Chapter 1

My father shot to his feet.

The bone knife snapped in his grip, and the full force of his Alpha power exploded through the room.

"Have you lost your mind? Have Cyrus and those two been picking on you?"

A mating alliance with the Snow Wolf Pack had always been a one-way trip. It was a death sentence.

Life in the northern snowfields was brutal. The werewolves there were savage, and the last bride sent there had died.

How could he let the daughter he cherished walk into that kind of danger?

"I'm going to punish them right now."

I grabbed my father's arm and shook my head. "Don't."

I didn't want to humiliate myself.

What would I even say? Ask them why they don't love me anymore?

Seeing how furious my father was, I thought back to a year ago.

Nara had just arrived at the Frostmoon pack with her pup.

She was covered in wounds and didn't even have a place to live.

Cyrus was the first to rush to her side.

Cyrus used to be my guardian. He would spend a whole day and night out hunting just to bring back the game I liked best and make me happy.

But the day after Nara arrived, Cyrus volunteered to repair her rundown shelter.

Every morning, he'd finish her chores before dropping by to see me, bringing only a couple of wild berries.

One morning, when he showed up late, I lost my temper.

Cyrus's face hardened in front of the entire patrol.

"Lyra, is acting like a spoiled brat all you know how to do?"

It was the first time Cyrus had ever snapped at me. That night, I sat on the stone steps and cried for hours.

Knox held me and gently told me he would always be by my side.

Draven said nothing. He simply stood in the wind with his knife in hand, shielding me from the cold.

Later, Draven changed too.

He returned from gathering medicinal herbs for Nara's sick pup, covered in injuries. When I tried to tend to his wounds, he accused me of having no compassion for the pup. From then on, he gradually grew distant.

I'd believed Knox would be the one who stayed. But in the end, he left me too.

When I caught Nara's scent on him, he told me, "Lyra, we're all growing up, but you're still the same spoiled girl you've always been. You can't expect us to look after you forever."

One by one, all three of them left me.

A long, dead silence fell over the room.

The anger drained from my father's face. At last, he sighed.

"I can punish them under pack law, but I can't make them love you again.

"I'm the Alpha of this pack, and this mating alliance could help us out of our predicament. But I'm your father first.

"Don't throw your life away out of spite. Give it three days. If you're still determined to go through with this mating alliance, I'll send you there myself."

I nodded, turned, and walked out of the stone house.

Night had fallen, and bonfires were burning all over the camp.

As I passed the stream, I saw Draven and Knox.

They were crouched by the water, teaching Nara's pup to catch fish.

I used to want to learn too, but they'd just laugh and tell me that a pretty girl like me should sit on the bank and let them do the fishing.

They'd wade into the cool water, holding up each fish they caught with a triumphant grin, waiting for me to praise them.

The splashing water, their laughter, the way their eyes lit up when they looked at me—those were some of my happiest memories.

Now none of it belonged to me.

I stood at a distance, an outsider looking in on their happy little scene.

They were having so much fun.

I walked up and stopped in front of them.

"Are you teaching the pup to fish? Can I join?" I asked.

Draven paused and glanced up at me. "The pup doesn't know you. You'll scare it."

Knox stared at me for a long time. He seemed about to say something, but he held it back.

Without another word, I turned and headed home.

I walked faster and faster, yet I couldn't help listening for footsteps behind me.

I made it a long way, and still no one came after me.

Back in my stone house, I shut the door and leaned against it, catching my breath.

I opened the mind-link the four of us had shared since we were little.

Someone answered almost at once.

I didn't say anything. I just waited quietly.

A moment later, Cyrus's cold voice came through the link. "Lyra, you're too spoiled. We've decided not to mark you."

Draven's voice followed right after. "Nara needs us. Even without us, you're still the Alpha's daughter."

Knox didn't say a word.

Then they cut the mind-link from their end.

The stone house fell deathly quiet again.

I slid to the floor as the last flicker of hope inside me died.