Chapter 1

My mate, Alpha Victor, kept putting off our marking ceremony. Then, just before my father died, he temporarily marked a she-wolf from another pack, claiming it was to “secure an alliance.”

"Dad, please, just hold on."

I clutched my father’s cold hand, a golden healing light pouring from my palms.

The power of my runes burned through his veins, but it couldn’t stop his life from fading.

"Elara…" My father’s voice was a faint whisper. "Your bonding ceremony…"

"It's going to happen," I said through gritted teeth, pushing more power into the healing. "Alpha Victor promised me."

The light in my father's eyes dimmed. "I wanted to see it…"

The golden glow from my hands grew weaker.

My own healing gift sputtered, a silent scream of failure in my soul.

I burst out of the healing room, my hands shaking as I activated my communication crystal.

"You need to get here now," my voice trembled, but the words shot through the crystal like steel. "My father is dying."

"Elara, I understand you're upset," Victor’s thoughts came through our link. I could hear Seraphina’s laughter in the background. "But Seraphina’s elites were ambushed on the border. She needs wards for the territory—"

"My father is DYING!"

"I know, Elara. Tomorrow. I swear, we’ll have the bonding ceremony tomorrow."

Tomorrow. Always tomorrow.

"You've been promising 'tomorrow' for three months, Victor."

"This time it’s different. Her territory was cursed by shadow mages. Only your cleansing runes can purify it—"

I severed the link.

When I returned to the healing room, the pack healer was murmuring the final rites.

That night, I sat in the empty room, staring blankly at my communication crystal.

Then a new image shimmered to life on the crystal.

Seraphina, dressed in an evening gown, a pendant hanging from her neck.

It was a delicate runestone, carved with the protective ward of an Alpha's Mate—a design I had spent three days perfecting.

Underneath it, the caption read: "Temporary bond. Expires in three days."

My hands started to tremble as I stared at the screen.

The crystal in my hand lit up.

"Elara? I can feel the turmoil in your mind." Victor’s voice was laced with fake concern.

"The pendant. The one Seraphina is wearing."

Silence.

"It was a condition of the alliance. It doesn't mean anything."

"It took me three days to carve that rune."

"Your craftsmanship is second to none—"

"You told me it was for our bonding ceremony."

A longer silence.

Then, Seraphina's voice in the background: "Victor, the portal is waiting. The Alpha Council doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Elara, let me explain—"

"No. You listen to me," my voice was ice. "My father died today. His last wish was to see me marked. And you were off cleansing her lands."

"I’ll portal over right now—"

"Don't bother."

I cut the connection, but a moment later, his thoughts forced their way through our link again.

"Elara, I had to help Seraphina solidify her position! By the time I heard, it was too late. There was no saving him. I’ll pay my respects at his grave, I swear it!"

Fighting back tears, I turned and picked up the emblem that tied me to this pack.

It was time to leave.