Seraphina POV:

The single word hung in the dusty air of the Elder's study like a drawn blade.

Before Liam could respond, the sharp screech of a night owl echoed through the open window.

The bird landed on the windowsill, dropping a parchment scroll sealed with black wax. It was a message from the neighboring territory.

Liam snatched the scroll, scanning it quickly. His eyes darted toward me, calculating and sly.

"The eastern borders are restless," Liam announced, his voice suddenly loud enough for the gathering crowd in the hallway to hear. "Rogues have been spotted massing near the ravine."

He leaned heavily on his cane, his gaze fixing upon me with an assumption of ownership so profound it was a physical weight.

"The Pack needs stability, Seraphina. You must wait until after the hunt to complete our Marking ceremony. It is your duty."

The Marking was the final step of mating-the soul-binding bite that claimed a wolf forever.

I stood tall, squaring my shoulders.

"There will be no Marking," I said, my voice ringing with the clarity of struck steel. "This bond, this hollowed-out charade, is finished."

Gasps rippled through the gathered Warriors and Betas.

Liam's face flushed with anger. The pitiful mask fell away for a second, and his jaw clenched hard enough to crack stone.

"How dare you?" he hissed. "You lack the basic devotion of a Pack member. You are selfish, Seraphina. You only care about your own glory."

Just then, the crowd parted.

Elara walked into the room.

She was already wearing the Luna coronation gown I had bled to sew. The silk clung to her delicate curves, but she had ruined it by tearing the hem to make herself look fragile.

The moment she stepped in, the air filled with her Omega scent.

It was a cloying sweetness, like peaches left to fester in sugar, a biological trick designed to trigger the protective instincts of stronger wolves.

Tears welled up in her large, doe-like eyes. She began her performance.

"Please, don't fight because of me," Elara sobbed, her voice trembling like a frightened rabbit.

She reached up, pretending to unbutton the dress.

"I will give the dress back to Seraphina. I will leave the territory tonight. I will become a Rogue and die in the forest, just so you two can be happy."

The Warriors in the room growled in distress, their minds clouded by her manipulative pheromones.

Liam rushed forward, dropping his cane completely. He grabbed Elara's hands, stopping her from taking off the dress.

"You will do no such thing!" Liam roared.

He turned to glare at me, his chest expanding as he drew in a deep breath.

"Submit!"

It was the Alpha's Command.

The vocal domination carried a supernatural weight, a pressure wave of sound designed to force lesser wolves to their knees.

The command struck me, a physical force attempting to buckle my shoulders and crush my will. But my Inner Wolf-the hidden, dormant White Wolf-snarled in the back of my mind. I planted my boots on the stone floor and stood perfectly straight, the pressure washing over me like water against a cliff.

Liam looked shocked that his Command had failed.

I stared at him, remembering a hunting trip three years ago.

Elara had deliberately wandered into a patch of Wolfsbane.

Wolfsbane is a deadly purple flower. Even touching its pollen can paralyze a werewolf's nervous system and stop their heart.

When a venomous swamp snake had bitten my leg during the chaos, Liam had looked right at me, bleeding and gasping for air.

Then he had turned his back on me to carry Elara, who only had a tiny scratch from a tree branch.

When we returned, Silas had taken the only Moon-grass-the rare antidote for Wolfsbane-and given it to Elara to soothe her "shock."

I had been locked in my room, forced to use a silver hunting knife to scrape the poisoned flesh and bone out of my own leg without any medicine.

"You should be ashamed, Seraphina!" Freya shouted, stepping out from the crowd.

"If you keep bullying this poor Omega, we will have the Elder strip your Warrior rank and throw you down to the Omega caste—the lowest station in this Pack, where you'll scrub floors and take orders from the wolves you once led!" a Warrior threatened, stepping protectively in front of Elara.

I looked at my own sister, and then at the Warriors I had trained. They were all standing against me, a solid wall of betrayal.

Silas stomped forward, his face purple with rage.

He raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

The sharp crack echoed in the silent room. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

"You ungrateful wretch!" Silas spat, his eyes wide with a frantic need to reassert control over his most valuable asset. "You think your combat skills make you untouchable? You will never be as gentle and obedient as Elara! You will learn your place!"

I slowly turned my head back, wiping the blood from my lip with the back of my hand.

Elara peeked out from behind Liam's broad shoulder.

As she lifted her hand to wipe away her fake tears, she deliberately shifted the collar of her dress.

Resting against her collarbone was a silver Mate-pendant.

It was a sacred amulet. And carved deeply into the metal were two names: Liam & Elara.

She smirked at me, a vicious, victorious little smile that only I could see.

The last thread of my attachment to this Pack snapped.

I turned around and walked out of the tower, my boots hitting the cobblestones with heavy, rhythmic thuds.

I walked straight to the stables and threw the heavy leather saddle onto my massive roan warhorse.

The crowd had followed me out, watching in confused silence.

I swung myself up into the saddle, looking down at Liam and Silas.

"I don't need you, Liam," I declared, my voice echoing off the stone walls of the Pack House.

"I am going into the dark forest tonight. I will hunt the Shadow Beast myself. And I will prove that my honor as a Warrior does not depend on a coward."

I kicked my spurs into the horse's flanks.

The beast reared up with a powerful neigh, and we tore off into the consuming darkness of the forest. I did not look back. If I had, I might have seen the shadow of a much darker betrayal already riding after me.

Seraphina POV:

The wind howled past my ears as my warhorse galloped toward the tree line.

"Stop her!" Freya's shrill voice pierced the night air.

Several Warriors lunged forward to grab my horse's reins, but I cracked my leather riding crop through the air, forcing them to back away.

"Are you insane, Seraphina?" Freya screamed, her face pale in the moonlight. "You are throwing yourself at death just to get a man's attention! The forest is crawling with Rogues tonight!"

Rogues were wolves who had lost their minds and their humanity. Driven only by bloodlust, they tore lone travelers to shreds.

I looked past my sister and saw Liam pushing his way to the front of the crowd.

His face was pale, his eyes wide with a fear so raw I could smell the sour stench of it on the air.

But he wasn't afraid for my life.

He was terrified that I would actually kill a Shadow Beast.

If a female Warrior completed the sacred hunt alone, it would tear his fragile facade to ribbons. It would prove to the entire territory that he was a weak, incompetent Alpha.

"A female Warrior hunting alone is a violation of the Moon Goddess's teachings!" Elder Silas bellowed, waving his fists in the air.

"You are bringing shame and disgrace upon this entire Pack, Seraphina!"

I pulled hard on the reins, making my horse dance nervously in place. I looked down at my father with eyes as cold as ice.

"Then I will be the first to set a new precedent," I sneered.

I shifted my gaze to Liam, who was trembling slightly.

"And don't flatter yourself, Liam," I added, my voice dripping with venom. "This prey is not for you. You don't deserve the dirt under my boots."

Elara stepped forward, clutching her chest as if she might faint.

"Oh, please, Seraphina, it's too dangerous!" she cried, her Omega scent spiking to manipulate the crowd again.

Silas spat on the ground. "Let her go! I curse her to be torn apart by the Rogues! She is no daughter of mine!"

Freya frowned, looking slightly uncomfortable with our father's deadly curse, but she did nothing to stop him.

I didn't wait to hear another word. I spurred my horse and plunged into the terrifying blackness of the Gothic forest.

The trees here were ancient, their twisted branches blocking out the moonlight. The air was thick with the smell of damp earth, rotting leaves, and the distant, metallic tang of blood.

I unslung my silver-enchanted bow from my shoulder.

Suddenly, I heard the heavy thud of hooves behind me.

Liam had mounted his own horse and was chasing after me. He had completely forgotten to limp.

"Seraphina! Stop this madness!" Liam shouted, his horse pulling up alongside mine.

"Go back to your Omega, Liam," I growled, keeping my eyes scanning the dark underbrush for the glowing red eyes of a Shadow Beast.

"You are being irrational!" Liam argued, his voice taking on a honeyed, placating tone meant to twist my reason. "I know you are hurt, but this is not the way. You are a female. You are not built for this kind of slaughter. Let me protect you."

"Protect me?" I laughed harshly. "Like you protected me from the Wolfsbane?"

Seeing that his sweet words weren't working, Liam's face darkened. His true, ugly nature surfaced.

A Shadow Beast leaped from the bushes ahead of us, its dark fur smoking in the cool air.

I instantly drew an arrow, pulling the bowstring taut.

Just as I released the string, Liam violently yanked his horse's reins, steering his massive beast directly into my line of sight.

My arrow thumped harmlessly into the trunk of a dead oak tree.

"Oops," Liam mocked, a nasty smile twisting his lips. "My horse got spooked."

He did it again. And again.

Every time I tracked a beast and aimed, Liam would aggressively cut me off, using his horse to block my shots or making loud noises to scare the prey away.

Because of his malicious interference, the beasts scattered.

Through the Mind-Link, I could hear the other hunters from our Pack claiming the kills.

Got another in the western ravine! a Warrior cheered in my head.

That makes nineteen! another laughed. Hey, has anyone seen Seraphina? Heard she's out here throwing a tantrum.

Let her wander, Freya's husband chimed in through the link. She's just an unwanted she-wolf desperately trying to show off.

I stopped my horse in a small clearing. The silence of the forest pressed in on me.

I did the math in my head.

The Pack seers had predicted exactly twenty Shadow Beasts in the forest tonight. Nineteen had been claimed.

There was only one left.

I took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill my lungs. I was not going back without that beast. I would fight him to the death if I had to.

Suddenly, a frantic voice burst through the Mind-Link.

Alpha Liam! Alpha Liam!

It was one of the border guards.

What is it? Liam snapped back telepathically.

Alpha! That crazed Omega from the lowest caste, the one who's always staring at Elara... he found a dead Shadow Beast! He's dragging it toward the Great Hall right now! the guard panicked. He's shouting to everyone that he's going to use the beast to claim Elara as his mate!

*Liam's horse shifted restlessly, his knuckles white on the reins. That filth wouldn't dare! I'll tear him apart!

He's almost there, Alpha! The whole Pack is watching! the guard screamed. The thought of some lowly Omega making a public claim on his prize, using the very symbol of power he was supposed to provide, sent a jolt of pure fury through him.