1 - CALLISTA'S POV

The rain fell in freezing sheets that stung my bare shoulders and soaked my torn dress.

I knelt on the freezing black marble of the Moon Altar.

Thousands of voices screamed for my blood from the courtyard below.

The noise was deafening as the Argyros pack demanded my head for a treason I never committed.

My knees ached against the hard stone while the storm washed the dirt and tears down my face.

I shivered from the cold but I refused to lower my head to the mob.

I looked up through the downpour and desperately searched for the man I loved.

Ajax stood at the edge of the dais in his dark royal armor.

The rain slicked his raven hair to his forehead.

I searched his golden eyes for a single shred of mercy.

I prayed to feel the warmth of our mate bond humming between us.

His gaze held nothing but ice.

He looked at me like I was a piece of rotting meat that he needed to discard.

I opened my mouth to speak but my voice cracked.

"Please," I whispered into the storm.

I hoped my wolf could reach his wolf and make him see the truth.

Ajax's jaw clenched.

His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword.

For one impossible heartbeat...

I thought he was going to choose me.

He didn't.

"I reject you," Ajax snarled over the roaring thunder.

The words hit my chest harder than a battering ram.

My heart stopped beating in my chest.

The agonizing pain of the broken bond tore through my soul and left me hollow.

I wanted to beg him to look at the forged evidence again.

I wanted to scream that we were both being deceived.

The executioner stepped forward before I could form the words.

The heavy scrape of the broadsword leaving its scabbard echoed in my ears.

I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

A divine voice suddenly whispered directly into my mind.

"Not even I can see who wears the wolf's face," the Goddess murmured in the dark.

I did not understand what the warning meant.

The agonizing bite of the steel sliced through my neck before I could even process the words.

My blood painted the sacred altar and my world went pitch black.

I sucked in a sudden gasp of air and shot up in bed.

My hands desperately clawed at my throat expecting to find a massive open wound.

There was no blood.

I felt smooth skin and a racing pulse instead of a severed artery.

I threw the heavy silk sheets off my legs and backed into the wooden headboard.

My chest heaved as I dragged oxygen into my burning lungs.

I was sitting in my old bedroom at the Asteri estate.

The familiar dark lavender tapestries hung intact against the stone walls.

A warm fire crackled in the hearth across the room.

I stared at my shaking hands and trembled so hard my teeth rattled.

The heavy wooden door pushed open with a soft creak.

Odetta walked in holding a silver basin of warm water and a stack of fresh towels.

I stared at her in absolute horror.

I watched her die on a spear five years ago when the cult raided our home.

I remembered the terrible sound she made when the weapon pierced her chest.

The silver basin slipped from her hands and crashed onto the wooden floor.

Water spilled everywhere over the woven rug.

"Odetta?" I gasped out as the room spun around me.

"My Lady, you look like you have seen a ghost," Odetta stammered.

She rushed to my side and reached out to touch my arm.

I flinched and pulled away from her touch.

"You are... fuck, you are supposed to be dead," I choked out while tears streamed down my face.

I reached out and grabbed her forearms to make sure she was real.

Her skin was warm and very much alive.

"What are you talking about?" Odetta asked with wide terrified eyes.

"They killed you," I sobbed out and pulled her into a desperate hug.

Odetta patted my back awkwardly and pulled away to check my forehead for a fever.

"You must have had a terrible nightmare, Lady Callista," she whispered softly.

She picked up a dry towel and wiped the cold sweat from my face.

"I felt the blade," I muttered to myself.

"I need you to calm down and drink some water," Odetta pleaded.

I pushed the cup away and swung my legs over the edge of the mattress.

I wiped my face and looked past her toward the open window.

The royal banners with the golden wolf crest fluttered in the morning breeze outside.

"What day is it?" I demanded and gripped the edge of the bed frame.

Odetta gave me a confused look and smoothed her apron.

"It is the fourteenth day of the harvest moon," she answered slowly.

My blood turned to ice in my veins.

"The year, Odetta," I yelled.

"Please tell me the damn year!" I begged her while my chest tightened.

She took a step back and swallowed hard.

"It is the year of the Silver Reign, My Lady."