LOGINLIRACold.That was the first thing I felt when consciousness crawled back. Not the pain—that came after. Just bone-deep cold, seeping up through concrete into my body.I tried to move and couldn't.My eyes wouldn't open. My limbs felt like they belonged to someone else.Where am I?The question drifted through my mind. Everything felt muffled. Like I was underwater.Then the pain hit.It started at my wrists, a burning agony that made my eyes fly open and a scream tear from my throat.Silver.The chains binding my wrists were silver. I could see them even in the darkness, gleaming dully against my skin. Where they touched, my flesh was red and blistered. The smell of burning skin filled my nose.I tried to jerk away but the movement sent fresh waves of pain through my body. My ankles were chained too. Silver manacles cutting into flesh. And my neck. A collar. Also silver.I couldn't shift. The silver prevented it, burning away any connection to my wolf.No no no no—I pulled against
Jax Blackwood territory fell within the hour.I mobilized every warrior we had and descended on Garrick's lands like an invading army.We locked down the borders. No one in or out. Checkpoints on every road. Guards at every passage.We searched house by house. Building by building. We tore through Blackwood looking for any sign of Lira.Garrick's people protested. We beat them down and kept searching.I personally ransacked the Alpha House. Kicked down doors. Threw furniture. Searched every closet, every basement, every hidden corner.Nothing.She wasn't there.My warriors found Garrick's inner circle and dragged them in for interrogation."We don't know who or where she is!"I didn't care about proper procedure or laws. I used every brutal interrogation technique I knew.By nightfall, we'd searched every building in Blackwood and came up empty.I stood in the center of Garrick's territory, surrounded by the wreckage of our search, and wanted to scream.Riven turned on the mind link:
JaxI didn’t remember crossing the distance between the tunnel entrance and where they were holding Garrick.One moment I was staring at the dead guard’s slit throat, the next my fists were connecting with Garrick’s face.His head snapped back. He staggered, but I didn’t let him fall. I grabbed him by his collar and hit him again.“WHERE IS SHE?”My voice didn’t sound like mine. It was an animalistic roar.More than one hand grabbed me from behind, trying to pull me off.“Jax, stop!”“You’re killing him—”I shook them off and hit Garrick again. His eye was already swelling shut. His lip split. I didn’t care. I wanted to break every piece of him until he told me where Lira was.“I DO
RivenThe moment I stepped outside the ceremonial tent, I bent over and heaved.Nothing came up. Just dry retching that left my throat raw and my eyes watering.I straightened slowly, wiped my mouth, and looked around.The ceremonial grounds were beautiful. This was the most heavily fortified event we'd ever hosted.Nothing could go wrong. We'd made sure of it.So why did I feel like the world was about to end?I moved away from the tent toward a small water fountain near the edge of the grounds. My hands shook as I cupped water and tried to drink. Most of it spilled."Riven?"I turned. Athena stood a few feet away, frowning.She wore her ceremonial priestess robes, simpler than Tabitha's but no less meaningful. Around her neck hung her totem: a circular pendant divided
RIVENThe ceremonial hall smelled of incense and ancient wood.I stood to Kain's left, Jax to his right, both of us in formal ceremonial robes that weighed heavy on my shoulders. The fabric was embroidered with Wild Fangs symbols in gold thread, wolves running beneath crescent moons, trees with roots that became claws.Before us, hundreds of witnesses filled the space. Visiting Alphas in their territorial colors. Council elders in traditional dress. Our own pack members, dressed in their finest, faces glowing with pride and anticipation.This was supposed to be our triumph. The climax of everything we'd worked toward since our father's death.But I felt off.The nausea that wouldn't fade, and the strange tightness in my chest. I told myself it was stress.I was wrong.The ceremony had begun at dawn with the ritual cleansing. Kain had been bathed in water drawn from the spring, dried with cloth woven by the pack's eldest women, dressed in layers of garments each representing a diff
Lira I met her downstairs and thought she would turn away.Instead, she came toward me and took my hand.I almost cried in relief. I knew I was going to combust if she didn’t remain my ally.Even though I’d be super greedy to expect that.“I’ll stand in for you,” she said. “If the truth comes out, I’ll accuse Kain of forcing me into the fake engagement.”I frowned.“Tova? You don’t need to do that.”“Maybe not. But I’m not letting you face this alone, even if this is probably going to end badly.”Tears pricked my eyes.I didn’t deserve her.We stood there a moment, then both started crying and hugged.“I’m sorry,” I sobbed. “I’m so sorry for everything.”“I know. I’m sorry too. But sorry I can’t fix it.”“They’ll never forgive me,” I said.“Maybe not, but at least they will know the truth.”______Something was about to shift. I was in my bedroom when I felt an unexplainable heaviness.“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the empty room. To Kain, who’d become Alpha Primus today and didn’t kno







