not!” Reid blocked her way.“I don’t think that I asked your permission,” Ria arched her brow, “I simplyinformed you that I am going.”“Luna,” the Beta tried to reason with her, “I am sorry.

But I just can’t allow it.Gideon will kill me when he comes back.”magic

“Let’s drop the formalities, Reid,” she looked at him with a challenge, “If I don’t goback to my pack now, my best friend in the whole world may die! I just cannot letthat happen.”“But I...”“I will hate Gideon forever if you stop me now because of him,” she lied.

Shewould never hate the lycan king.

It was simply impossible.

However, she knewthat this was the right button to push on the Beta.

Nevertheless she decided tosweeten it a bit, “Reid, I can’t lose her.

I almost lost her once and it was the worstthing ever.

For me, she is my Beta...”Something changed in his eyes at her words.

Something clicked.

Because afterthat, he opened the door for her himself, saying, “I will drive.”She decided not to argue with that.

A lycan by her side could prove useful.The drive to the Silver River pack seemed terribly long and they barely spoke toeach other the whole time.“This friend of yours,” Reid decided to break the silence, “Is she at least hot?”“Hotter than fire,” Riannon scoffed, “But way out of your league.”“Excuse me?!” the Beta pretended to be offended although his eyes gleamed asif he has accepted the challenge, “Any girl will be happy to land a lycan Beta likeme!”“Not Maya though,” Ria chuckled, “She is different.

She doesn’t care about titleand she is not your typical she-wolf.” story about Maya, relieving years of theirfriendship.The guards let them into the pack territory with ease, greeting their Luna.

“Waitfor me here,” Ria told the lycan when he parked in front of her house and shejumped out of the car.

The door of the mansion opened at once and a very troubled Ash walked out ofit.

He looked her up and down as if he was checking for something and then tookher hand, pulling her behind him.“Where is she?” Riannon asked him, not even trying to struggle.

“In the barn,” hereplied dryly, “Everyone is there! I have to tell you that it doesn’t look good,Riannon.”“Ash, stop for a second! Explain to me what is going on! What happened toMaya?” she begged him.He stopped, inhaling deeply and then turned to face her.“Goddess knows what is happening, Riannon,” he said, “It started yesterday butit escalated rather quickly into something completely else!”“Details, Ash, I need details!” she urged him.“Yesterday, out of the blue Roxanne announced at the pack dinner that she sawMaya stealing from your jewellery box while you were missing,” he startedexplaining.“What nonsense!” Ria rolled her eyes, “Maya would never! And anyway, she cantake whatever she likes from my jewellery box if she needs it.”“That’s what we all thought,” the Beta nodded, “Only that it did not end there.

Allof a sudden Brayden got very angry and ordered to search Maya’s room.”“Of course, he did,” the woman gritted her teeth.“But that was when they found Maya hiding a secret phone in her room,” Ashwent on,“ The Alpha ordered her to unlock it and this was when the shit hit thefan.

Because on that phone she was texting with foxes and werebears.

And evenlycans from the Eastern kingdom.

And I mean texting about upcoming attacks onour pack.

She was giving them information on when would be the best days toattack us...”

“That’s impossible!” Riannon splashed her hands, “Maya would never...”“Again,” he interrupted her, “Everyone said so.

But right now, this escalated evenmore...

That’s why you need to go to the barn with me.

You need to see this.”repeating itself!Yet when the doors of the barn were opened before her, she met Brayden’s gaze.And Roxanne’s too.

Maya was right next to them.But Riannon was already staring in the pair of smoky grey eyes.

She would neverforget them...