Chapter 2

I threw my hands up to cover my face, a pathetic attempt at protection against my brother's snarling jaws.

This couldn't be happening. This had to be some twisted nightmare, a hallucination brought on by hitting my head too hard.

"Marcus, what the hell are you doing?"

Damon's voice cut through the night like a blade, sharp with confusion and something that might have been horror.

I watched through my fingers as he shifted back to human form, his naked body tense with fury.

Marcus whirled on him, still in wolf form, and without warning lunged at Damon's shoulder.

His teeth sank deep, and Damon's agonized groan echoed through the trees.

"Get off me!" Damon shoved Marcus away with both hands, blood streaming down his arm. "You said we were just going to scare her! Don't tell me you're actually planning to kill your own sister!"

Kill me?

The words hit like physical blows. I stared at them both, my mind refusing to process what I was hearing.

Kill me? My brother wanted to kill me?

Marcus shifted back to human form, and seeing him naked and covered in Damon's blood somehow made everything more horrible. His violet eyes, so much like mine, were cold and empty.

"You don't understand," Marcus said, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "She has to die, Damon. There's no other way."

"No other way for what?" I whispered, my voice barely audible. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the blood from my head wound. "Marcus, please. I don't understand what's happening."

"The Vale pack is finished," he said, like he was discussing the weather. "We're broke, Ivory. Completely bankrupt. The pack medical bills, the lawsuits from the rogue attacks, the territory disputes. We owe millions to people who don't accept late payments."

I shook my head, trying to make sense of his words. "We can figure something out. We can sell the land, or take loans, or—"

"From who?" Marcus laughed, but there was no humor in it. "The only pack with that kind of money is the Cross pack. And they want our territory, not to help us keep it."

My eyes flew to Damon, who was pressing his hand against his bleeding shoulder. His face was pale, stricken. "Damon?"

"Alpha Cross offered to clear all our debts," Marcus continued, his voice growing steadier, more resolved. "All of them. Enough money to set me up for life. All he wanted in exchange was the Vale territory and one small favor."

The pendant around my neck burned hotter, like it was feeding off my growing terror.

"What favor?" I asked, though some part of me already knew.

"Your death." Marcus tilted his head, studying me like I was an interesting specimen. "Turns out the Vale Luna bloodline is worth a lot to certain collectors. Your blood, specifically. Something about ancient magic and old bloodline curses. I don't pretend to understand the details."

"You're selling me?" The words came out strangled, barely human. "You're selling your own sister?"

"I'm saving what's left of our pack," Marcus corrected. "The few wolves who are left will be absorbed into the Cross pack. They'll have homes, protection, a future. All it costs is one life."

"My life!"

"A life that belongs to a bloodline that's cursed anyway," Marcus said with a shrug. "Face it, Ivory. Every Vale Luna dies young and violently. Mom did. Grandmother did. Great-grandmother too. At least this way, your death serves a purpose."

Damon stepped forward, his hand still pressed to his wounded shoulder. "Marcus, this is insane. She's your sister. She's…"

"She's a commodity," Marcus cut him off. "A very valuable one. And you agreed to help, remember? You were there when your father gave me the deal."

I looked at Damon, desperate for some sign that this was all wrong, that he would never hurt me. But his face crumpled with guilt and shame, and I knew. He'd known. Maybe he hadn't known exactly what would happen, but he'd known something.

"You both betrayed me," I whispered.

"The pendant was supposed to make it easier," Marcus said, almost gently. "It's been soaking up your wolf's strength all night, cutting you off from your healing abilities. You won't feel much pain."

"I feel everything!" I screamed at him, my voice breaking. "I feel everything, Marcus! How could you do this to me?"

"Because I had to choose between saving one person or saving everyone else." His expression hardened again. "I chose everyone else."

Before I could respond, before I could beg or plead or try to make him remember that he loved me, something massive crashed through the trees behind me.

A wolf, bigger than Marcus, bigger than any werewolf I'd ever seen. Its coat was silver white in the moonlight, and its eyes were the pale blue of winter ice.

I didn't even have time to scream before it was on me.

Pain exploded through my throat as teeth like daggers tore through flesh and bone.

Ripping my throat apart.

The world went sideways, my vision tunneling as blood poured from the gaping wound in my neck.

"No!" Damon's shout seemed to come from very far away. "No, that wasn't the plan!"

But he didn't move to help me. Neither of them did.

I hit the ground hard, my body no longer responding to my commands. Blood pooled beneath me, warm and sticky, soaking into the earth.

I stared up at Marcus and Damon, standing frozen above me like statues. My brother's face was stone, but I could see tears reflecting in his eyes. Damon looked like he might be sick.

This was how I died.

Not in battle, not protecting my pack, not in some glorious way that would make my parents proud.

I died betrayed by the two people I loved most in the world, sold like livestock to creatures I'd never even seen.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was Marcus turning away, unable to watch me take my final breath.

And then there was nothing.