Chapter 1

My Alpha mate Cain's ex-girlfriend Vivienne had returned from her overseas training in healing.

She'd made a bet with the other healers in the medical wing.

She was convinced she could use the deadly wolfsbane to cure patients.

Every senior healer told her it was absolutely impossible.

She ignored the warnings and injected a massive dose of wolfsbane extract straight into my mother Iris's body.

The medical instruments screamed with alarms. The treatment was a complete failure.

Vivienne, humiliated in front of her colleagues, stormed out of the treatment room.

My mother's wolf was killed—poisoned to death by the toxin.

Her body was still breathing, but her consciousness had sunk into an unreachable sleep.

My brother Ethan nearly broke the door down when he burst into the healing center.

One look at our mother lying in that hospital bed, and his fists clenched so hard his knuckles went white.

"Trial by Blood." His voice was low and shaking. "I'm invoking Trial by Blood against Vivienne."

Trial by Blood—the oldest law of the Pack. The victim's family had the right to demand a public trial at the Moonlight Assembly, and not even the Alpha could stop it.

Ethan left immediately to file the petition.

But he never made it to the Assembly.

The night before, Cain sent the Beta with six elite warriors to raid Ethan's home.

They dragged him into the silver prison—the place reserved for traitors.

Publicly, Cain announced that Ethan had attempted to incite rebellion and threaten pack order.

When I heard the news, my legs nearly gave out beneath me.

I ran toward the Assembly square. I was going to tell every pack member the truth.

But before the Assembly could even begin, Cain appeared.

He stepped in front of me, his tall frame casting a shadow over me.

"Wren." His voice was soft. "Listen to me."

"You locked my brother in the silver prison!" My voice was trembling.

Cain sighed.

"When you go up on stage, tell everyone that the risks of your mother's treatment were known."

I froze.

"Tell them Ethan's demand for Trial by Blood against Vivienne was driven by personal grudge, not legitimate grievance."

My mind went blank.

"You... you're asking me to lie?"

Cain didn't answer.

My whole body started shaking violently.

I didn't understand.

I was his mate.

I was the one who shared a soul bond with him.

The tears fell before I could stop them.

Something like guilt flickered in Cain's eyes.

He reached out, gently trying to wipe the tears from my face.

"Don't cry, baby." His voice was low and tender. "Vivienne and I grew up together."

I went rigid.

"She saved my life when we were children." Cain's thumb traced softly over my cheekbone. "She's a good person. She would never deliberately use wolfsbane on your mother. It was just an accident."

I stared at him, my nails digging into my own palms.

"All you have to do is acknowledge that it wasn't Vivienne's fault," Cain said, "and I'll bring in the best healers to treat your mother."

He paused.

"Ethan will be released immediately too."

My phone rang.

It was the on-call healer at the healing center.

I answered with shaking hands.

"Wren!" The healer's voice was frantic on the other end. "Your mother's condition just took a sharp turn!"

My heart seized.

"We need moonlight herb to stabilize her vitals, but—" The healer sounded close to tears. "The Alpha requisitioned the pack's entire supply yesterday."

"What?"

"The Alpha said it was for Vivienne's drug research."

My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the phone.

Cain heard the healer's voice through the speaker.

His expression didn't change at all.

"Baby." He looked at me, his voice terrifyingly calm. "All you have to do is go up there and publicly announce that your mother's treatment failure was a normal healing risk, and that you and Ethan are waiving all rights to invoke Trial by Blood."

He paused for one second.

"The moonlight herb will be delivered to the healing center immediately."

I stared at his face.

"You wouldn't want your mother to die, would you?"

I took a disbelieving step backward.

My entire body was shaking.

The man standing before me—for the first time, he felt like a stranger.

A terrifying one.

Five years ago, Cain had been the Alpha Heir of the entire Blackwood Pack—handsome, powerful, every she-wolf's dream.

And I was just an ordinary commoner girl in the pack.

At the Moonlight Ceremony, he'd taken my hand in front of every pack member.

"She is my Fated Mate." His voice rang across the entire square.

The crowd erupted.

A commoner girl? The future Luna?

The Elders were furious.

"Give up this girl," the Chief Elder slammed his fist on the table. "You must honor the arranged mating contract with the Silvercrest Pack Alpha's daughter."

Cain didn't even glance at the contract.

He tore it to shreds right there in front of everyone.

The pieces drifted down to the Elders' feet.

The Elders, enraged, threw him into the silver cage.

His father Alaric personally ordered him exiled to the wilderness alone.

"I will never submit." Cain looked back at me as they dragged him away.

There wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes.

Three weeks of exile.

No weapons, no supplies, no word.

I didn't dare close my eyes for a single night.

In the end, he accepted the Elders' punishment trial—a full moon night, alone against thirty rogues.

Bare-handed.

That night I stood outside the trial ground, gripping the fence until my nails broke skin.

Howls, the tearing of flesh, the crack of bone—

It went on for a full hour.

He survived.

Covered in blood, his left arm nearly torn off, but he walked out of that arena on his own two feet.

Alaric finally relented.

Cain and I completed the Mate Bond.

I thought after everything we'd been through, we'd be together forever.

Until a year ago.

Vivienne came back from overseas.

Spoiled and arrogant, but Cain indulged her every whim.

When her work went wrong, Cain cleaned up the mess.

When her life needed arranging, Cain handled it.

When her treatments failed again and again and the pack members complained, Cain personally escorted her in and out of the healing center every single day.

...

The healer's frantic voice came through the phone again.

"Wren! Iris's vitals are still dropping! We can't hold on much longer!"

My knees buckled.

Cain stood in front of me, waiting for my answer.

"Last chance, Wren."

I closed my eyes.

My mother's face floated up from the darkness.

I opened my eyes and walked toward the stage.

Below, hundreds of pack members looked up at me.

I opened my mouth.

My voice was shaking. Every word felt like it was being carved out of my throat with a knife.

"My mother's treatment failure... was a normal healing risk."

Whispers rippled through the crowd.

"My brother Ethan and I... waive the right to invoke Trial by Blood against Vivienne."

The moment the words left my lips, my legs finally gave out.

Cain stepped forward and caught me.

He gently wiped the tears from my face.

"Good girl," he whispered in my ear.

Then he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Have the Beta personally deliver a moonlight herb to the healing center."

I collapsed against him, gasping for air.

It was over.

My mother was going to be okay.

Then Cain's phone rang.

The name on the screen—Vivienne.

Cain answered, and Vivienne's voice came through the speaker, trembling and pitiful.

"Cain... all the moonlight herb was used for research, and there's only one left..." She sniffled. "But the old injury from when I saved you as a child is flaring up again. It hurts so much... I need the moonlight herb too..."

Cain's expression changed instantly.

All composure vanished.

"Don't be scared." His voice was urgent and worried. "Use the moonlight herb for your wound first. I'm coming right now."

My mind exploded.

"No!" I grabbed his arm. "You promised! You promised to save my mother!"

Cain glanced down at me.

He shook my hand off impatiently.

"I'll have the Beta buy one from another pack at a premium." He was already striding away without looking back. "But right now, no one is stopping me from getting to Vivienne."

"Cain!" I lunged after him.

A massive force slammed into my chest.

Alpha command.

My body was pinned by an invisible hand, my organs twisting inside me.

Blood surged up my throat.

My knees cracked against the ground.

My vision blurred.

Consciousness scattered into chaos.

One last thought surfaced—

Sever the Mate Bond.

I don't want it anymore.