LOGINSeraI stood there, my hand still locked in Fenris's crushing grip, the hot blood drying tight and itchy on my chin. I took a shallow breath, waiting for the elder to step back, waiting to be directed off the stone platform.But Fenris didn't let go of my hand.I looked up at him. "What does that mean?" I whispered. "What did he say?"He didn't answer me immediately. He was staring down at me, and his face had completely changed. The pale grey irises were entirely gone, swallowed by the blown-out, pitch-black pupils of his wolf. A low, terrifying, territorial growl started deep in his chest, vibrating right through our connected hands."It means we fuck," Fenris rumbled. His voice wasn't his own. It was a thick, guttural rasp, heavy with raw, unchecked lust.I stared at him. My brain completely stalled. The words hit my ears, but they refused to process into a coherent thought. I blinked, my mouth opening slightly."What?" I breathed, my voice barely a whisper. I looked around at the
SeraHis eyes immediately dropped from my face. He looked at the deep plunge of the dress, his gaze tracing the exposed swell of my breasts. He looked at the three thin silver chains holding the sides of the fabric together, exposing my bare ribs and hips. His eyes dragged down to the massive slits in the skirt, staring openly at my bare thighs.The muscle in his jaw ticked violently. The raw, unfiltered hunger in his stare made my stomach clench. A sudden, heavy rush of heat pooled directly between my legs, entirely defying the freezing northern air biting at my skin. Before he could reach for me, the oldest elder in the circle stood up from his heavy wooden chair. He held a long, curved iron blade in his right hand. The metal was dark, pitted with age and stained from generations of use.He stepped up to the massive black stone altar directly beside us and raised his arms."Three hundred years ago, the Ironmaw pack faced the Winter of the Black Frost!" the elder shouted. His voice
SeraI looked at the old woman. I hadn't even married the Alpha yet, and I had already killed for him. I had stood in a freezing, damp cellar, my hands covered in an elder's blood, covering up a murder to protect Fenris's political standing.Was this old woman aware of that? Was she aware of the fact that if it came down to it, I was fully willing to pile up more bodies to make sure this man stayed alive and on his throne?I let out a short, sharp scoff. I shook my head.The woman looked at me, her eyes narrowing as she tried to read my face. Then, she looked over at Mina, who was still complaining about the cargo wagon."She's right," I said to Mina.Mina started to argue again, her face flushing red. "Don’t listen to—""But she's right, Mina," I interrupted. My voice was completely steady. The nausea was entirely gone.I reached down, grabbed the heavy, midnight fabric of my skirt, and pulled it aside, completely exposing my bare thighs. I walked over to a small wooden stool near th
Sera"Are you going to be sick, child?"I kept my eyes locked on the stone wall directly in front of me. "I am perfectly fine."The old woman let out a dry, rattling hum that vibrated in her chest. She stood behind me, her rough, calloused hands smoothing the dark fabric down my waist. "You don’t have to lie child."I didn't answer her. I couldn't. If I opened my mouth again, the weird, heavy welling in the bottom of my stomach might actually crawl up my throat.This was the same woman who had presented the black dress for the cermony. She was here now in my room to get me ready. But I wasn’t feeling ready.Mina stood off to the side, holding a wooden box of silver pins. She looked at me, her brow furrowing slightly, and then quickly looked away, digging her fingers into the box. Mina wasn't scared about how the event would go. To her, this was a straightforward fact: I was getting married to the Alpha.But my head was spinning.Three years ago, it had been my absolute mission to make
SeraThat wasn't true, I thought immediately. I remembered the brutal training sessions in the dirt. I remembered Yvara breaking my nose and telling me to force the blood to clot. You just have to force it. It hurts, but you have the power. "Fenris got the healer to set my arm," Mina continued. "And right after that, he carried me to my room. I fought him the entire way. I hit him again and again, even with the bad arm. But the one thing Fenris didn't do was let me go. He held me tight against his chest until we got to my bed."She looked down at her hands. "In my entire life, I never would have thought Fenris would be the one doing that. Dimitri was the social one. It could have been him. But it was the Butcher. The one who looked exactly like the Luna.""He was barely ever around," she explained softly. "He was always away on border raids. So I barely knew him. I only feared him. But that day, he seemed entirely different.""He bathed me that night," Mina said, her voice trembling.
SeraShe went completely still. Staring blankly at the wall, it looked exactly like Mina had just traveled back in time.I didn't move. I didn't reach out to touch her. I just sat there and stared, not knowing exactly how to react to the sudden, heavy shift in the room. Slow, silent tears started to well in Mina's eyes, catching the morning light. My heart physically ached watching her. My breathing quickened."Mina," I called softly, shifting closer to her on the mattress.Mina exhaled a shaky breath and shook her head, snapping out of the trance."I was six years old when she died," Mina said. Her shoulders began to shake visibly. "Growing up, my mother had absolutely hated how the Northerners sounded. She hated their barbaric ways. She hated their harsh, guttural accents. So she did everything in her power to preserve mine. She taught me every single day. She only spoke to me in the Southern tongue."I nodded slowly. That was why. When I had first arrived in the North, I immediatel
SeraI spat a mouthful of dirt onto the packed earth. The taste of copper and dry soil coated my tongue. I stayed on my hands and knees for three seconds, forcing oxygen back into my lungs, before I pushed myself up.My legs shook. My ribs throbbed with a sharp, localized heat every time I inhaled.
Sera“What just happened?”"Forced healing takes fuel," Yvara explained. She paced in front of me. "It pulls energy directly from your reserves. It burns calories at a massive rate. In a battle of attrition, this will keep you alive, but it will also kill you if you aren't careful. You just got the
SeraMy mother’s hands were too soft. They felt strange against my skin, like something that didn't belong in the North. She dabbed a wet linen cloth against my cheek, her fingers trembling so badly she kept missing the dirt.The guest room was stifling. She had ordered the Valdris servants to buil
Fenris“Why are you allowing something like that? She is supposed to be your bride. Are you ever planning on making her your Luna, or are you just trying to add an extra warrior to your platoon?"I looked down at her. I kept my face completely blank. "In Ironmaw, those two things are the same. A Lun







