Novels by Christina Wilder

By daybreak, the Kaelith mountains were covered in snow like a cloak for a funeral. The stronghold, however, was already awake—buzzing, tense, as though each stone could smell the impending danger.And deep within its cold heart, Elaria sat by the fire she hadn’t lit.She hadn’t slept. She couldn’t.The shard’s memory still lived inside her—the beast, the bloodline, the sigil burned into a child’s skin. She could feel it now every time Draven walked near her. Not just his wolf… but something older. Hungrier.And yet, when he touched her—her body didn’t flinch.That was the worst betrayal of all.She was supposed to hate him. The Alpha who burned her people’s fields. The enemy who caged her like a prized secret.But now… he was also the man whose voice cracked when he whispered her name.The man who held her like she was something he feared losing more than anything else.And in her belly, something else stirred.No. Not yet. She wasn’t ready for that thought.The knock was soft this t

The first snowfall of the season blanketed the Kaelith mountains by dawn.Elaria silently watched the white flakes drift from her chamber's small window. With shadowy figures moving around courtyards, guards honing their weapons, and Elders whispering behind closed doors, the fortress below shifted like a living beast.Draven hadn’t come back.Not since that kiss. That confession.The specter of his mouth on hers was still there. Despite all neither of them had said, I could still taste the frantic desperation between them.She turned her back on the window and threw her arms around herself. Nothing had changed in the healer's chambers since the night she came. Clean linen. Dry herbs. An untouched water basin.A cage dressed in silence.The knock came shortly after the sixth bell.Not him.Athissa.Elaria opened the door slowly, expecting venom.Instead, the other woman looked strangely... serene. Her usually sharp face softened, her hair swept back in ceremonial braids. Her eyes flic

The Alpha's chamber's stone walls were dimly shadowed by the low crackling fire in the hearth. With her arms loosely bound behind her, Elaria faced the three individuals who had just made her feel cold.Weyric.Athissa.And the silver-eyed Elder who had said nothing—but stared at her like a puzzle he already knew how to solve.“You say nothing?” Weyric asked, pacing in front of her. “Even now?”Elaria stayed silent. Her instincts screamed that this was not the moment to speak.Not yet.“I told you,” she said finally, “I was caught outside the Veyne border. The rogues attacked. He killed them. That’s it.”Athissa’s heels clicked against the stone as she stepped forward, circling like a predator.“You’re lying.”“No,” Elaria said.“I see it all over you,” Athissa whispered, stopping just inches away. “The scent. The look in your eyes when you said his name.”Elaria didn’t flinch. “I owe you no explanation.”Athissa’s smile turned cruel. “Then allow me to give you one. Draven Kaelith is

As the patrol arrived, the snow crunched under their boots. The cavern's mouth was illuminated by flickering light from the torches they carried, giving the entire area a sinister, golden glow. The air still smelled strongly of blood.With one hand on the hilt of a stolen blade and the other tied possessively around Elaria's wrist chains, Draven stood still in the center of it all, his bare chest smeared with drying crimson.With her eyes downcast and her heart pounding like a drum beneath her skin, she knelt at his feet.This was the game now.Prisoner. Captive. Enemy.Even though his touch on the chain was gentle. Even though she could still feel the heat of his mouth on hers from moments ago. Even though the bond between them vibrated like a live wire.The Kaelith wolves spread out in a semicircle, weapons drawn, eyes darting between the carnage of rogue corpses and their Alpha.Draven's second in command, Weyric, was in the front of the group. A slender man with a stone-carved fac

The pounding of Elaria's heartbeat was overpowered by the murmur of blades being unsheathed.Her breath froze in her throat as she knelt beside the cave's spring's edge, holding the knife tightly. Beyond the stone door, the shadows circled closer, ghost-like figures flitting in the firelight.They would be stuck if they made a single mistake.A deep growl rumbled in Draven's throat as he stirred next to her. As soon as his golden eyes locked with hers, his eyelids opened and he became conscious.Alert.And ready to kill.“They followed us,” Elaria whispered. “I count five… no, more. At least eight.”Draven grew to his full height, his entire body changing into a deadly shape. Dried blood was plastered across his naked chest, yet the gash at his side was already starting to heal. It was healing him more quickly than it should have, whatever had woken up inside him during that last battle.He nodded once. “Stay behind me.”“I won’t hide,” she snapped.“I’m not asking.”Their eyes locked

Like the snarl of a predator, the howling wind tore through the mountain pass, leaving behind ash and snow. As she scurried forward, the hammering of Elaria's boots on the stone barely muffled the frenzied rhythm of her heartbeat echoing inside the small tunnel walls.Behind her, Draven moved with lethal grace, his breath low and shallow. He wasn’t speaking, not since the moment the rogue’s dying words had fallen like poison into the air:“The Alpha’s mate…”It clung to them like smoke—impossible to explain, impossible to erase.But there was no time to process it. No time to run from the truth.They weren’t alone anymore.A swirl of hair and claws crashed into the den's small mouth as the first onslaught came from the shadows. Draven made a snap decision. The snarl that tore from his throat didn't sound human, and his body jerked instinctively.It didn’t sound broken anymore.Elaria fell back as Draven launched himself at the intruder, their bodies colliding in a vicious tumble of sn