What if the monster you were sold to wasn't the real danger?

They call him the Monster. Nine wives. Nine graves. No heirs.

I was supposed to be the tenth.

Sold by my family to save a sister who betrayed me, I thought survival meant staying invisible.

 But when I healed Alpha Kael Cinderclaw in the snow, I accidentally bound us together, a mate bond neither of us wanted and neither can sever.

Now I feel his rage like fire beneath my skin.

 He feels my fear like a blade against his throat. And the fortress that buried nine wives is watching us both.

My family wanted me erased.
His enemies want me dead.

And Kael? He looks at me like I'm the one thing he can't afford to want—but can't let go.

They wanted a sacrifice.
They're getting an awakening.
In a world where power is everything, the wolfless girl just became the Alpha's greatest weakness, and his most dangerous obsession.

Chapter 57 – The Alpha Who Stops Waiting


By the time the message finished settling in my mind, I already knew one thing with absolute clarity, this was no longer something I could manage from a distance.


Seraphina had stopped playing through intermediaries.


And if I stayed where I was, waiting for the next move, then I was already falling behind.


I didn't call for the council. I didn't inform the guards. I didn't leave instructions for anyone to follow in case I didn't return. There were moments where being Alpha meant thinking through every possible consequence, weighing every decision against the stability of the pack, but this wasn't one of those moments.


Chapter 57 - Chapter 57 – The Alpha Who Stops Waiting