C1

"Hold her down!"

My face slammed into the freezing mud of Darkmere Crossing. Heavy paws crushed my shoulder blade, pinning me beneath the twin moons' cruel glow. The metallic stench of my own blood filled the air.

"Rip her throat out. We need to move."

"Wait—look at her face. Half of it is melted from silver burns. I’ll puke if I have to smell that rotting flesh any longer."

"Is this really the broken omega Vickon Blackwynd claimed as his mate?" A harsh laugh cut through the night. "The Alpha of the Blackwynd Moon Dominion could have any high-ranking female. Why chain himself to a scarred freak?"

"Who cares what gets the Alpha hard? Tear her apart. We bring her severed ears back to the pack house as proof."

Claws raked down my back, peeling skin like wet parchment.

"Drop her."

Two figures emerged from the briars, their elite furs gleaming under moonlight. Thorne Blackwynd. Vaelira Nightvale.

"Well, well," Thorne drawled. "The Beta-blood and the rogue princess came to watch the show personally."

Vaelira leaned against him, purring, "Is the bitch dead yet?"

"Why?" I wheezed, blood bubbling past my fangs. Pain made my vision blur. "Vaelira… you were my pack-sister. Thorne… I rejected my true mate signs… for you."

Thorne kicked mud into my open wounds. "Elder Malgrin is dead. Your bloodline protection died with him. You’re worthless now."

Vaelira’s smile was pure venom. "Let’s be honest, Zafira. We used your weak lineage to siphon Vickon’s ancestral lunar power. Now that his heart has stopped and his dominion is ours… your throat is ready for the knife."

"Vickon… the True Alpha… is dead?"

"Ambushed by silver-tipped arrows three nights ago," Vaelira laughed, the sound like cracking bones. "He burned through his life-force trying to break the curse on your ugly face. Didn’t your useless inner wolf feel the pack-bond snap?"

The claws descended again. Darkness swallowed everything.

Vickon… I’m sorry. I failed us both.

"Wake up, Lady Blackwynd! We’ve crossed the pack borders."

The armored transport jerked violently. My eyes snapped open, heart hammering like war drums.

"Stop the vehicle!" I lunged forward, claws wrapping around the driver’s throat from the backseat.

Kaelor Vayne gasped, amber eyes flashing in the rearview mirror. "Lady Blackwynd? What’s wrong? Alpha Vickon is waiting at Moonhollow Ridge to finalize the blood-binding!"

No blood on my fingers. No silver burns. I touched my cheek—smooth, warm skin pulsing with youthful power.

This wasn’t the end. This was the beginning.

"Turn around," I growled, my voice carrying an authority I had never possessed in my first life. "Take me to the ancestral Blackwynd estate. Now."

"But the Alpha is critically wounded from silver poison!" Kaelor’s scent spiked with panic. "You can’t reject the summons!"

"I said drive to the estate, Kaelor."

My chest heaved as memories crashed over me. In my past life, I had fled this exact transport. I had let Vaelira whisper poison in my ear and run straight into Thorne’s trap—sealing Vickon’s death and my own execution.

I glanced at Kaelor’s tense shoulders. He was already tracking my location for Vaelira’s spies.

A pack-comm flashed across the dashboard screen:

[Vaelira: Don’t let the Alpha mark your neck, Zafira. Thorne is waiting at the border to free you from the Blackwynd leash.]

I smashed the screen with my fist. Sparks flew into the darkness.

The iron gates of the Blackwynd ancestral estate rose like the jaws of a predator. High on the stone balcony, a massive silhouette stood watching, his dark, lethal aura pressing down like a physical force.

"Alpha, the female from the Nightvale bloodline has arrived," Zyric Fenwolf announced, head bowed.

Vickon Blackwynd didn’t turn. His claws dug grooves into the stone railing. "How many omegas has the elders’ council thrown at me this moon cycle?"

"She is the fourth, Alpha."

"And the others?"

"The first bled out from your feral aura. The second lost her mind in the pack link. The third jumped from the eastern cliffs rather than accept your bite. The elders are desperate to stabilize your core before the silver poison claims your wolf."

A dangerous pause.

"Let her come up. We’ll see if this one breaks like the rest."

I stood in the center of the grand pack hall, heart thundering, fingers white-knuckled on my rucksack straps. The heavy iron doors groaned open.

Vickon entered.

He was a force of nature—towering, brutal power wrapped in muscle and barely contained rage. Even poisoned, his presence made the air heavy. His golden eyes were bloodshot, his scent carrying the bitter edge of burning silver. A god of war slowly dying.

"Send the female back to her father’s den," he growled, barely sparing me a glance.

"Wait!" I threw myself forward, crashing to my knees at his clawed feet.

His gaze snapped down. The weight of his dominant aura slammed into me like a mountain. Most wolves would crumble. I met it head-on.

"I am your chosen mate," I declared, voice steady despite the tears burning my eyes. I bared my neck to him willingly—something the old Zafira had never dared. "I am not leaving this territory. I will stay by your side until the pack burns… or until I save you from the traitors who already killed you once."

Vickon’s claws flexed. For the first time, real surprise flickered across his lethal features. The air between us crackled with the awakening mate bond—raw, electric, and dangerously unfinished.

A low, possessive growl rumbled from his chest as he took one step closer, towering over my kneeling form.

"You speak as if you’ve already seen the future, little omega." His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "Careful. Some secrets get wolves killed twice."