Chapter 1: Don't die little flame

~~~Aurelia POV~~~

Did I look okay?

I checked my reflection for the fifth time. Pale blue gown, hair pinned back, one hand pressed against my stomach like the tiny life inside might vanish if I stopped touching it.

"Relax, Aurelia," I muttered. "You're just telling your husband he's going to be a father."

My husband. The Alpha.

Three years of marriage and I still couldn't say it without my heart tripping over itself.

Three years of the pack whispering behind my back, too. The witch's daughter. My mother was the Soulspun witch who broke the demon goddess's curse and freed every one of them, then died for it. Did anyone thank her? No. They just looked at me, her magicless daughter, like I was something that might stain their boots.

I swallowed every whisper anyway. Because Draven had chosen me. In front of the whole pack, on the day he claimed me as his mate.

And today, I was going to give him something no one else could.

An heir.

"Aurelia!"

The door flew open and Cordelia swept in like she owned the sunlight. Crimson gown, silver-gold hair, and a smile that could make anyone forgive anything. It was one of the many talents my stepsister had.

"Well?" She grabbed both my hands. "Did you tell him?"

"Not yet. I'm waiting for the pack meeting. I want to announce it in front of everyone."

"Oh, Aurelia." Her eyes softened. "You're the Luna. Your word is the choice. And he's going to be so happy."

I laughed, and for the first time in days, the knot in my chest loosened.

Cordelia was the only person I had told. The only one I trusted. She had been my sister since we were children, the one who held my hand every time the pack tore me apart.

She squeezed my fingers, her smile never leaving. "You deserve this."

----

The pack hall was packed.

Wolves, warriors, elders. Every eye followed me as I walked in. Yet I kept my chin up and my hands folded, pretending I couldn't hear the sneers.

Draven stood at the front. Dark hair, sharp eyes, and the kind of presence that made a whole room go quiet without him saying a word.

When he looked at me, something flickered across his face. Not quite warmth.

Today, I told myself. Today that changes.

"Draven," I said, stepping forward. "I have something to tell—"

"Alpha Draven!"

Cordelia's voice cut straight through mine.

I turned, confused. She was standing in the middle of the hall with a scroll in her hands and a pale, solemn face.

"Forgive me for interrupting," she said, dropping to her knees, "but I can't stay silent any longer. I have proof that Aurelia has been in contact with the demon goddess's followers."

I thought I had misheard her.

"What?"

Gasps rippled across the hall. Cordelia didn't even look at me.

"I found these letters in her chambers," she said, her voice trembling. "They detail our pack's defenses. And they're sealed with her mark."

That's a lie!

"Cordelia, what are you doing?"

"I'm so sorry, Aurelia." She finally met my eyes, and tears shone in hers. "I tried to deny it. I tried to protect you."

She was crying so beautifully.

My blood ran cold.

"Bring in the witness," Cordelia said.

The doors opened. My handmaid Fiona stumbled in, hands shaking, eyes glued to the floor.

"Fiona!" My voice cracked. "Fiona, what's going on? Tell them the truth!"

She flinched.

"I saw her," Fiona whispered. "I saw the Luna meeting a masked stranger. She gave him papers."

"You're lying! Look at me! Fiona, look at me!"

She wouldn't.

The hall exploded into murmurs. Every glare sank into my skin like a knife, and I stood there with my mouth open, unable to breathe.

"And that's not all," Cordelia said softly. "I believe Aurelia is carrying a child."

The room went dead silent.

No. No, no, no. Don't you dare ruin this for me, Cordelia.

"And it isn't the Alpha's."

"Cordelia!"

"That's why she hid it." Cordelia lifted her chin. "Unless she wants to prove she isn't pregnant. Then I'll admit every word I said was false." I almost caught a smile on her lips. "Because I brought a healer to confirm it. So everyone can see I'm speaking the truth."

An old healer stepped forward, bowed to Draven, and pressed his palm to my abdomen. A faint green light pulsed under his hand.

My heart was pounding so hard I thought I'd faint. Please, I thought. I didn't even know what I was begging for.

The healer raised his head.

"She is pregnant, Alpha."

I almost cried with relief.

"But," he added slowly, "the child is not of wolf blood."

The hall erupted.

"What?" I whispered. "That's impossible. It's Draven's! It's his!"

"It's something else," the healer said, frowning. "It could be cursed. I've never seen anything like—"

"You see?" Cordelia said, wiping her cheek. "I love you, sister, but I can't risk the lives of so many innocent people."

"Draven!" I spun toward my husband, my voice breaking. "Draven, please. You know me. Don't believe this!"

His eyes had gone cold. Colder than I had ever seen them.

For three years, I had searched those eyes for love.

I should have searched for mercy.

"Aurelia," he said quietly. "You betrayed this pack. You betrayed me."

"I didn't! I swear on my life, I—"

"She doesn't deserve to be our Luna!" an Elder shouted.

"Remove her!"

Remove her? Are they serious?

Draven rose from his seat, his face blank. "I care for my people. I will never let harm come to them." He turned to the guards. "Take her to the Abyss."

The words hit me like a blade.

"Draven..." I choked. "Please. It's your child I'm carrying."

"That," he said, without blinking, "is no child of mine."

He didn't hesitate. Not for one heartbeat.

The guards seized my arms and dragged me across the stone. I twisted and screamed his name, and over my shoulder I caught one last glimpse of Cordelia.

She was standing beside Draven now. Her tears were gone.

When our eyes met, the corner of her mouth twitched. Barely.

I had seen that same twitch three years ago, the day Draven claimed me in front of everyone. I had told myself I imagined it. That my stepsister only wanted me to be happy.

Guess I was wrong.

----

The Abyss had no floor.

There was only darkness, cold, and wind howling like something alive.

Then I heard a hiss.

Then another.

Then a thousand.

The walls were moving. Not stone. Snakes. Black scales sliding over black rock, eyes glowing like embers.

The guards threw me over the edge without a word.

I fell, and the snakes fell with me.

They twisted through the air and struck, fangs sinking into my arms, my legs, my throat. Venom burned through my veins. I screamed, but the wind swallowed it.

I hit the ground and pain exploded through my whole body. The snakes didn't stop.

I'm sorry, I whispered to the tiny life inside me. I'm so sorry.

Tears ran sideways down my face as the venom crawled through my blood.

Cordelia had known. She had always known. The way she smiled when Draven picked me. The way she stayed so close, held my hand, called me sister.

She hadn't been comforting me all those years.

She had been waiting.

The snakes coiled around my throat and squeezed. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't even scream.

All I could do was lie there, bleeding, while the cold crawled over my skin and the dark closed in.

If I could do it again, I thought bitterly, I would never trust anyone.

I would never love anyone.

And I would make every single one of them pay.

My eyes drifted shut.

And just as the darkness took me, a warm voice brushed against my mind. Low, deep and almost impossibly familiar.

"Not yet, little flame."

"You don't get to die here."