Rhiannon's POV
I woke to voices arguing above me.
"—should kill her now while we have the chance."
"No. Not yet. She's more useful alive."
My head pounded like someone had split it open. The poison. The hooded figure. Caspian—
Through the bond, I felt him nearby. Unconscious but alive. Relief flooded through me.
I kept my eyes closed, listening.
"The bond complicates things," the first voice continued. Female. Still maddeningly familiar but my poisoned mind couldn't place it. "If she dies, he might die too."
"Then we separate them first. Break the bond."
"Bonds can't be broken. You know that."
"Everything can be broken with the right tools."
Footsteps moved closer. I forced myself to stay limp, to breathe slowly like I was still unconscious.
"She's stronger than we thought," the woman said. "She neutralized the nightshade faster than should be possible. And she convinced him to trust her. That wasn't part of the plan."
"Plans change. We adapt."
"Do we kill Theron?"
A pause. "No. He's served his purpose. Let him take the fall for the poisoning. Everyone will be so focused on him, they won't see us coming."
Horror crept through me. Theron was guilty, yes—but there were others. People even more dangerous.
"And the girl?"
"Keep her alive for now. We might need her healing abilities. But watch her. If she becomes a problem..." The woman's voice turned cold. "Well. Accidents happen in war."
Their footsteps faded. A door closed.
I waited three long minutes before opening my eyes.
I was in a small, dark room. Stone walls. No windows. Caspian lay a few feet away, still unconscious. Through the bond, I felt his slow, steady heartbeat.
We'd been moved. Hidden somewhere in the fortress.
I crawled to Caspian, pressing my hands to his chest. Healing magic flickered weakly—the poison had drained me. But I pushed through the exhaustion, focusing on purging the airborne toxin from his system.
His eyes opened.
"Rhiannon." His voice was rough. "What happened?"
"Someone attacked us. Airborne poison. We're somewhere in the fortress, but I don't know where." I kept healing him. "How do you feel?"
"Like I've been trampled." He sat up slowly, looking around. "This is one of the old storage rooms. Underground. They don't use these anymore."
"They moved us here after we passed out. I heard them talking." I told him everything—the voices, the plan to frame Theron completely, the fact that there were multiple conspirators.
Caspian's face grew darker with each word. "You're certain it was a woman?"
"Yes. And I know her voice, but the poison's still messing with my head. I can't remember from where."
He stood, testing the door. Locked. Of course.
"Can you break it?" I asked.
"Probably. But whoever locked us in will hear." He turned to me. "How much of the poison is still in our systems?"
I checked through my healing sense. "Maybe twenty percent. Enough to slow us down but not kill us. They wanted us weak, not dead."
"Not yet, anyway." He moved to the far wall, running his hands over the stones. "There. A ventilation shaft. Small, but you might fit."
"What about you?"
"I'll break the door once you're out. Create a distraction while you find help." His eyes met mine. "Find Senna. She's the only one we can trust right now."
"How do you know we can trust her? She could be part of this."
Through the bond, I felt his certainty. "She saved us once already. And she has no reason to want me alive—I executed her brother two years ago for desertion."
The words hung between us. Another death. Another family destroyed.
"She helped me anyway," he continued quietly. "That means something."
I wanted to argue, but we didn't have time. I moved to the ventilation shaft. Caspian lifted me up, and I squeezed into the narrow space.
"Be careful," he said through the bond.
"You too."
I crawled through darkness, following the slight air current. Behind me, I heard Caspian starting to break down the door—using his Alpha strength despite his weakened state.
Shouts echoed. Guards responding.
I crawled faster.
The shaft branched. I chose the path that seemed to lead up, toward the main fortress. My shoulders scraped against stone. My healing magic was nearly exhausted.
But I kept going.
Finally, I saw light. The shaft opened into a corridor I recognized—near the kitchens. I dropped down, landing hard.
And came face to face with Theron.
He stood in chains, flanked by guards. His eyes widened when he saw me.
"You," he snarled. "This is your fault. You turned him against me!"
"You poisoned him for months!" I shot back. "Don't blame me for your betrayal."
"I did what was necessary! He was weak, compromised. The pack needed stronger leadership." Theron struggled against his chains. "And now you've made it worse. That bond is killing him, can't you see? It's making him soft!"
Through the bond, I felt Caspian fighting guards in the storage room. He was tiring fast.
"The bond is the only thing keeping him alive," I said. "Your poison would have killed him weeks ago without it."
Something flickered in Theron's eyes. "Impossible. I calculated the doses perfectly. He should have been dead before the ceremony even happened."
Ice shot through my veins. "What?"
"The bond shouldn't exist," Theron continued, his voice rising. "He should have been dead! I made sure—" He stopped, realization dawning. "Unless someone else was healing him before the bond formed."
My mind raced. Someone had been keeping Caspian alive before I arrived. Someone who wanted him weak but not dead yet.
"Who?" I demanded. "Who else knew about the poison?"
"I didn't work alone," Theron said, then seemed to realize he'd said too much. His face went blank.
"Guards," I said. "Take him back to his cell. I need to find—"
A scream cut through the fortress.
Then another.
Through the bond, Caspian's alarm spiked. Rhiannon. Something's wrong. The main hall—
I ran.
The main hall was chaos. Pack members scattered in panic. And in the center, standing over three dead guards, was a woman I recognized.
My mother.
Mira Silverfang stood in Blackthorn Fortress, blood on her hands and murder in her eyes.
"Hello, daughter," she said calmly. "We need to talk."
Guards surrounded her, but she didn't move. Didn't run.
She'd come here to be caught. But why?
"Mother." My voice shook. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving you from this abomination." She gestured at the fortress. "This bond is a curse. I won't let you suffer the same fate as—"
She stopped, but I'd already felt the truth through my healing senses.
My mother had been bonded once. And whoever her mate had been, the bond had broken somehow. Violently.
That's why she hated the treaty. Why she'd chosen me as the sacrifice.
She knew something about bonds that no one else did.
"The bond can be broken," I whispered. "You know how."
Mira's smile was terrible. "Oh yes, daughter. I know exactly how. And I'm going to show you."
She pulled something from her cloak. A knife. But not just any knife—I recognized the symbols carved into the blade.
Ancient pack magic. The kind that could sever even the deepest connections.
"No!" I lunged forward, but guards held me back.
Through the bond, I felt Caspian running toward the main hall. Felt his terror for me.
"This is for your own good," my mother said. "Once the bond is severed, you'll be free. Free of him. Free of this cursed treaty. Free to come home."
"I don't want to be free!" The words burst from me. "The bond is keeping him alive!"
"Then he deserves to die." Mira raised the knife. "Just like all Blackthorns deserve to die for what they've done to our pack."
Caspian burst into the hall, his eyes finding mine instantly.
"Ah," Mira said, turning to face him. "The Executioner King. How convenient. Now I can kill you both at once."
She moved faster than should be possible for someone her age. The blade flashed.
I screamed.
Caspian threw himself between us.
The knife plunged into his chest.
Right where our bond was anchored.
Through our connection, I felt everything—his pain, his shock, his desperate attempt to protect me even as his life bled away.
And I felt something else.
The bond starting to tear.
"No!" I reached for him through the bond, trying to hold it together. "No, no, no—"
"It's done," my mother said quietly. "In moments, the bond will break. You'll be free, Rhiannon. Free of this monster."
But I didn't feel free.
I felt like I was dying.
Because as the bond unraveled, I finally understood the truth.
I didn't want to be free of Caspian.
I wanted to save him.