"Lydia?" The name was a raw, desperate whisper, the first sound to tear from my throat as I pried my eyes open.

The white light of the pack infirmary was blinding.

"You're awake!" Ethan stood up, his voice laced with concern. He looked like he'd been watching over me for a long time.

"My daughter," I pushed myself up. "Is she alive?"

"Don't say her name," he growled, his face hardening. "Whether she lives or dies... depends entirely on you."

My heart pounded. "What does that mean?"

"My men pulled her from the river," Ethan said, standing up. "But she's badly injured."

"Let me see her!" I tried to get out of bed.

"No." He pushed me back down. "First, you have to answer for what you did."

"What did I do?"

He leaned in close, his eyes dark. "Your jealousy almost cost me my only true heir. Lilith is in critical condition. She needs a Luna's vitality to stabilize her."

I stared at him, stunned. "You want me to..."

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "You will heal her. You will give her your life force."

"That could kill me!" I gasped.

"It won't kill you," he purred, a low, cruel sound. "It will just leave you... empty. Besides, you owe me this pain. It’s only fair. Otherwise, Lydia's life…"

A threat. A naked threat.

"Ethan, are you even human?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Human?" He sneered. "The bond makes us more than human, Sera. And so does betrayal. Did you ever once think of my pain when you were with him?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I knew nothing I said would matter now. He had made up his mind.

"I'll do it."

"Good." He nodded, satisfied. "We'll begin immediately."

Twenty minutes later, I was in an ancient ritual chamber. Silver runes were carved into the floor, and moonlight streamed onto a Moonstone in the center. Lilith was already lying on one side of the altar, pale and weak.

"Begin," Ethan ordered the pack healer.

The healer forced my hand onto the freezing Moonstone. Across from me, Lilith took my other hand, and even in her weakened state, I saw the triumphant smirk on her lips.

The ritual began.

I could feel my life force being ripped from me, flowing through the stone and into Lilith's body. My vision blurred. A deep, chilling cold spread through my bones.

Across from me, Lilith’s cheeks began to flush with color. Her scent grew stronger.

He didn't spare Lilith a single glance.

His eyes were locked on me.

A twisted fascination burned in their depths as he stared at my pale face. He gently wiped the sweat from my brow.

"Does it hurt, my love?" he whispered, his voice a venomous caress. "Good. Remember this pain. The next time you think of betraying me, you will remember exactly how this feels."

"Enough..." I begged weakly.

"Just a little longer," he whispered, kissing my cold hand. His tone was cruel, yet he sounded like he was comforting a lover. "If you can't handle a little pain, how can you be my Luna? How can you deserve my mercy for that bastard?"

After another ten minutes, I was on the verge of collapse.

"Stop," the doctor finally said. "Any longer and the Luna's life will be in danger."

The ritual ended. I slumped into a chair, too weak to even speak.

"Thank you, Seraphina," Lilith said with a fake smile. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

Didn't mean to? She was still acting.

I ignored her and looked at Ethan. "I... need to see my daughter..."

Ethan walked over and lifted me into his arms as if I were a piece of precious porcelain.

He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"See? You do still love me. You're willing to do anything for me." His voice was filled with smug satisfaction.

He laid me down on the bed, tucking the sheets around me as if I were a fragile doll.

"You disappointed me today, my Luna," he whispered. "You still care more about that bastard than you do about me."

"You don't get to see her. Not until you learn that your world begins and ends with me."

I was pushed into Lilith’s room. She was propped up in bed, her face glowing with health. She looked nothing like the dying woman from the ritual.

"Seraphina, thank you for saving me." She smiled gently, but her eyes glinted with triumph.

"You're welcome," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "Can I see my daughter now?"

"Daughter?" Lilith tilted her head, feigning confusion. "Which daughter are you talking about?"

A cold dread filled me. "Lydia."

"Oh, that poor thing," Lilith sighed, her eyes wide with fake pity. "You don't know? She's dead."

My world stopped spinning.

"What?"

"How could a pup survive a fall like that?" she mused, picking at a loose thread on her blanket. "They didn't even find all the pieces."

"No..." I shook my head. "Ethan said she was rescued..."

"He lied to you, to make you cooperate," Lilith’s smile was vicious. "Her remains were given back to the Moon Goddess, as per the old rituals."

"No..." I trembled. "It can't be..."

"It's poetic, isn't it?" she gloated, her voice dripping venom. "One son sacrificed for mine, the other smashed on the rocks below. My, my... Ethan must truly hate you."

Something inside me snapped. Pure, unadulterated rage.

My vision turned gold. A murderous snarl ripped from my throat, and my nails sharpened into claws.

The mother wolf inside me was howling for blood.

I lunged, my hands closing around her neck.

"You bitch! Give me back my pup!"

"Help... help me..." Lilith choked, clawing at my hands.

Just as I was about to snap her neck, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me from behind, pinning me.

"Sera, you've lost control."

Ethan's voice was in my ear, not angry, just a cold statement of fact.

He easily broke my hold, trapping me in his arms. I couldn't move.

"Let go of me! I'm going to kill her!"

"You're acting like a wild animal," he said, his brow furrowed in disappointment. "Humiliating yourself for a dead bastard?"

"That was my daughter!"

"That was your stain. And now it's gone."

He held my struggling arms with one hand and took a syringe from a nearby tray with the other.

"Be a good girl. Go to sleep." The needle slid into my neck. Silver. A cold fire shot through my veins, silencing my wolf, stealing my strength. "When you wake up," he murmured, "you'll find the world is so much quieter without your little burden."

"No..." I tried to fight, but I was too weak.

My vision blurred.

"Ethan..." I looked at him one last time. "You will regret this..."

The drug took hold, and I went limp in his arms.

Before the darkness took me, I heard him speak to a shaken Lilith. His voice was ice. "Get out. I don't want her to see your face when she wakes."

Then, darkness.

When I woke up again, it was the next morning.

Ethan was sitting by the bed, elegantly wiping his fingers with a handkerchief, as if he'd just disposed of something dirty.

"You're awake."

"Lydia..." I asked weakly. "Where is she..."

"I gave you a chance, Sera." He put the handkerchief down and looked at me calmly. "I let you save Lilith to prove that I was the only one in your world. But you were still thinking about that whelp."

He stood and walked to the window, his back to me.

"So, I took care of her for you," he said casually. "The funeral was last night. It was quiet. Dignified."

I felt a hand crush my heart.

"Why..." I sobbed. "You promised me..."

"I only promised you could see her if you behaved." He turned and walked back to me.

There wasn't a trace of guilt in his eyes, only pity. "You gave up that chance yourself. Now, Sera, there's nothing that can keep us apart. Aren't you happy?"

His logic was terrifyingly twisted. "If you hadn't slept with Julian, I never would have doubted her."

"So this is all my fault?" I laughed, a broken, miserable sound.

"Of course," he said without hesitation.

Just then, the door burst open.

Lilith stormed in, her face a mask of righteous fury. Before I could even process it, her hand cracked across my face.

"You poisonous bitch!"

The slap sent my head spinning. Lilith was sobbing, clinging to Ethan's arm.

"What did you do to Leo?" she cried. "He suddenly got a high fever last night, he's been having seizures!"

Leo? Her son?

"I didn't do anything..." I said weakly.

"Liar!" she shrieked, pointing at me. "Who else would use a mental attack on a pup?"

Ethan looked at me, a storm gathering in his eyes.

"Seraphina!" He yanked me up. "How could you attack my pup, yet fight to the death for Jullian's?"

"I didn't!" I shook my head frantically.

"Leo is only four!" Lilith cried harder. "He's innocent!"

Innocent?

"You want a confession?" A wild, broken smile twisted my lips. I met his furious gaze, feeling nothing but a chilling calm. "Fine. I did it."

"You!" Lilith’s eyes went wide with shock.

"I curse him," I whispered, my smile terrifying and real. "I curse your precious heir to die just as my daughter did. A life for a life. An heir for an heir."

"Sera, I thought Lydia's death would teach you a lesson." He walked up to me and lifted my chin. "But you've disappointed me. If you won't learn to be an obedient Luna," he said, his voice dangerously soft, "then you can go to the silver cells and reflect."

The silver cells. My blood ran cold.

They were underground vaults made of solid silver, kept at thirty degrees below zero.

"Ethan..." For the first time, I was afraid.

"Ethan, isn't that too harsh?" Lilith pretended to object. "I just want her to lift the curse."

"Scared now?" Ethan ignored her, looking down at me. "Too late."

The guards dragged me downstairs. The silver cells were three floors down. The moment the door opened, a wave of frigid air hit me.

"In!"

They shoved me inside and slammed the door shut.

The biting cold was instant. The pure silver walls sizzled where they touched my skin. Every breath was fire and ice, a lungful of silver that choked my healing.

I huddled in a corner, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.

For three hours, I thought I was going to die there.

But then the door opened.

Ethan walked in alone, holding a heavy coat.

I was huddled in the corner, shaking.

He walked over, crouched down, and wrapped the coat around me, but he made no move to lead me out.

"Cold?" he whispered, his warm breath ghosting over my skin. "This is nothing. The ice in this room is nothing compared to the ice you put in my soul, Sera."

"I didn't... poison him..." my teeth chattered.

"Shh—" he pressed a finger to my lips. "The truth doesn't matter," he whispered. "What matters is that you understand. Your life is mine. Your death is mine. Your honor, your pain... it is all mine to command."

I was about to break. To shatter.

Then, a voice echoed in my mind.

Not Ethan's. Julian's.

[Seraphina. Listen to me. Your daughter is safe.]

Hope—a dangerous, treacherous thing—slammed into me, so powerful it knocked the breath from my lungs.

[What?]

[My warriors intercepted her fall. Lydia is alive. She's with me, and she's waiting for you.]

Tears streamed down my face. My daughter was alive!

"Well?" Ethan asked coldly. "Have you made up your mind?"

I looked up at him, the fear gone, replaced by a chilling emptiness.

"Ethan," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm. "I want to sever the bond."