Chapter 1

When I returned to the Beta’s manor with the Blood Court’s betrothal scroll, Evelyn’s chambers were already in chaos.

The pack healer had been summoned. Maids hurried through the halls carrying herbal sedatives, thick blankets, and trays of food she had not touched.

Father stood outside her door, giving orders.

“No one is to mention the Blood Court in front of Evelyn. Her wolf is already distressed.”

I stopped at the end of the hall, still holding the scroll that would bind me to the vampire prince.

I was the one being sent away. But Evelyn was the only one they cared about.

That night, when Mother finally came to my room, for one foolish moment, I thought she had come to ask if I was afraid..

Instead, she said, “Evelyn has been crying all afternoon. She won’t eat or take her medicine. Her wolf is so agitated that the healer can barely calm her.”

She sat beside me.

“Elara, talk to her tomorrow. Tell her you don’t blame her. She already feels guilty enough.”

I looked at her.

“What about me, Mother?”

She froze. It was as if she had never considered that I might be frightened too.

After a long silence, she sighed.

“Elara, you grew up with all the privileges of a Beta’s daughter. You’ve always been protected.”

“Evelyn is different. She spent years lost among the rogues. We only just got her back. We can’t let her lose everything again.”

Evelyn had been fourteen when our warriors found her near the eastern border.

She returned half-starved, terrified of unfamiliar scents, and unable to shift without panicking.

Mother stayed beside her every night.

Father brought healers and witches from distant packs to strengthen her wolf. My brother guarded her door whenever she woke screaming beneath the full moon.

From then on, Evelyn always came first.

Even my bonding ceremony with Rowan had been postponed for three months because Evelyn fell ill.

Every time, Mother told me the same thing.

“You already have so much, Elara. Let your sister have this.”

But what had ever truly belonged to me? Everything was mine only until Evelyn wanted it.

After Mother left, I couldn’t sleep.

When a maid told me Evelyn was still crying, I wrapped a cloak around my shoulders and went to see her.

I only wanted to tell her she didn’t need to feel guilty.

But as I reached her room, I heard voices through the half-open door.

Evelyn was curled against Rowan’s chest.

Mother sat beside her, stroking her hair. Father and my brother stood nearby, watching her as though she might shatter.

“I’ve heard stories about the vampire prince.” Evelyn whispered.

“They say he’s ruthless and cruel. Five brides have died on their wedding nights, even his own kind fears him.” She lowered her voice. “And vampires are fiercely possessive of their mates. Once he marks Elara, he’ll never allow her to leave his territory.”

Her voice trembled. “Does Elara know?”

The room went quiet. Evelyn looked at Father.

“Does she know you asked the Alpha to put her name in the draw?”

My fingers tightened around the edge of my cloak.

Father had done what?

Evelyn continued, “The Alpha originally chose me because Elara was already promised to Rowan. But you told him Elara would be safer because she had strengths.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. All this time, I had blamed the Alpha for putting my name in the draw. I never imagined it had been my father’s idea.

Father hesitated. Guilt flickered across his face, but he quickly looked away.

“You would never survive at the Blood Court. Elara is stronger.”

My brother nodded.

“She has enjoyed the privileges of being the Beta’s daughter all her life. She received the best training, sat beside Father at pack feasts, and was promised to our strongest warrior. It’s time she did something for the family.”

Mother wiped the tears from Evelyn’s cheeks.

“Don’t upset yourself. If the vampire prince mistreat Elara, she can present the Alpha’s moonstone and demand his protection. The Alpha owe her a life debt, he’ll bring her home. We’ll make it up to her then.”

Evelyn lifted her eyes to Rowan. “But what about the draw?”

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

“Elara trusted you. What if she finds out the crescent moon was never the safe parchment?”

Rowan said nothing for a long moment.

Then he tightened his arm around her.

“She won’t hate me.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Elara has loved me since our wolves first awakened.” His voice was calm and certain. “She always listens to me. She may be angry for a while, but she’ll forgive me.”

He brushed a tear from Evelyn’s cheek.

“Don’t ever offer to go in her place again. Your wolf couldn’t bear that kind of life, and I would never let them take you.”

Cold spread through my veins.

So Father had placed my name in the draw.

Rowan had marked the losing parchment for me.

And every person I loved had let me believe it was fate.

But none of it was. This was what they had wanted and planned all along.

I stepped away, my cloak slipped from my shoulders and fell onto the stone floor.

I left it there. I wanted nothing they had given me—not even its warmth.

Back in my room, I opened the wooden box beside my bed.

The Alpha’s moonstone should have been inside.

He had given it to me after I pulled him from a silver trap during a rogue ambush. With that moonstone, I could ask him to grant me one favor.

But the moonstone was gone.

All that remained was the broken chain the moonstone had once hung from, and a court record.

Three years ago, Rowan abandoned his post during a rogue attack to protect Evelyn. The breach cost the pack six warriors, and the Alpha ordered his execution.

I had knelt before the Alpha and surrendered the moonstone in exchange for Rowan’s life.

I placed the crescent parchment inside the box and closed the lid.

For years, my family had asked me to surrender my dresses, my parents’ attention, and even the date of my bonding ceremony.

This time, they had asked me to give Evelyn my freedom.

Fine. I would leave, and this time, I would never come back.