ELARA'S POV
I wake up choking on smoke.
My lungs burn. My head pounds. And that silver light—the one that exploded from nowhere—is gone, leaving only darkness and the acrid smell of burned wood.
Get her out! someone shouts.
Rough hands grab me, dragging me through the overturned wagon's broken door. I try to fight, but my body won't cooperate. Everything spins.
When my vision clears, I'm on the ground surrounded by the Blackridge wolves. The woman—their leader, crouches in front of me, her ice-chip eyes scanning me like I'm a puzzle she can't solve.
What was that? she demands.
What was what? My voice comes out hoarse.
The light. The silver light that came from you. She grabs my chin, forcing me to meet her gaze. What are you?
I'm human. The words sound weak even to my own ears. I don't know what you're talking about.
She studies me for a long moment, then releases my face with a disgusted sound. Get her in the spare wagon. We're already behind schedule.
They haul me up. My legs barely hold me. That's when I notice the bodies—three massive wolves lying dead on the road, their throats torn out. The rogues from the attack.
But there's a fourth body too. One of the Blackridge wolves, a young male with red hair, staring sightlessly at the sky.
Move, one of the guards orders, shoving me forward.
I stumble into the new wagon—smaller, with actual seats instead of just a cargo bed. They don't tie my hands this time, but two wolves climb in with me, blocking both exits.
As we start moving again, I press my back against the corner and try to understand what just happened.
That wolf. The black one with burning blue eyes. The way it looked at me. The way it spoke inside my head.
Mine.
I shiver despite the warmth of the enclosed wagon.
You're shaking. One of my guards, a scarred wolf with gray streaks in his dark hair, watches me. Afraid of the Alpha already?
I don't answer.
Smart, he continues. Kael Blackridge isn't like other Alphas. He's
Shut it, Marcus, the other guard snaps. She's younger, with bronze skin and sharp features. Don't scare the merchandise.
Marcus laughs, but it's not a kind sound. She should be scared, Vera. We're delivering her to a monster.
He's not a monster, Vera argues. He's our Alpha.
He killed his own father.
To save the pack! Vera's voice rises. His father went mad, started slaughtering pack members. Kael did what had to be done.
Maybe. Marcus leans back, arms crossed. Or maybe the madness runs in the bloodline. Either way, human He looks at me directly. —you're marrying a killer. One who's lived for over a hundred and fifty years watching his family destroy themselves. One who knows he's next.
My mouth goes dry. Next for what?
For the curse. Marcus's smile is cruel. All Blackridge Alphas go insane eventually. It's only a matter of time before your new husband loses his mind and tears you apart.
That's enough! Vera snarls.
But the damage is done. My hands start shaking again, and this time I can't stop them.
The journey stretches into endless, brutal hours. We only stop twice—once to water the horses, once to let the wolves hunt. They offer me dried meat and hard bread. I force myself to eat, even though my stomach churns.
I need strength. Because on the second night, when they make camp in a small clearing, I'm going to run.
I wait until the fire burns low. Until Marcus and Vera take their watch positions on opposite sides of camp. Until the other wolves settle into sleep.
Then I move.
Slowly. Carefully. I slide out of my bedroll and crawl toward the tree line. My heart hammers so loud I'm sure they'll hear it. Twenty feet. Fifteen. Ten.
I reach the trees.
I run.
Branches tear at my clothes and skin. Roots try to trip me. But I don't stop. I've spent fourteen years being weak and powerless. Not anymore. I'll die free before I marry a monster.
I make it maybe three minutes before a wolf howls behind me.
They're coming.
I push harder, lungs burning, legs screaming. There has to be somewhere to hide, somewhere to
Something slams into me from the side.
I hit the ground hard, all air knocked from my lungs. Before I can move, Vera is on top of me, her hand around my throat. Her eyes glow amber in the darkness.
Stupid human, she growls.
The others arrive within seconds. Marcus hauls me up by my arm, his grip bruising.
I warned you what would happen if you tried to run, the lead woman says, appearing from the shadows. In the firelight, her expression is absolutely cold.
Please I start.
She backhands me across the face.
Pain explodes through my jaw. I taste blood.
Try again, she says quietly, and you'll arrive at Blackridge fortress with broken legs. Your husband-to-be didn't specify you needed to be able to walk at the wedding. Understand?
I nod, tears burning my eyes. Not from pain. From the crushing realization that I truly am trapped.
They drag me back to camp. This time, they tie my ankle to a tree with a short rope. I can sit. I can lie down. But I can't run.
I don't sleep. I just stare at the stars and wonder if this is how my parents felt in their final moments, helpless, terrified, knowing death was coming.
On the third day, we climb higher into the mountains.
The air grows thin and cold. Snow appears on the peaks around us. And then, as the sun begins to set, we crest a final mountain pass.
There, the lead woman announces. Blackridge territory.
I follow her gaze and my blood turns to ice.
The fortress rises from black stone like a scar on the mountain. Massive walls. Sharp towers. Banners that look like they're bleeding in the sunset. It's easily ten times bigger than all of Greyhaven, and every inch of it screams danger.
My hands start trembling. For the first time in fourteen years of surviving the unsurvivable, I feel true, bone-deep terror.
Welcome home, treaty bride, Marcus says with dark amusement.
The wagon lurches forward, carrying me toward my nightmare.
As we approach the gates, they swing open. Wolves line the entry, hundreds of them, all watching our arrival with glowing eyes.
And at the top of the fortress steps, a figure waits.
Even from this distance, I recognize him. Massive. Dark. Radiating power that makes every instinct I have scream run.
Alpha Kael Blackridge.
My future husband.
The monster I'm supposed to marry tomorrow.
The wagon stops at the base of the steps. The lead woman opens my door. Out. Now.
My legs barely hold me as I step down. Every wolf in the courtyard watches. Judging. Waiting.
I force myself to climb the steps. One. Two. Three.
Kael doesn't move. Doesn't speak. Just watches me approach with eyes that glow like blue fire in the growing darkness.
Ten steps away, something inside my chest pulls toward him—that same feeling from the crashed wagon, like a door trying to open.
Five steps away, his nostrils flare. His jaw clenches.
Three steps away, I see his eyes widen in something that looks like shock.
Two steps away, his hands curl into fists, and I hear the sound of claws extending.
One step away, he speaks.
No.
The single word is barely a whisper, but it echoes through the silent courtyard like thunder.
Then Kael Blackridge, the most feared Alpha in all the Northern Territories, does something no one expects.
He turns and walks away from me.
Get her out of my sight, he orders without looking back. Lock her in the tower. The wedding is canceled.