Chapter 1

The medicine bottle was almost empty.

I turned it over in my hand, listening to the last few pills rattle against the plastic. Outside the small window, the Silverpine woods looked thinner than they used to. Even the trees seemed tired.

My father coughed from the bed behind me. The sound was wet and heavy, the kind that had become normal over the last six months.

“Selene.” His voice was rough. “You don’t have to stand there counting.”

I set the bottle down and forced a small smile before turning. “I’m not counting. I’m just making sure we have enough until next week.”

We both knew there wouldn’t be enough. The healer had already given us the quiet look that meant the expensive treatment was no longer an option. The pack accounts were empty. The last of the valuable land had been sold two months ago. All that remained was this house, a handful of loyal wolves, and a debt that grew heavier every full moon.

I sat on the edge of the bed and adjusted the blanket over his legs. His once-strong frame had wasted away. The Alpha of Silverpine Pack now looked like a man waiting for the end.

“I spoke to the council this morning,” I said carefully. “They’re still trying.”

He gave a weak huff of laughter. “They’re trying to find a buyer for what’s left of us. Don’t dress it up.”

I didn’t answer. There was nothing left to dress up.

A knock sounded at the front door. Three firm strikes. Not the hesitant knock of a pack member.

My spine straightened.

I stood, smoothed my simple dress, and walked through the narrow hallway. When I opened the door, the cold evening air rushed in—along with the scent of rain, pine, and something darker that made my wolf stir uneasily under my skin.

Two Blackthorn warriors stood on the porch. Between them was a man in a dark coat, holding a black folder.

I knew that crest on the folder. Everyone in the region did.

“Selene Ashford?” the man asked.

“Yes.”

“I carry a formal proposal from Alpha Kael Voss of the Blackthorn Pack.” He held the folder out. “He requests your presence at Blackthorn territory tomorrow at noon to discuss terms. Refusal will be noted.”

My fingers closed around the folder before I could stop them. The leather was cold.

Kael Voss.

The name alone was enough to pull the air from my lungs. Three years. I had spent three years building walls high enough that even the memory of him couldn’t climb them. And now his name was at my door, delivered like a summons.

The messenger watched me with polite indifference. “Will you accept the invitation?”

I looked past him toward the darkening trees. My father’s cough echoed faintly from the bedroom. The empty medicine bottle sat on the table. The debt ledger lay open on the desk, numbers that no longer made sense.

I had no leverage. No allies left who could match Blackthorn. No time.

I met the messenger’s eyes.

“Tell Alpha Voss I’ll be there.”

He nodded once, turned, and left with the warriors. Their footsteps faded into the evening.

I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, the folder heavy in my hands. My wolf paced restlessly inside me, unsettled by the familiar scent that still clung to the paper.

I walked back to my father’s room. He was already watching the doorway, eyes sharper than they had been all week.

“Who was it?” he asked.

I set the folder on the small table beside the bed and opened it. The first page was simple, typed in clean black ink.

One-year marriage contract.  

Full clearance of Silverpine Pack debt.  

Protection under Blackthorn authority.  

In exchange: residence in Blackthorn territory, public acknowledgment as his wife, and the eventual provision of an heir.

No mention of love. No mention of the past. No apology.

Just terms.

My father read the page in silence. When he finished, he closed his eyes.

“Selene…”

“I know,” I said quietly.

He reached for my hand. His grip was weak, but it still held the weight of an Alpha’s pride. “You don’t have to do this.”

I looked at the contract again. At the signature line waiting for my name. At the seal of the man who had once stood in front of two packs and told the world I was not enough.

“Yes,” I said. “I do.”

Outside, the wind moved through the thinning trees. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled—long, low, and lonely.

I closed the folder.

Tomorrow I would walk into Blackthorn territory and face the Alpha who rejected me.

And I would sign whatever he put in front of me.

Because this time, I was not doing it for a bond or a future.

I was doing it to keep what little we had left from disappearing completely.