Chapter 3

Dorian vanished for three days. It was like he'd dropped off the face of the earth.

But messages from Liliana never stopped coming.

Day one: a video. Dorian sat by her hospital bed, gently feeding her medicine. His hands were so careful, as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

Day two: another video. Dorian held Aria, his face full of a father's love. The little girl giggled in his arms, his eyes soft and warm.

Day three was the one that shattered me. A family portrait in the garden. Dorian pushed the stroller while Liliana clung to his arm.

The perfect family.

The wolf inside me howled in agony.

I’d seen it a thousand times before, but seeing it now, while I was injured, felt like a blade twisting in my heart.

Just as I was about to block her for good, a new message appeared.

"Want your necklace back? Meet me at the clinic."

My fingers trembled as I clutched the device.

My necklace. The last mark of the Crescent Moon pack.

I had to get it back.

At the clinic, Liliana was lounging on a sofa, toying with the moonstone necklace.

"You came," she said, a smug smile on her face.

"Give me back my necklace."

"Of course." She rose slowly. "But there's a small condition."

My internal alarms screamed. "What condition?"

"Shift for me," she purred. "Show me that primitive, feral form. Submit to your future queen."

Humiliation washed over me.

She wanted me to bow to her in my most vulnerable form.

But it was the last thing my pack had left me.

Gritting my teeth, I slowly sank to my knees.

My bones began to crack and shift. Silver fur sprouted from my skin.

Seconds later, a giant silver wolf stood in the room.

I lowered my head in a gesture of submission.

"Good," Liliana clapped, her eyes filled with vicious glee. "Werewolves truly are a lesser species. So easily broken."

She walked toward me, dangling the necklace just in front of my face.

"Come on. Take it with your mouth."

I moved closer, opening my jaws.

Just as my teeth were about to close around it, Liliana squeezed her fist.

CRACK.

The sound of the moonstone shattering echoed in the room. Blue fragments scattered across the floor.

"Oops," Liliana said, faking surprise. "It broke so easily. I guess werewolf things really are just trash."

My sanity snapped. All thought vanished. I launched myself at her, a beast of pure rage.

"Ahhh!" Liliana screamed, falling backward. "Help! She's attacking my child!"

But I hadn't even touched her when Aria, in her arms, began to wail.

Red marks, like claw scratches, appeared on the baby's face.

"What's going on?"

Dorian's voice came from behind me.

I whipped my head around to see him, Viktor, and several other elders materializing in the room.

"Dorian!" Liliana sobbed, throwing herself at him. "She shifted and attacked Aria!"

Dorian took the child, and his eyes fell on the scratches on his daughter's face. Fury ignited in his gaze.

"Freya, what is the meaning of this?"

"It wasn't me!" I explained desperately. "She did it her—"

"Enough!" Viktor roared, raising his staff and slamming it into my chest.

I flew backward, hitting the wall and coughing up blood.

"A beast is still a beast!" Viktor's voice thundered. "How dare you harm the Valkyrie bloodline!"

"Take her to the Punishment Chamber!" he commanded. "Thirty-three lashes. With the silver-dipped whip!"

Two thralls grabbed me, dragging me out.

"Dorian!" I cried out to him, my last hope. "You believe me, don't you?"

Dorian clutched his crying daughter, his gaze fixed on her scratched face. His eyes were filled with nothing but pain and disappointment.

He turned his head, refusing to meet my eyes. He’d made his choice.

A broken laugh escaped my lips, tears streaming down my face.

Why did I ever believe in an eternity between species? Why did I ever believe his vows?

It's okay. Just six more days, and I can leave.

In the Punishment Chamber, the silver whip cut a blinding arc through the air.

The first lash tore my skin open.

The second. The third...

My consciousness began to fade in the searing pain.

In the haze, I remembered Dorian's vows.

"I will protect you, always."

"You are the only one I will ever love."

"We will have an eternal future together."

I remembered the first time he'd made love to me, kissing every inch of my skin like I was something sacred.

I remembered the time I had a high fever from searching for a rare herb, and he'd cared for me so gently, feeding me medicine with his own mouth.

"Freya, you are more important to me than my own life."

All lies.

My consciousness blurred. At first, my wolf howled in agony, but soon it fell silent, retreating deep within me.

I couldn't feel the pain anymore. Only numbness.

As the thirty-third lash was about to fall, I heard a heart-shattering roar.

"STOP!"

In the last second before the world went black, I saw Dorian. A blur of motion as he threw his body over mine, shielding me from the blow.