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"You could have saved yourselves all of this anyway, if you’d open your eyes I know you’ve had contact with the Ptolemy, with Queen Arsin&oun with the me How does that make any sense? The queen will destroy you a lot more effectively than I ever could!"

Eric walked up to him, bared his teeth, and slashed him across the face with his claws The pain was sharp, but brief, as his head rocked to the side He heard Lyra’s furious cry

"Eric, don’t!"

Jaden saw the blood spatter the ground, but he could already feel the flesh knitting together

"Don’t accuseI would destroy my pack that on’t make it true" He shot a heated look at his cousin "So e have, instead of trying to change everything"

He turned away, and Jaden was left to glare after him Unlike the ue with the Ptolemy except for the word of a Shade, another van of trouble Maybe there was more they could do, if the Thorn would even allow his kind to help But he and Lyra would have to deal with the problem at hand first And he could see already that for Lyra, this would be nothing less than devastating

He would get her out of this And then he would do what he needed to make her see that even if he wasn’t the future she’d wanted, he could provide her with far otten from any wolf

"Dorien, don’t do this to her," Jaden said, a final effort to convince thepassed

"I’m the Alpha," Dorien said with a shake of his head "Soed Nobut a fool, after all," Jaden snapped, finally understanding what Lyra had been up against her entire life Even if she hadn’t bonded with hi She’d never had a chance He credited Dorien for trying so her to bend, but Jaden doubted the e would coine what that would be

Dorien didn’t lash out at the retort He see in a daze to stand beside his nephew The heir apparent

"Wolves of the Thorn! Choose the fate of ht heBut after a deep breath, the Alpha pressed on

"Choose the fate of hter!"

Silence ensued for several seconds, and Jaden felt a glimmer of hope that a handful of the bravest would take up her cause, would demand she be allowed to stay But then the chant started, low and soft, like the rhythround, then lifted her head to hold it up, a final act of defiance as she was cast away

Ghost wolf… ghost wolf… ghost wolf… ghost wolf…

The chanting rose, crested like a wave, echoing into the night sky like so When Dorien raised his hands, it died away He nodded to the wolves holding her, and they released her, stepping back Pain echoed through every word Dorien spoke

"Lyra Black You are cast out of the Pack of the Thorn as of this night, cast out of our pack, our territory, our world, never to rejoin our kind You are a ghost to us, a wolf only in the form you take, not in the life you’ve chosen to lead And you are no longer my child"

Jaden heard Lyra’s sharp intake of breath, as though she’d been slapped

"Dad," she said softly, pleading But Dorien turned away And the anguish Lyra felt tore through Jaden as though it were his own, screa him to his knees The shock of Dorien’s decision made him stumble, and he found himself jerked upward by the h Jaden supposed he couldn’t say the wolf looked pleased He’d expected … but h with his cronies about how easily he’d won after all

"What about the vampire?" he asked Dorien quietly "Shall I kill hio He defended the pack once, despite everything" He looked directly at Jaden, his eyes burning with euess at "Consider this a debt repaid, Jaden of the Lili down to speak directly in Jaden’s ear