Chapter 2

Seraphina cut the mindlink and tossed her red hair like she'd just won the whole damn war.

"You wait right there, Silas. Once I'm done with your little sweetheart here, I'm gonna make sure your daddies hear every dirty thing you did today. You hear me, pup?"

Silas's small fingers were shaking against the back of my cloak.

His voice came out so quiet I almost missed it.

"Miss. When they get here, I'll stall them. You run. Please. Don't worry about me."

I turned and looked at his bruised little face.

I smoothed his messy hair down.

"I'm right here, pup. Nobody's laying a hand on you. Not while I'm breathing."

It didn't take half an hour.

A male strode through the trading grounds, six wolf warriors flanking him in a tight V formation. They moved like one body. No words.

No paint. Just that cold, clean weight of warriors who answered to the Sacred Alpha himself.

I knew the male at the front.

When I'd first met Darius, he was a scrappy pup barely promoted out of warrior ranks. Sharp eyes. Sharper mouth. I'd liked him back then. I'd been the one who pushed Aldric to take him on as Beta.

Ten years later, all that kindness had burned right out of him. Now he had the polished edge of a male who'd done a lot of dirty work for the Thornwood Pack.

Seraphina spotted him. Her smile dropped like a stone.

"What the hell. Where's my Alpha?"

Darius didn't even blink.

"The Sacred Alpha is preparing for the Luna's death rites. He has to kneel at the Moon Altar a hundred nights and chant the old prayers before the anniversary."

"He sent me instead. Wrap this up. I have a Pack to run."

His words hit me like cold rain.

The anniversary.

Right. My "death day" was only a few sunrises out.

I remembered it.

The night I drank the slumber draught.

The way Aldric had wrapped himself around my cooling body and refused to let go.

The way Cassian's dragon had screamed inside him until his throat tore open.

And now?

Now they had a fox shifter wearing my face. They couldn't even keep my pup fed.

The Sacred Alpha. The Blood Dragon Lord. Two of the most powerful males alive.

What a load of bullshit.

Seraphina's amber eyes glittered with jealousy.

"It's just a dead female. Why's he wasting prayers on ash? She's been dust for ten years."

Darius shot a glance at me and Silas. He didn't bother hiding the disgust on his face. He shoved a rolled-up scroll at me.

"How much for the tent. Five hundred gold. Don't get greedy."

Then he turned to Silas. His voice dropped colder.

"Young master. The Sacred Alpha is disappointed in you. Why can't you be more like your mother?"

I almost laughed out loud.

Greedy.

Five hundred gold wouldn't even buy the back post of my tent.

I picked up the scroll. Read it once. Tore it in half. Then in half again. I threw the pieces up and let them rain down like ash.

"Not for sale. Not for ten thousand. Not for a hundred thousand. Not for a million."

Darius's lip curled like he'd smelled something rotten.

He'd dealt with my type before. The grasping kind. The ones who held out for a fatter pile of coin. To him, I was just another beggar with her hand out.

"One thousand gold."

"Think hard, female. If you don't sell, the Thornwood Pack has a hundred ways to make sure you don't last another moon on these grounds."

"Trust me. You don't want to find out which one we pick first."

I looked at the new scroll in his hand. Didn't move.

"Fine. You want my tent? Then you buy the whole stretch of land it sits on."

Because the tent was the cheap part.

Every plot of land on this row of the trading grounds was mine.

I'd quietly bought it generations ago. Under another name.

A back door. A safety net. In case I ever wanted to come home.

Nobody could touch it. Not without the blood-signature of one specific heir.

Silas.

Darius's jaw locked. His eyes glazed the way a Beta's do when he's reaching out through pack mindlink.

"Find out who owns this land. I want it bought in three minutes."

Ten heartbeats passed.

Then his face went pale.

A shaky voice came back through the link. Loud enough that even I caught the echo.

"Beta Darius. The land can't be touched. It's tied to the Lyra Nightshade estate. Sealed under blood-claim. Only the named heir — Silas Thornwood — can release it."

Darius froze.

He hadn't heard that name spoken out loud in a long, long time.

Slowly, he turned to look at Silas. His voice dropped to something almost gentle. Almost.

"Young master. Just sign the land over. Call it a peace offering to Lady Seraphina. Don't make this hard on me."

He held out the scroll. Pushed it toward Silas's chest.

Silas didn't even hesitate.

He grabbed it. Shoved it in his mouth. Chewed once. Spat the wet, mangled paper right into Darius's face.

"Anything," he snarled, "anything my mother gave me. Nobody. Touches."

Darius's fangs flashed. He took one step forward.

That's when we all heard it.

The thunder of paws beyond the trading grounds. A whole hunting party, riding hard. Riding furious.

Seraphina shoved Darius out of her way and ran for the gates, all smiles again.

"Useless. Can't even handle one little tent. My Alpha is here. Get out of my sight!"

She spun on her heel. Pointed a clawed finger at me. At Silas. At the watching crowd.

"Oh, sweetheart. You picked the wrong day to play hero."

"Nobody's walking out of here. Not until you're on the ground crying. And trust me. I'll let you know when I'm done."