Chapter 1 - The Trade

Jolie POV

The window glass bites cold against my cheek as I crouch beneath Dad's office window. Rain spatters the pane above my head, but I don't move.

"Twenty thousand and mining rights to the eastern territory." Gio's voice drifts through the crack. "She's weak, but she's pure Nightshade bloodline. Thorne can do whatever he wants with her."

My heart stops beating as the words slam into me like a punch, knocking the breath from my lungs.

"The eastern territory is a prime land, Gio." Dad's voice carries that cold edge he uses when pack business gets serious.

I press my palm against my mouth to muffle the sob threatening to escape. My wolf whimpers deep in my chest, a pathetic sound that matches exactly how I feel right now.

"It's worth it to get rid of her permanently." Gio laughs, and the sound makes my stomach turn. "She's twenty years old and still can barely shift without collapsing for days. The pack whispers she's cursed every time she tries."

Thunder rolls overhead, shaking the windows. I should run back to my room, pretend I never heard this. But my legs won't work.

"Thorne Blackwater has specific tastes in his women," Dad says slowly. "You understand exactly what you're offering him?"

"A broken toy he can shatter completely without consequences." Gio's chair creaks as he leans back. "Better than watching her embarrass our family every full moon. This way, she finally serves a purpose."

The rain comes down harder, drumming against the glass.

"When does Thorne expect delivery?" Dad asks, like I'm a piece of furniture being shipped.

"Tomorrow night at midnight. The Crossroads truck stop at the neutral territory. I promised we'd have her there."

Tomorrow night. Less than twenty-four hours before I become the property of the most sadistic alpha in three territories. Everyone knows what happened to Thorne's last plaything. They found pieces of her scattered across the Bloodmoon borders.

I back away from the window on trembling legs. My bare feet slip on the wet grass, but I catch myself against the stone wall.

"She won't resist," Gio continues. "Four years of proper conditioning broke her spirit completely. She'll do whatever Thorne tells her without fighting back."

The words cut deeper than any training accident ever has. Is that really what they think? That I'm so pathetic I'll just accept being handed over like livestock?

Maybe they're right. Maybe I am that weak.

But my wolf stirs restlessly. "Run," she whispers urgently. "Run now before it's too late."

"We can't survive out there," I tell her. "You know what happens when we shift."

I'd rather die free than live as his toy," Ash replies, and her certainty surprises me.

I stare at the forest edge fifty yards away. Beyond those trees lies wilderness for miles. No roads, no shelter, no food. I can barely survive a five-minute shift without collapsing. How could I possibly make it alone in the wild?

But staying means Thorne Blackwater's hands on me. His teeth in my throat. His twisted games until there's nothing left of Jolie Rys but screaming.

"She's probably upstairs crying into her pillow right now," Gio says, his laughter carrying through the storm. "The pathetic little ash wolf can't even hold her form long enough to hunt mice."

The memory comes running down.

Three months ago.

The training grounds stretched out before me, muddy from the morning rain. Twenty pack members stood in a circle, their eyes fixed on me with that familiar mixture of disgust and amusement.

"Come on, Little Ash," Garrett, one of Dad's warriors, called out. He was holding a stopwatch. "Let's see if you can beat your record of ninety seconds."

My hands shook as I stripped out of my clothes. The cold air bit at my skin, but that was nothing compared to the ice in everyone's stares.

"She's shaking already," someone whispered.

"Maybe she'll pass out before she even tries," another voice added.

I closed my eyes and reached for my wolf. The familiar agony shot through my bones. Every muscle in my body screamed as my skeleton tried to reshape itself. The pain was so intense that black spots danced across my vision.

Please, I begged my wolf. Just once, let this be normal.

But it wasn't. It never was.

My wolf emerged small and trembling, gray fur matted with sweat. I stood on unsteady legs, already exhausted from the shift alone. The pack members looked disappointed, like they'd expected better entertainment.

"Forty-seven seconds," Garrett announced. "A new record."

A few people clapped sarcastically.

"Look at her," Meredith, one of the pack females, pointed. "She can barely stand."

It was true. My legs were shaking so hard I could barely keep upright. The world tilted dangerously, and I knew I had maybe thirty seconds before I collapsed completely.

"Shift back," Garrett commanded. "Let's see the full show."

The return shift was even worse. My bones cracked and reformed, sending waves of agony through every nerve ending. I hit the ground hard, my human body naked and convulsing in the mud.

"Pathetic," someone muttered.

"No wonder the family is weakening," another voice added.

I lay there in the dirt, too weak to even cover myself. Tears mixed with rainwater on my cheeks, but I couldn't stop them from falling.

Gio appeared above me, his face twisted with disgust. "Get up."

I tried to push myself to my hands and knees, but my arms wouldn't hold my weight. "I can't"

His boot connected with my ribs, sending me sprawling again. "I said get up."

"Gio, please," I whispered.

"You're embarrassing us." He grabbed my hair and hauled me to my feet. My legs buckled immediately, and I would have fallen if he wasn't holding me up by my scalp. "Look around you. Look at their faces."

I forced my eyes open. Every pack member was staring at me with the same expression shame. Like I was something dirty they wanted to scrape off their shoes.

"This is what you do to our family name," Gio hissed in my ear. "Every. Single. Time."

He released me, and I crumpled back to the ground. No one moved to help me. They just watched as I struggled to pull my clothes over my muddy, shaking body.

"Maybe next time she'll do better," Garrett said, but his tone suggested he didn't believe it.

"There won't be a next time," Gio replied. "I'm done watching her make fools of us all."

The crowd dispersed, leaving me alone in the mud. I sat there for an hour after everyone left, too weak to walk back to the house. When I finally made it inside, Mom took one look at me and turned away.

"Clean yourself up," she said without meeting my eyes. "Dinner's in an hour."

I spent the next three days in bed, my body recovering from the failed shift. No one checked on me. No one brought me food. By the fourth day, I'd learned to make the pain invisible, to swallow the whimpers and pretend I was fine.

That's when I realized the truth I wasn't just the weakest wolf in the pack. I was the shame they all carried, the proof that even the strongest families could produce something broken.

I jerk back to the present as Dad's voice cuts through the storm.