The world paused the moment Lucien said those words. I didn’t think it was possible, but the air around me grew even more suffocating, like the auras of the three Alphas had intensified all at once.

I wasn’t even sure how it had come to this point. When I prepared to enter this ritual, I’d expected only two outcomes:

That I would complete it and leave with the golds without getting caught… or, if luck wasn’t on my side, I’d be killed swiftly, my life ending without hesitation.

But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this would happen.

Silas and Claude both frowned, their cold gazes narrowing at...