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 70 – The Pack Starts Choosing Sides


By the end of the week, the tension inside Blackmoor stopped hiding itself.


At first it had existed in quieter ways. Conversations cutting off when I entered a corridor. Guards hesitating half a second too long before following orders. Advisors suddenly choosing their words more carefully around me. Small things that individually meant nothing but together built a pattern impossible to ignore.


I walked through the western corridor just after sunrise with Darius half a step behind me, listening to the sound of raised voices echo faintly from one of the lower chambers. The argument stopped the moment the wolves inside realized I was approaching, but not before I caught enough to understand the subject.


Chapter 70 - Chapter 70 – The Pack Starts Choosing Sides