Chapter 80

Necessary Sacrifice

(Sonia’s POV)

It had been a year since Laura and Maxwell disappeared. A year of hunting for them, chasing down every lead only to come up empty-handed. Every time we thought we were close, they vanished like smoke in the wind. The frustration simmered beneath the surface of the pack, threatening to boil over. The elders were growing impatient, the pack restless, and the sceptre—our symbol of power—was weakening.The sceptre’s strength relied on blood. It was a cruel necessity, a hidden tradition that only a few of us knew about. The pack needed to believe that the sceptre’s power was eternal, unyielding, but the truth was far darker. Once a year, a pack member had to be sacrificed for the sceptre to retain its strength. No one could know.And this year, it was time again.I stood in the dimly lit council chamber, the air thick with tension. Magnus and Alex were seated across from me, their faces hard and calculating. We all knew what needed to be done, but the questio