CHAPTER 2

ATLAS.

She called me a devil. She had no idea.

I watched her reaction after I told her she would leave with me that night.

She was standing only a few feet away, but she looked as though I had sentenced her to death. Her face had gone pale, yet she refused to lower her eyes. There was fear in them, but there was anger too, and somehow that anger interested me more than the fear.

Valentine's widow.

I should have felt guilty.

Instead, I felt satisfied.

For years, I had imagined what I would do if Valentine ever stood before me again. I had imagined the questions I would ask him, the debts I would collect, and the moment I would finally make him understand what his war had cost me.

But Valentine was dead.

He had escaped me without knowing that I was coming for him.

Then Tamara was left.

His widow.

The woman Valentine had chosen, loved, and left behind.

My gaze remained on her as memories rose in my mind.

Rain.

I could still remember what it was like that night, even after all these years. Rain had fallen so heavily that it turned the battlefield into a sea of mud, soaking through my clothes and blurring the faces of the warriors fighting beneath the storm.

But it could never wash away the pain of what I lost that night. Nothing could.

Castor.

I knew Tamara had not fought in the war. She had not killed Castor or ordered warriors into battle. She had not chosen the decisions that had brought our packs to war.

But she was Valentine's beloved mate.

She had become the closest thing to revenge that fate had placed in my hands.

I knew it was cruel.

I simply did not care.

Revenge had never required fairness.

Valentine didn't hesitate, so why should I?

Movement near the council doors pulled me from my thoughts.

Tamara had turned away from me and was walking out.

“Tamara!”

Darius called after her, but she did not stop.

The elders joined him, calling her name, but she continued until the doors closed behind her.

Darius immediately turned to me.

“Alpha Atlas, I apologize. She is still grieving, and this has been difficult for her to accept. Give me a moment to speak with her. I will make sure she understands what is expected of her.”

He was already moving toward the doors.

Behind him, the elders began talking over one another.

“Please don't take offense, Alpha Atlas.”

“She will calm down.”

“Alpha Darius will handle this.”

“She will leave with you tonight as agreed.”

Their nervous voices irritated me.

I stood.

“I think I will excuse myself.”

No one dared object.

I left the chamber.

I had only walked a short distance down the corridor when I heard voices ahead.

Darius.

And Tamara.

“You cannot do this to me.”

Her voice was low and shaking, but the anger in it was unmistakable.

Darius answered without sympathy.

“Watch me.”

“You were supposed to protect this pack, Darius, not destroy what remains of it.”

“And what would you have me do, Tamara? Stand aside while our people suffer because you refuse to make one sacrifice?”

There was silence.

Then Darius spoke again.

“You think being Valentine's widow is difficult? Try living as a rogue. There are worse things than becoming Alpha Atlas's mate, Tamara.”

My steps slowed.

“You are threatening to banish me?”

“I am giving you a choice.”

“A choice?” Her voice cracked with disbelief. “You call this a choice?”

“You can live as the woman who saves this pack, or you can leave and discover how long you survive without a pack.”

Silence.

Then she whispered, “Valentine trusted you.”

Darius's voice hardened.

“He trusted me to put this pack first. He did not ask me to watch hundreds of people suffer because his widow is too stubborn and selfish to accept what must be done.”

“So that is what you think of me?”

“I think you are forgetting that you are not the only person who has suffered.”

His footsteps approached.

“You will return to that council chamber, sign the agreement, and mate Alpha Atlas. If you refuse, you will be banished.”

Darius walked past the corner without seeing me.

I waited until his footsteps disappeared.

Then I turned.

Tamara stood alone.

Her shoulders had dropped, and the anger that had filled her face earlier was gone. What remained was silence.

Defeat.

When she noticed me, her expression hardened again.

“What are you looking at?” she sneered.

I looked at her dress.

“Is that what you intend to wear for the mating ceremony?”