003

LAIA

Blue eyes lock on mine, I try to look away, but her gaze holds me hostage. She’s not smiling now.

One step, deliberate and intimidating.

"You touched what's mine... and you know what that means, don’t you?"

Lysander is a mastermind when it comes to punishment. Another step closer.

"But," she finally breathes, lips curling back into a soft smile, "I’ll let this one slide."

I hold my breath. Lysander, of all people, seeing me kiss her man and letting it go?

No, I brace for whatever’s to come next.My pulse is racing—fifty beats a second, at least.

"Mistakes can be made after all, right?" Her tone is silky, but her eyes pin me in place. "And you’ll agree with me that it was a mistake… wasn’t it?"

Her questioning gaze burns into mine, and I nod before my throat can even form words.

"You’ll have to redeem that mistake," she continues smoothly, "by going to Alpha Damon’s pack to do something for me quickly."

My breath seizes. Alpha Damon. Just the name sends a shiver ripping down my spine. 

"You see, you’ll need to get me something from there… ever heard of the Moon Relic?."

Someone tell me this is delulu, because the Moon Relic? It’s just a damn myth. A bedtime story grandmothers tell pups.

Then it dawns on me. Goddess, she’s just trying to get me killed. Liam…

"You'll leave at first light," her voice is nothing but serious. "Alpha Damon and his FacelessPack has called for their tribute. You will join the Sacred Dozen."

The cold night air rushes into my lungs at the thought of the Sacred Dozen. Last time it happened I was younger than Liam and mom and dad kept me inside the house all day until the evil wolves were gone.

Twelve Wolves. Twelve bodies offered up every decade. The chosen never return.

“I can’t go with them. Don't the elders arrange all this, months before the Faceless wolves even land in our port? And you can’t send 13.” Then I add, “Are you sending me instead of someone else?”

“Oh no worries.” She waves a dismissive manicured hand. “Your name was sent a while ago. I have your back.” 

I am stunned into silence. This has nothing to do with Cael… and me. Inside my chest the bond thrums weakly like a tired bird in a small cage.

My throat tightens and I try again. "That's a death sentence," I stutter. My thoughts go to Liam, I can't just die on him. He's barely thirteen, and still too young to shift, too young to defend himself. He's the reason I endure everything. Fucking all of this pack.

"Or an opportunity." Her eyes cut back to mine, warning lights flashing behind them, no, not just a warning. A threat. "You’re clever, Laia. I need clever. Think about Liam."

My teeth grind together as my fists curl, ready to swing. Liam did nothing wrong, his only crime is being my brother. And yet, every damn time, they drag him into their twisted games. Why the fuck is he always their favorite target?

“You’ll keep him here?” My voice drops to a whisper, but it’s not a question. It’s a plea.

Lips curl into a slow, satisfied smile. “Of course. Safe under my protection. But safety has a price.”

She takes two measured steps back, finally letting the air rush into my lungs.

“Legend calls the Moon Relic a myth,” she says as if giving a lecture in a classroom, “but I don’t buy legends that easily. I believe it exists. And I believe you will find it for me.”

“And if I don’t?” I force the words out. “If it doesn’t exist...”

Her smile doesn’t falter. “Laia. Laia. Laia. You do know me, don’t you? Look at this pack. Look at Cael. He’s in love with me. Soon I’ll be Luna of this pack. I wouldn’t send you to fetch something that doesn’t exist.” She steps closer, voice dripping with honey. “And your lovely brother, such a bright, careless boy, he’s under my protection. It would be tragic if he lost his pack’s favor, all the free education, a place to live… Mr. Thompson tells me Liam is exceptionally good in his math and science classes. What would a 13-year-old boy do if he got lost in the woods a mile away from that rogue camp one day? You wouldn’t want that for him, would you?”

 Only Lysander could hand me a death sentence and make me thank her for it. 

I’m a puncher. Staring at her face, I can already map the perfect spot to strike, right under the jaw, hard enough to shut that smug mouth for good. Fuck me for having the skill and not being able to use it.

Ice from the cold evening courses through my veins.

“You’re sending me as a spy?" I ask.

Her eyes light up like I finally get the drill.

“You see why I chose you. You’re clever, and you’ll make a fine thief.” She leans in as if we’re friends gossiping. “Bring me the Moon Relic, and I’ll grant you both freedom. I’ll pay for a new life in Bavaria, that quaint little town that accepted your university application. You’ll study. You’ll live like a human girl. No one will ever know where you came from. And you’ll forget about all this and never say a word. Forever.”

For one heartbeat my chest expands with oxygen filling me. Bavaria. I already see it: cobblestone streets, Liam’s hand in mine, warm mornings that don’t taste like fear. 

I come back into the dark chilly forest we’re standing in. I could grab Liam, and vanish into the night before the morning. But that would only complicate our lives further, turn us into hunted fugitives with nowhere safe to land. Or… I could step through this door she’s cracked open. She’s lost her mind with this Moon Relic thing, but maybe if I spy for her and give her enough useful information… Either way, she’s not going to let me stay here. And she’s definitely not going to let me get Liam and leave. 

I’ll either spy for her, or I’ll find a way to get Liam and disappear.

My heart is racing so violently it feels like it’s trying to claw out of my chest, pounding against my ribs as if it knows the weight of what I’m about to do.

I lift my chin and look straight at her, refusing to flinch. “I’ll do it.”

The two words leave my mouth like a death sentence. The second they’re spoken, realization slams into me;, I’ve just agreed to march into the fearsome Faceless Pack, slip past their wolves, and steal something that isn’t supposed to exist from the most dangerous Alpha alive.

Oh, fuck it. Fuckity, fuck me sideways.

“Good girl.” Her lips curve, spreading into a smile that chills me straight to the bone.