The chains around my wrists chime like funeral bells as I’m led into the Blackclaw den. Snow falls in silence, muffling the world as if nature itself holds its breath. I keep my head high, even as Alpha Vorlag grips my shoulder like a trophy. "She’ll learn our ways," he says, smirking. "Under the same roof as my son."

Kael stands at the top of the stone steps, arms crossed, eyes sharp as shattered ice. My breath hitches—not from fear, I tell myself, but rage. He killed my brother. I saw it. And now I’m supposed to share meals with him? Bow to his father?

Then he steps forward, murmuring just loud enough for me to hear: "Play the obedient daughter, little wolf. Or I’ll make sure everyone knows you’re already broken."

My fingers tremble. He knows. Somehow, he knows I can’t shift. That my wolf is gone. And worse—when his hand brushes mine, heat floods my veins like liquid fire. A whisper curls through my mind: Mine.

I jerk back, heart pounding. No. Not him. Anyone but him.

But the bond doesn’t care what I want.