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Elira Ashwyn stands frozen outside the heavy wooden doors of the pack quarters, every inch of her four-foot-five frame trembling with a lethal mix of rage and heartbreak. Her dark, obsidian skin turns pale under the dim torchlight as the scent of slick arousal and betrayal hits her wolf’s sharp senses.

"I have given my heat to you, Torric. Why don't you reject Elira?" Lady Vespera Hollowmere breathes, her voice dripping with filthy, breathless lust as her naked body writhes over the male on the animal furs.

"Don't speak her name while my knot is inside you," Torric Blackthorn groans, his large male hands clamping around her hips, thrusting hard into her wet core until she screams his name. "She is just an orphaned stray taken in by the Ashwyns. Even a low-ranked omega holds more status in our territory than she does."

Elira kicks the heavy oak door wide open, her sharp brown eyes blazing with dark fire as she looks down at the tangled, bare bodies.

"Let me make this simple for you, Torric," Elira spits, her low voice laced with pure venom. "You are nothing but a rutting dog. She can have your tainted bond."

Torric shoves Vespera aside, scrambling off the bed to pull on his leather pants, his eyes wide with sudden panic. "Elira, wait—I didn't mean it, the heat took over—"

"Touch me and I will rip your throat out," Elira growls, stepping back as he reaches for her wrist. "I don't keep garbage that another female has already marked. We are done."

Vespera wraps a silk sheet around her damp, marked flesh, a triumphant smirk cutting across her face. "You hear that, Torric? The stray is dumping you! Tell her the truth now!"

Before Torric can speak, heavy footsteps echo down the stone hall. Lord Garrick Ashwyn and Lady Morwen Ashwyn burst into the room, their Alpha pressure heavy in the air.

"What is this disgraceful noise?" Garrick roars, his eyes flaring yellow as he sees Vespera naked on the bed. "Vespera, you are promised to the Frostclaw Bloodline! You are supposed to seal the alliance with Alaric Ravenshade’s bastard brother!"

Vespera presses her hand over her lower belly, her smirk widening. "I am carrying Torric's pup. My womb is claimed. I cannot be mated to a disgraced Frostclaw exile. Cancel the arrangement!"

Morwen’s cold gaze shifts from her daughter to Elira, her lips curving into a ruthless smile. "Garrick, calm down. Elira is an adopted bloodline daughter. The Frostclaws only asked for an Ashwyn female to fulfill the contract. She can take Vespera's place."

"You agreed to give Vespera to the Frostclaw Bloodline, not me!" Elira’s hands clench into fists, her claws threatening to breach her skin. "I am not your pawn!"

Morwen steps closer, leaning down to stare into Elira's eyes. "We took you in, stray. Your surrogate nurse, Elder Maelis, is dying of shadow-rot in the healer's den. Her core is failing. Rejection or no rejection, if you do not sign the mating registry with the Frostclaw male tomorrow morning, we cut off her healing crystals tonight."

Elira's heart thumps wildly against her ribs, her breath hitching as the trap snaps shut around her. Elder Maelis was the only female who had ever loved her, the only one who protected her in this hostile pack lodge.

"Give me the silver contract," Elira whispers, her voice dropping into a dangerous, dark whisper. "I'll take the Frostclaw bastard.