Chapter 1

My body lay crumpled in the corner of that basement, burned beyond recognition.

Three days earlier, my sister's son, Lucien, had gotten silver burns on his hand. Ayana held him, tears streaming, and came crying to me. "Evelyn, I know you don't like Lucien, but he's my son. Why would you burn him with silver water?"

I never got the chance to explain.

Graeme believed her without question. Decided I'd done it on purpose. He stared at me with that tight-jawed glare, his voice like frost. "Evelyn, that's disgusting. Apologize. Now."

I shook my head. "Graeme, I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I apologize?"

I'd been taking care of her son for three months. The day before, he'd thrown a tantrum, begging to go back to his mother, so I took him home. How was I supposed to know that one night later, Lucien would show up with silver burns?

Graeme's voice cracked with rage. "I didn't think you could sink this low. You can't even tolerate your own sister's child. Ayana's birthday is in a few days. Since you're so cruel, just stay locked up. Save everyone the trouble of you ruining her party."

"I didn't—" I started, but Ayana's hand came flying across my face before I could finish. "Lucien is my whole world. I will not let you hurt him."

The slap sent my head spinning. I raised my hand to hit her back—but Graeme caught my wrist. He locked me in the estate's basement.

After he left, his assistant, Darius, cast a spell on me. "Luna, Miss Ayana said you shouldn't have touched her son. This spell will temporarily sever your bond with Alpha. Don't bother tattling to him—he won't listen. Once you've reflected for three days, it will break on its own."

Later, the estate caught fire.

The flames came out of nowhere. The basement door was bolted from the outside. The spell hit my system like a freight train—I couldn't shift, couldn't break through the door, and the mate bond was dead silent.

So I called him. Begged. "Graeme, there's a fire. I'm carrying our baby—please, just let me out. Even if you don't care about me, at least care about our child."

He was in the middle of Ayana's birthday party. He laughed. Cold. "Evelyn, you're still trying to sell me that pregnancy lie? When you hurt Lucien, did you think about how he felt? It's Ayana's birthday. I'm not letting you out to ruin it. Once she's had her night, once she's happy, I'll let you go."

I screamed. Full-on, throat-ripping screamed. "Graeme, the fire is real. I'm going to burn to death in here. Please—last time, just let me out."

His voice didn't even waver. "Stop the act. If you were really in a fire, our bond would react. It hasn't. You hurt Lucien, and now you want to wreck Ayana's birthday too?"

Ayana's voice drifted through the phone. "Alpha, maybe let my sister come? After all, it's both our birthdays today."

Graeme's tone turned stiff. "No. As Luna, she hurt a child. She needs to be locked up until she learns her lesson."

The birthday song started playing. Smoke filled my lungs. All I could do was choke and cry.

Ayana and I were twins. But Graeme's birthday celebration only had one cake.

I never got to tell him. Never got to say I just wanted him to save our baby.

The line went dead.

I pounded on that door until my knuckles split. No one came. The spell was eating me alive. All I could do was lie there in the dark and let the flames take me.