~SERIS

​"Seris, move! We'll be crushed!"

​I tried to howl, but only a weak, pathetic wheeze came out. I was too small to be seen in the tall grass and too broken to move. I was going to be trampled.

​The first wave hit. A massive gray wolf leapt directly over my head, his paw clipping my ear and spinning me into the dirt. I curled inward, my fragile heart in my throat as I waited for the inevitable. The ground continued to shake, the air thick with sweat and the feral tang of death.

​Then a shadow fell over me. It was so large it felt as if a cloud had eclipsed the moon. A low, guttural snarl ripped through the air, sinking into my bones. An impossibly powerful presence came to a violent halt right over my body. He stood over me like a fortress, his massive legs forming a cage of safety as the rest of the pack raced around him like a river hitting a boulder.

​I could only focus on one thing-his amber eyes, burning like the pyre that had just died.

​His scent washed over me, my back arching as my senses snapped to life. The world fell away until he was the only presence that mattered. Violent, beautiful electricity crackled through the air between us. Every nerve ending I had screamed in recognition. My weak, sputtering heart gave a sudden, forceful thump of pure strength. Some of the pain receded.

​"Mine," Xena's voice was no longer faint. "MINE!"

​I reached out, rolling toward his heat, my fur brushing against his tree-trunk legs. He didn't recoil from me-the runt. He stood there, a titan amongst wolves, shielding me. Time stretched on, peaceful and safe. Despite my exhaustion, I didn't slip into the dark again. I watched him, and he watched me, the heat between us buzzing like a live wire.

​I don't know how much time passed, but when I finally snapped out of it, the thundering paws had faded. Slowly, soft whining filled the air-the yipping of wolves doubling back in pairs. Mates had been found.

​The giant didn't make a sound. He lowered his head, his snout bigger than my entire torso. The gentle pressure of his teeth nipped into my scruff, lifting my frame from the dirt with surprising tenderness.

​He turned back toward the Lunar Verge, carrying me toward the pyre that had been lit again. My journey up the slope should have been nerve-wracking, but with Xena's excited whining echoing in my head, I had no room for fear.

​"I got a big one," she yipped. "He saved us."

​Her joy crept into me, lightening my weary soul. I let her optimism leech into me, letting hope sweep in. Maybe I could be happy.

​Or maybe we would be rejected. No wolf of this size and prowess would accept a bond with a runt.

​I'd been so inside my own head that I didn't realize we had stopped. I raised my head, finally noticing the utter silence.

​All eyes were on us. The whole pack stared, mouths agape and eyes wide. Then I was placed down, coming face-to-face with the Alpha.

​His hazel eyes bore into me, the loathing within them piercing my skin. "Shift," he ordered.

​The command pushed against my very being, spearing through me and unraveling my wolf form in an agonizing instant. My human form was left bare and trembling before his gaze.

​"You," he growled.

​I flinched.

​Then he raised his head to the wolf who'd brought me. "Son, what is the meaning of this?"

​The wolf morphed back, returning to human form. Amber orbs turned hazel; a crown of dark, tousled hair and tan skin pulled taut over an athletic body. His eyes didn't meet mine as he replied.

​"Seris Sullivan is my mate."

​The silence following Sylus's declaration pressed against me like an anvil.

​"No," Alpha Zander hissed, the word vibrating with a low growl that made the ground shake. "The Moon Goddess would not be so cruel as to mate my son to a defect. A fucking curse in skin. Reject her, now."

​The demand hit like a physical blow.

​The Beta stepped forward-my uncle Osric. His brows were furrowed with concern, a wool cloak in his hand. "Are you okay?"

​"I am fine, Uncle," I lied. I couldn't tell him it was his own daughter who had almost killed me.

​He reached out to drape the cloak over me, but it was snatched away. A gasp rippled through the pack as Sylus didn't just take the cloak; he wrapped me in it himself. Heat bloomed where he touched me, the mate bond singing beneath my skin. I wanted to lean into him, to let his warmth chase away the cold, but I forced myself to stay still.

​"She is staying," he said, his voice a stoic beat.

​"Don't touch her!" Rielle shrieked from the crowd. She stepped forward, her face contorted with shock and jealousy. "She is a fucking witch! She killed-" She bit her tongue, catching my uncle's warning glare.

​"Beta Osric, my son's fiancée did not lie," Alpha Zander growled. "She is a murderer."

​"She was a child-" my uncle protested.

​"She was fifteen! Old enough to know that entering the Blood Grove was a death sentence!" The Alpha bellowed in his Beta's face.

​I fought back a wave of guilt, biting my lip until it bled.

​"And yet she did it, and got her parents killed trying to save her."

​Tears welled in my eyes. He was right. Even if I didn't know how I'd ended up in that part of the woods, my parents had died saving me from the attackers lurking there. Some of the pack members wiped their own tears; my father had been a beloved Beta, and my mother, the head healer.

​The Alpha turned from my uncle to me, pointing a finger, his tone acidic. "You are the reason I lost my best friend and this pack's greatest healer. You are a curse unto this pack-no different from a witch."

​I dropped my head, my face heating with humiliation.

​"No one deserves the punishment of being your mate," he snarled. "And still you disobeyed my orders to find a way onto sacred ground." He closed the distance in threatening strides, his claws retracting and gleaming in the moonlight. "I will gut you like a pig-"

​A large shadow fell over me as Sylus moved to shield me. My heart lunged into my throat.

​"Keep the claws from my mate, Alpha," he drawled.

~SERIS

I blinked; the heir had called his father by his title.

​Even the Alpha halted-stunned. "What do you think you are doing, son?" he snapped. "You dare challenge me for a vermin?"

​"The Goddess made a choice, Alpha, and I will uphold it."

​My breath hitched, the pack gasping in shock.

​The Alpha's eyes widened. "You will accept the bond?"

​Sylus did not waver, his voice rivaling that of his father. "We have lost kin, friends, foes, and land to the monsters beyond our borders. We find ourselves in an era of relative peace after so many years of war. As heir to the Howlridge pack, I will not draw the wrath of the Goddess because of old grievances."

​"She is the reason we lost the war!" the Alpha roared.

​I held back a sob. For all his hate, he was right. If I had not gotten my parents-high-ranking wolves-killed, we could have won against the Darkpine pack.

​"Yet you crave another war, Alpha?" Sylus countered. "When the Goddess lays ruin to us?"

​The Alpha's anger flushed his face red, but Sylus was already on the move.

​"I will claim my mate," Sylus proclaimed with no hesitation. "And if you are opposing-" He shrugged off his leather jacket, revealing bulging arms adorned with ink. He cracked his neck. "Then I would prefer we settle it with a Mauling."

​My blood ran cold, dread raking through my spine.

A Wolf duel...

He could die-they both could die. Why was Sylus doing this?

​"No..." I whispered. Instantly, the pack turned to me. "I will accept the rejection, Alpha."

​I locked eyes with Sylus, my breath catching. In an instant, I was pulled to him. His eyes bore into me, the darkness in their depths filling with equal parts terror and desire.

​"She is mine-whether she accepts it or not." He made sure the pack heard him. My heart skipped a beat.

​Rielle's sobbing grew louder.

​"I will not fight my own son," the Alpha growled.

​"But you will reject his mate?" Sylus retorted. "Accept her, or step into the circle."

​The pack seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the Alpha to decide.

​"Let's go by vote," I muttered. "Let the pack decide."

​"No one will choose a cursed wolf as a Luna!" the Alpha barked at me.

​But Sylus had already faced the pack, his voice carrying. "Choose, then." He hooked an arm around my waist possessively. "Would you rather risk angering the Moon Goddess, or accept what fate has given us?"

​Silence stretched, taut as a bowstring. Then my uncle stepped forward. "I vote to accept."

​Murmurs rippled through the crowd. A few heads nodded hesitantly.

​"Anyone else?" Zander's voice dripped venom.

​Slowly, the pack members raised their hands-all except for Rielle.

​Zander's jaw clenched, fury radiating off him in waves. "Fine." The word was acid. "You want the cursed runt? Have her." He jabbed a finger at me. "But she will be trained. She will serve this pack. And she will give you an heir." His smile turned cruel. "Three days. You'll wed in three days."

​"Of course, father," Sylus replied.

​My eyes widened at the fact that he did not object to marrying me.

​"But it will come with a condition," Alpha Zander added, his voice dripping bitter malice. "The moment her 'curse' claims a single Howlridge life. The moment one drop of pack blood is spilled because of her presence, you will not just reject her. You will be the one to open her throat. If you won't, I'll make you watch while I do it myself. Is that clear, Heir?"

​"Crystal," Sylus replied.

​My heart sank into my stomach.

-

"I will take you, Seris Sullivan, as my mate and wife, while my bones still stand and my blood still flows.

I will shield you from blade and claw.

I will hunt for you when you hunger.

I will kill for you when you are threatened.

And I will burn the world to ash before I let it take you from me."

His grip on my hand tightened.

"This I vow, before the Moon Goddess and this pack."

Each declaration sank into me like claws as intense as the man himself. Despite everything, I felt myself drawn to that darkness.

My gaze flicked to the single Veloris lily nestled in my white bouquet-my mother's favorite, sent by my uncle. Grief tried to rise, but I shoved it down.

The vows were exchanged along with the rings that gleamed under the silver light of the moon above the atrium.

"Seal the vows with a kiss," the officiant said.

My pulse thudding, Sylus lifted my veil. My breath fractured at the sight of his face, carved in stone and betraying no emotion as he leaned down to kiss me.

It was a simple brush of the lips, but a searing heat lit my spine. Xena howled in delight, but Sylus did not linger.

My aching body mourned the absence, while the pack offered reluctant applause. Yet, it did not change the fact that I had married the man I had secretly loved since the night of the attack that killed my parents.

Without another word, Sylus swept me into his arms, carrying me off the altar as the clapping faded behind us. The sudden closeness made my pulse thunder. I had secretly loved this man since the night he saved me from the attack that killed my parents. Now I was his wife... and I had no idea what waited behind closed doors.

The heavy oak door to our chambers had barely clicked shut before he set me down and circled behind me.

My nipples hardened when his hand brushed back my hair to zip down my dress. My exposed back seared from the scalding heat of him. I arched against him as his head dipped down to my ear.

His husky voice rang cold as he spoke. "I will never love you."

What?!

My heart fractured even as traitorous heat bloomed low in my belly. Tears sprang to my eyes in an instant, but I forced them down.

My breath hitched, back aching as a cloth fell over my eyes. "But I will fuck you like I do," he swore, tying the blindfold tight.