Chapter 1

[ELARA]

I still remember the sound the papers made when they hit the table.

It wasn't loud. Just a soft yet loud thump against the wood. Like it was nothing.

Like I was nothing.

"Sign it."

Kaelen didn't even look at me when he said it. He was standing at the head of the long table with his arms crossed and his jaw tight and his eyes were fixed on the wall behind me. Like looking at me was too much effort.

The council room was full. Every seat taken. Twelve members of the Shadow-Claw council sitting in their fancy chairs with their fancy robes watching me like I was entertainment. This might as well be Tuesday night drama for them, should have brought popcorn.

Lady Voss was smiling. Of course she was. The woman hated me from the moment Kaelen brought me home. "A human Luna," she said at the wedding. She didn't even try to whisper. "How embarassing."

I stared at the papers on the table. Divorce Decree. The words blurred because my eyes were wet but I blinked fast. I was NOT going to cry in front of these people.

We had an actual wedding instead of actually being mated like his kind does, I just thought he wanted me to feel included. But now it feels like he just wanted it to be easier to end the arrangement.

"Kaelen," I said. My voice came out small. I hated it. "Can we at least talk about this in private?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Nothing to…" I almost laughed. "We've been married for three years."

"And it was a mistake. One I'm correcting." He finally looked at me and I wished he hadn't. Because his eyes were empty. Cold. Like staring into two gold coins. No warmth. No love. Nothing.

This wasn't the man who slow danced with me in the kitchen at two in the morning. This wasn't the man who whispered "you're my home" into my hair when he thought I was sleeping.

This was a stranger wearing his face.

"The pack needs a stronger alliance," he continued. His voice sounds flat and rehearsed. "Seraphina Blackthorn's family offers military support we desperately need. Her bloodline is pure Lycan. It's the logical choice."

Logical.

He called replacing me logical.

"You're trading me for an army," I whispered.

Something flickered in his face. Just for a second. So fast I almost missed it. A crack. A flinch. Then it was gone and the mask was back.

"Sign the papers, Elara."

"And if I don't?"

He leaned forward. Both hands on the table. And he said the words that broke me.

"You were never going to be enough. You're human. You don't belong here. You never did."

The room went silent. Even Lady Voss stopped smiling. Because that was cruel. Even by wolf standards, that was cruel.

My hand was shaking when I picked up the pen. I could barely hold it. The ink smeared on the first letter of my name because a tear fell on the paper and I couldn't stop it.

I signed.

I put the pen down carefully. Stood up. Pushed my chair in because apparently my brain decided manners still mattered while my heart was being ripped out.

I walked to the door.

"Elara." That was Dorian. Kaelen's Beta. He has a pretty face and kind eyes. He is always so helpful, so gentle. He was standing behind Kaelen like a shadow. "It's for the best. You'll see that eventually."

I didn't answer him.

I made it around the corner before I collapsed.

That was five years ago.

I'm not that girl anymore.

The black SUV cuts through the city and I watch the lights blur past the tinted windows. My reflection stares back at me. Sharp jaw, Dark eyes and my is hair pulled back tight.

Five years changes a person.

Being thrown away like trash changes a person faster.

My phone buzzes.

MARCUS: Five minutes out. Alpha Shadow-Claw confirmed for the meeting.

I read the name and my stomach does something annoying. A flip. A twist. Whatever you want to call it.

I type back: Good.

Marcus is my human assistant. He knows nothing about wolves or packs or any of it. He thinks I'm a normal CEO and it is better that way.

Tonight, I'm walking into the Lycan Council Hall as the mysterious benefactor who's been funding the northern territories for two years. I've bought land. Built safe houses. Funded three packs that were on the edge of collapse.

I did it all under a fake name. Under a company called Ember Industries.

Nobody knows the benefactor is me.

Kaelen doesn't know it's me, not yet anyway.

I glance over my shoulder at the back seat. Leo is passed out cold with his head tilted sideways against the car seat, mouth hanging open and one hand clutching his stuffed dragon.

Mr. Whiskers the cat is curled up in a carrier on the floor, finally quiet after meowing for the entire first hour of the drive.

I didn't want to bring Leo. I really didn't. But Aunt Nina caught the flu two days ago and every backup babysitter I trust was either unavailable or too far away. And I don't leave my son with strangers. Ever. Not with what he is. Not with what he can do.

So here we are. My four year old and his demon cat are sitting in a car outside the most dangerous building in the Lycan world while Mama goes inside to face her ex husband.

Mother of the year.

Marcus is under strict instructions. Keep the doors locked. Keep the engine running. If Leo wakes up give him the juice box and the crackers in his bag. If anything weird happens drive away immediately and call me.

Marcus thinks I'm being dramatic. He doesn't know that "anything weird" includes my son accidentally sneezing fire and melting the car seat or literal wolves attacking them here.

"Marcus."

"Yes ma'am?"

"No matter what happens, Leo stays in this car. You don't open the doors for anyone. Not security, Not staff, Nobody."

He blinks at me in the mirror. "Of course, ma'am. Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine."

Everything is not fine. My hands are shaking and my heart is beating way too fast and somewhere inside me the dragon is stirring. She always stirs when I'm stressed. Like a cat arching its back before a storm.

I can feel her heat curling in my chest and warming my ribs. Reminding me that I'm not the helpless girl who signed those papers anymore.

I am something else now. Something that shouldn't exist.

I take one more look at Leo. His little chest rising and falling. His hair is messy and sticking up in every direction. He looks so much like his father it makes my teeth hurt.

Four years old, stubborn, loud and obsessed with that ugly orange cat. Leo is the only good thing that came out of the worst day of my life.

"Mama will be right back baby," I whisper even though he can't hear me.

I step out of the car. The cold air hits my face and I breathe it in. Autumn. The trees are burning orange and the wind smells like rain.

The Lycan Council Hall stands in front of me. A massive stone building disguised as a corporate office. Humans walk past it every day not knowing what happens inside these walls. Not knowing that the creatures from their nightmares sit in boardrooms and argue about territory lines.

I used to be terrified of this place.

Now I own half the land it sits on.

Funny what five years and a broken heart and a dragon living in your bones can do for a girl.

I smooth my jacket. Lift my chin and start walking.