Chapter 2

Halley’s POV

My father was on the bed now. The healers had cut away what was left of his shirt and were pressing fresh bandages against the gashes. He hadn't taken his eyes off Kyle.

"The alliance between our packs was sealed before you ever sat on that throne," my father said. "A mate bond doesn't erase a blood oath.”

Kyle laughed.

"Look at yourself." He tilted his head. "You couldn't protect your own borders. You can barely protect yourself. And now you're lying in a bed telling me what I owe you?" He stepped closer. "You don't give orders anymore. I do."

"You wouldn't exist without us," I said.

The words came out before I could stop them. Kyle's eyes shifted to me slowly like he'd forgotten I was in the room.

"I sat across from you while you begged my father for warriors," I continued. "My pack bled so you could sit on that throne. Every wolf standing behind you right now is there because of us."

The amusement drained from his face. What replaced it was worse.

"That was then. I’m the strong one now. My pack. My warriors. My territory." He stopped close enough that I could see the vein in his neck pulsing. "Here's what happens next. Tomorrow, you kneel in front of both packs and surrender willingly. Or I take everything by force and every wolf in Whitemane spends the rest of their life on a leash.”

"We would rather die," my father said from the bed.

"That can be arranged."

I felt the shift start before I chose it. My jaw locked. My spine curved. For the first time in my life, my wolf wasn't asking permission. I felt my bones shift, felt the pressure build behind my ribs like something trying to tear its way out. My hands were shaking. My teeth ached. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to let go, to shift and put my teeth in his throat.

Shirley stepped forward. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"Go ahead," she said quietly. "Try it. With that weak body, you won't even finish the shift before I snap your neck." She looked at my hands, still trembling at my sides. "You're shaking and you haven't even changed. You're not a wolf. You're a girl playing pretend."

"Halley!"

My father's voice hit me like cold water. I turned and he was halfway off the bed, one hand reaching for me, blood still running down his side. The healers were trying to hold him down.

"Don't," he said. "Not like this."

I swallowed the shift. Forced my wolf back down. It felt like swallowing glass.

My father's eyes closed and his body gave out. He slid off the bed and the healers barely caught him before he hit the floor.

"Save him," I said. I don't know how but my voice didn't shake. "Everyone else, get out!"

I moved toward the bed and Kyle stepped in front of me.

"You heard what I said. Tomorrow. You stand up there and hand me your pack with a smile. Make it look willing or I will stop being generous."

"Move."

"If you fight me on this, I won't just take your pack. I'll make sure he never sees the outside of a cell again."

"Move, Kyle."

"Think about it tonight. You'll have plenty of time."

I looked him in the eyes and for the first time I didn't see the man I thought I knew. I didn't see traces of charm or warmth or any of the things I'd convinced myself were real. There was nothing behind his eyes but greed.

"No," I said.

Kyle stared at me for a long time. Then he looked past me.

"Ronan."

His Beta appeared in the doorway. Tall, broad, expressionless.

"Take her to her room. Lock the door."

Ronan didn't hesitate. He took my arm and dragged me out of the infirmary. I didn't fight him. Fighting a Beta I couldn't beat wouldn't save my father. It would just give Kyle a reason to make things worse.

The door to my room closed behind me. The lock clicked.

I paced my room for hours, running through every option I had and coming up empty on all of them. At some point, I stopped pacing and sleep took over.

I woke to the sound of my door unlocking. Heavy, uneven footsteps. Then the door shut again and the lock clicked back into place. Kyle was standing at the foot of my bed. The smell of alcohol hit me before my eyes fully adjusted to the dark.

"What are you doing here?"

He didn't answer. He yanked the blanket off me, his eyes dragging over my body in a way that made my skin crawl. Fear shot through me.

I tried to scramble up the bed but he grabbed my ankles and pulled me toward him. He climbed on top of me and pinned me down with his hips.

"You don't have to lose everything, you know," he was slurring but I understood every word. "You could still have a place in my pack. At my side."

"Get off me!"

"Not as Luna but close enough. You will be my mistress…"

His mouth dropped to my neck. I felt his tongue drag across my skin, hot and wet and my stomach turned. Then his canines pressed against my pulse and I realized what he was doing.

He was trying to mark me.

I shoved at his chest but he didn't move. He was too heavy, too strong, and my wolf was useless. So I did the only thing I could. I turned my head and bit into his neck as hard as I could.

Kyle jerked off me with a sound caught between a growl and a yelp. His hand flew to his neck, blood running through his fingers. He stared at me from the edge of the bed, breathing hard and the drunk haze in his eyes was gone. What was left was cold, sharp and completely sober.

"You're going to regret that," he barked.

He pulled his hand away from his neck, looked at the blood on his fingers, then looked at me. Like he was memorizing exactly what I'd done so he could return it later.

Then he left. The lock clicked behind him.

I didn't move until I couldn't hear his footsteps anymore. I sat up, pressed my back against the headboard and wiped his blood off my mouth with a shaking hand.

My heart was still pounding. My neck was still wet where his tongue had been. I wanted to scrub my skin raw.

Underneath the fear, underneath the disgust, something else was building. Something that felt less like panic and more like a decision.

I was not going to kneel.