"The Alpha expects you in the Great Hall, Luna Iris."

Mira kept her eyes glued to the stone floor.

"No," I said.

"Iris, please." Mira raised her head, terror tightening her features. "This is the third summons this week. You rejected the first two. You cannot ignore the Alpha of Blackthorn."

"Tell him I am ill. I took a chill by the courtyard." I smoothed my high collar, making sure the fabric shielded every inch of my neck.

"He will not believe it a third time."

"Then let him doubt it," I muttered, turning away toward the arched window.

Six months. For six months, I had played the ghost of Blackthorn Pack.

I was Iris Everhart, a princess of the Everhart Pack. I was raised to understand sacrifice. Royal daughters did not marry for romance; we married to forge alliances, to trade our names for peace treaties. I had made peace with that destiny long before my carriage left my homeland. I knew I would belong to Alpha Zephyr Veyron. I knew I would bear his title as Luna.

I just had not planned on being ruined on the road.

"We need fresh air," I told Mira, breaking the suffocating silence. "Get the willow baskets. We are going to the river."

"My Lady, the guards—"

"Move." I cut in.

Half an hour later, the cold current rushed past my bare calves.

The river marked the southern boundary of the packhouse grounds, shaded by towering pines. I waded into the shallows, a carved hunting dagger balanced in my grip. Mira crouched by the mossy bank with the wicker creel, glancing nervously over her shoulder every ten seconds.

"You should not be standing in freezing water, Luna," Mira fretted. "If Alpha Zephyr hears—"

"Alpha Zephyr does not govern what I do," I said.

The water splashed. A silver trout wriggled against the reeds. With the sharp reflexes of my wolf, I lunged, pinning the slick body against the riverbed before hauling it from the current.

"See?" I offered a faint smirk. "Dinner."

A twig snapped in the forest behind us.

The scent struck me before I heard the footsteps.

Cedar. Fresh snow. Crushed pine.

The trout slipped through my numb fingers and hit the water with a dull thud.

My heart slammed against my ribs like a trapped bird. That smell had haunted my dreams every night for half a year. I remembered those broad shoulders pinning me to the forest moss. I remembered the lean waist, the moon shining on ink-black hair, and the merciless heat of his body anchoring mine, riding out the violent, drug-induced fever after bandits ambushed my caravan.

He had kept my feral wolf from tearing itself apart, knotting himself into my blood until the poison burned out.

And when I woke at dawn, desperate to fulfill my political duty, I had fled back to my guard escort—only to discover he had left an indelible mark branded deep into my collarbone—a silent, dormant brand that strangely bore no Alpha scent, yet burned like hellfire against my skin.

I turned around.

A male stood at the edge of the tree line.

He was tall, broader than any warrior in my father's guard, dressed in dark leather tunic and heavy trousers. His dark hair fell over his brow, framing striking gray eyes that cut right through me.

He stared at me, his gaze dropping to the high neckline of my gown, then rising back to my face.

My voice barely functioned. I forced myself to stand tall, gripping the spear until my knuckles turned white.

"Who is he?" I whispered.

Mira dropped her basket. Pine needles scattered across her skirts as she bowed her head, trembling as she bared her neck in instinctive submission.

"That's Kael Veyron," she choked out. "Alpha Zephyr's younger brother."

The air vanished from my lungs.

*Kael Veyron.*

The male who had touched me in the dark. The stranger who had claimed my body and knotted his bond into my soul.

He was the Alpha's brother.

Kael did not bow. He did not speak. A slow, mocking smirk touched the corner of his mouth, and then he turned back into the shadows of the woods, vanishing as quickly as he had appeared.

"Luna?" Mira was shaking my sleeve.

"Gather the baskets," I whispered, my knees turning to water. "We are going back."

Night fell like a lead weight over the packhouse.

I could not sleep. I tossed across the massive four-poster bed, the silk sheets tangling around my thighs. Every time I shut my eyes, I saw those gray eyes by the riverbank.

If Zephyr discovered the mark on my collarbone, it would mean war between Blackthorn and Everhart. Blackthorn would call it treason. My father would call it disgrace. A contract wedding could only survive if the Luna was clean, and I had arrived at the altar already carrying another wolf's claim.

That was why I had refused Zephyr three times.

A sudden, sharp thud echoed from the corridor outside my chambers.

"Luna Iris!" Mira's voice screamed through the heavy oak door. "Alpha Zephyr is coming down the west hall!"

My blood turned to ice.

The fourth time. He had come himself.

"Iris!" Mira banged on the wood. "He has his enforcers with him! You have to open the latch!"

Before I could throw off the covers, a gust of cold mountain air swept through the open terrace doors. The heavy velvet drapes flared wide.

The familiar scent flooded the room.

Cedar. Crushed pine. Snow.

A figure emerged from the balcony shadows, stepping into the dim candlelight of my bedchamber with total silence.

Kael walked straight to my bed. He didn't hesitate. He kicked off his boots, climbed onto the mattress, and stretched his long frame across the pillows, leaning his head back against the headboard.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, scrambling backward toward the edge of the mattress. "Get out! Zephyr is outside that door!"

Kael turned his gray eyes toward me, a wicked spark gleaming in the dark.

"So," he murmured, his deep voice sliding over my skin like velvet, "you're the Luna."

"What do you want?" I whispered, clutching the high collar of my nightgown against my throat.

Zephyr's heavy tread sounded in the hallway outside, punctuated by Mira's frantic pleading.

Kael did not flinch. He remained stretched across my pillows, crossing his arms behind his head.

"I tore through three territories looking for you," Kael said. The teasing smirk vanished, replaced by an unsettling darkness in his gray eyes. "I searched every riverbank, every ditch. I thought rogue hunters had slit your throat. I thought you died in the woods."

"Keep your voice down," I hissed, stepping toward the bed. "He's right outside that door!"

"And then you walked into the Blackthorn sanctuary," Kael continued, his voice dropping low and raspy. "Veiled in silver silk. Smelling like pine and Everhart blood. My brother's grand bride. You became Zephyr's mate."

Shame burned in my cheeks. "I didn't know who you were. If I had known—"

"Would you have stayed?"

"I had an alliance to seal!" I gripped the bedpost until my knuckles ached. "Kael, please. If Zephyr sees your mark on me, he will execute me. He will declare war on my father. You have to swear you'll keep quiet."

Kael studied me in the dim candlelight. He swung his long legs over the side of the mattress and rose. He stood over me, his broad frame blocking out the warmth of the hearth.

"I won't tell him," he said. He reached out, his thumb brushing against the high seam of my collar, grazing the tender, raised skin hidden beneath. "But Iris, you should know one thing."

"What?"

"I never regretted that night."

A jolt shot down my spine. The mark on my collarbone flared hot, radiating a feverish warmth that rushed straight to my belly. Standing this close to him scrambled my thoughts. My wolf clawed at my chest, begging me to throw my arms around his neck, to press my lips to his jaw, to beg him to sink his fangs into my flesh again.

I shoved his chest and stepped back. "Get out. Now."

Kael caught my gaze, a wicked gleam lingering in his eyes, before he vanished through the balcony curtains into the night fog.

A heavy fist pounded against the oak door.

"Iris!" Zephyr's voice rattled the iron hinges. "Open this door."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and moved to the heavy timber. "I have a violent fever, Zephyr! Stay back!"

Silence dragged on the other side of the oak.

"Tomorrow, then," Zephyr snapped. His heavy footsteps faded down the corridor.

Two nights passed in fragile silence.

Then, the venom returned.

It hit me during dinner. A searing heat ignited in my stomach, spreading through my veins like boiling oil. My skin flushed crimson. I dropped my water goblet, shattering the crystal across the stone floor, and collapsed onto the carpet beside my bed.

The balcony doors rattled open.

A shadow swept into the room.

"Iris?"

Kael was at my side in an instant, his heavy hands gripping my trembling shoulders.

"Someone... someone poisoned me," I gasped, tearing at the neckline of my nightdress. The fabric suffocated me. "The tea... it's the mating toxin again."

"Fuck," Kael growled. His hands moved down my trembling arms. "Who gave it to you?"

"I don't know," I sobbed, clutching his leather tunic, pulling him down until his face hovered inches from mine. "Kael, touch me. Fuck, it hurts. Put your hands on me."

"Look at me, Iris," he demanded, his gray eyes burning into mine. "Say my name."

"Kael," I whimpered. "Fuck me. Please."

He gripped the front of my gown and ripped it down the center. The silk split with a sharp tear, baring my breasts to the chill mountain air. His mouth clamped onto my collarbone, sucking the scar of his mark until I cried out.

He shoved his trousers down and kicked them aside. His cock sprang against my thigh, heavy, rock-hard, and slick with pre-cum against my skin.

He slid his broad hand between my legs, jamming two fingers straight into my cunt.

"You're soaked," Kael rasped, curling his fingers hard inside me. "Dripping all over your husband's sheets. Tell me who you want."

"You, Kael! Fuck, hurry!"

He pulled his fingers out, hooked my thighs over his hips, and drove the blunt head of his cock inside in one deep shove.

A scream ripped from my throat. He stretched me completely full, his thickness burying to the root against my cervix.

"Fuck, you feel so good," Kael grunted, his hips slamming into mine. "Mine. You belong to me, Iris."

"Harder," I begged, digging my fingernails into the thick muscle of his back. "Fuck me harder, Kael!"

He set a punishing rhythm, pulling nearly all the way out before driving back in with brutal force. The headboard hammered against the stone wall. My hips rocked with every thrust, wet sounds filling the quiet room as his balls slapped against my ass. He leaned down, pinning my wrists above my head, and rammed into me over and over until my vision blurred into white sparks.

"Kael—I'm coming—"

"Take it," he growled against my ear.

He drove inside me three more times, brutally hard, before his body stiffened. He buried his face into the curve of my neck, groaning as he spilled deep inside me, pulsing hot and heavy against my cervix. His hips bucked one last time, spending every drop while my walls clenched around him in helpless spasms.

When the fever finally broke, cold terror settled into my bones.

Dawn cracked through the terrace glass.

I sat upright in the shredded bedsheets, my hands shaking as I pulled a blanket over my naked chest.

"If someone finds out..." My voice broke. "Zephyr will skin me alive. And someone poisoned me, Kael. Someone inside this put that venom in my drink."

Kael stood by the bed, pulling his trousers up and fastening the heavy leather belt. His face was stone.

"No one is going to touch you," he said, turning toward me. "I'll be here every night. I'll watch your food, and I'll watch your door until I track down whoever gave you that poison."

"You can't just live in my bedchamber!"

"Try stopping me." He leaned down, resting his palms on the edge of the mattress. "Besides, do you really think Zephyr cares if you're sick?"

I frowned, brushing damp hair from my forehead. "What are you talking about?"

"Zephyr already had a mate," Kael said coldly. "Her name was Talia. A rogue wolf he fell for years ago. She went wild during a border raid and slaughtered three pack elders. The council forced Zephyr to exile her north."

I stared at him. "He loved her?"

"Obviously," Kael sneered. "He only agreed to marry you because your father controls the southern grain supply. You're a contract, Iris. Nothing more."

By midday, the packhouse was alive with activity. Mira entered my chambers carrying a tray of clear broth.

"Mira," I said quietly, sitting by the hearth. "Set the tray down."

She placed it on the oak table. "Are you feeling better, Luna Iris? Alpha Zephyr inquired about your health this morning."

"Who was Talia?"

Mira froze. The silver spoon in her fingers slipped, clattering against the china bowl. The color drained completely from her face.

"Where... where did you hear that name?" she whispered, darting an anxious look toward the hallway.

"Answer me."

"She was..." Mira clasped her trembling hands together. "She was Alpha Zephyr's chosen. Before the council banished her to the northern wastes. Please, Luna Iris, never say that name aloud. The Alpha ordered a warrior whipped half to death last winter just for speaking it."

"So it's true."

"Yes," Mira breathed. "It is."

After that, turning Zephyr away became effortless.

Whenever his summons arrived, I sent Mira with excuses. Whenever he demanded an audience, I claimed lingering weakness from the fever. My guilt evaporated.

Instead, I waited for nightfall.

Every midnight, the balcony doors clicked open. Kael slipped through the shadows into my bed. We tangled in the dark, whispering in hushed tones, trading secrets and sweat until the lines blurred completely.

With each passing week, I forgot the treaty. I forgot the Everhart royal blood in my veins. I forgot that I was the Luna of Blackthorn Pack—and that one day soon, Zephyr would break down the door himself.

One morning, Mira burst into my room without knocking, her face sheet-white.

"Luna," she gasped. "The Alpha is coming."

A fist slammed against the heavy oak.

"Open the door, Iris."

Zephyr's voice went straight through the wood, hard as iron.

My spine locked. My feet rooted to the carpet.

Behind me, warm hands clamped around my waist. Kael pulled me flush against his chest, his mouth grazing the crook of my neck.

"Don't answer," Kael whispered into my ear.

"Stop," I breathed, trying to wrench free. "He's right there!"

Kael didn't let go. His fingers slid beneath the hem of my silk shift, calloused palms skimming up the bare curve of my thigh. He squeezed my hip, his thumb dragging across my skin until a hot spike shot straight between my legs.

"Tell him you're sleeping," Kael murmured against my earlobe, his teeth catching the soft flesh. "You don't want his cold hands on you."

"Iris!" Zephyr pounded the door again. "I know you're awake. Mira said you took supper an hour ago. Unlatch this door."

Panic seized my throat. Kael's hand wandered higher, his fingers parting my thighs, teasing the soaked rim of my heat. He pressed his front against my lower back, fully erect, letting me feel every inch of how much he wanted me to make a noise.

"Zephyr, please," I shouted, my voice trembling. I shoved Kael's chest with my elbow, but he only chuckled, low in his throat. "I'm... I'm unwell. The fever came back. Come back tomorrow!"

"You said that three days ago," Zephyr barked. "I am not waiting until tomorrow. Unlatch it, or I will take the door off its hinges."

"Kael, stop it," I hissed, twisting in his grip. "He'll slaughter both of us!"

Kael slid two fingers straight between my folds, pumping them once, hard. A muffled gasp tore from my lips. His eyes flashed silver in the dim light, reckless and hungry.

"Let him break it down," Kael whispered wickedly. "Let him see how wet his brother makes you."

"Get under the bed!" I shoved him with everything I had, tears of terror stinging my eyelids. "Get down, or I swear to the Goddess, I'll tell him myself!"

Kael studied my face for half a second. The mocking grin slipped, replaced by an irritated scowl.

"You're no fun when you panic, Princess," he muttered.

He dropped to his knees, slid onto his belly, and dragged himself beneath the heavy velvet valance of the four-poster bed. The fabric fell back into place, hiding him completely in the shadows of the floorboards.

My chest heaved. I smoothed my shift down, ran shaking fingers through my hair, and crossed the room.

My fingers fumbled with the heavy iron bolt. I pulled it back.

The door swung inward.

Zephyr stood in the corridor.

He seemed to swallow all the light from the hallway torches. Tall, broad-shouldered, and rigid as carved stone, he wore a black linen shirt open at the throat, exposing the thick muscle of his chest. His features were sharper than Kael's, older, weathered by command. But his eyes were the same chilling shade of gray—only while Kael's burned with wild fire, Zephyr's felt like a freezing gale.

Zephyr stepped past me into the bedchamber without an invitation.

I backed up, keeping my arms crossed over my ribs. "I told you I was resting."

"You've been hiding behind these doors for six months, Iris." He stopped near the center of the rug, turning slowly to face me. "Why are you always hiding from me?"

"I am not hiding."

"Then what do you call this?" His gaze raked down my body, lingering on the high lace collar pinned tightly at my throat. "I summoned you three times this week. You sent Mira with excuses. You spend your days staring at the trees and your nights locked in this room."

"I took ill during the journey from the south," I lied, forcing my voice steady. "My wolf hasn't adjusted to the northern chill. I need rest."

"You look flushed, not sick." Zephyr took a long stride toward me, closing the distance until I could smell the leather of his bracers and the crisp mountain wind clinging to his hair. He reached out, his knuckles brushing my cheek. "Your skin is burning."

"It's just the fever."

His jaw hardened. "You're my Luna, Iris. The pack council wants to see you at the banquet tomorrow night. They're whispering that the southern princess looks down on Blackthorn blood."

"I don't look down on anyone," I muttered, looking away from his piercing stare. "I'll attend tomorrow. Just... let me sleep tonight."

Zephyr didn't move. He lowered his hand, his eyes scanning the quiet room.

Then, his head tilted. His nostrils flared.

The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

"What is that?" he asked quietly.

My heart stopped beating. "What is what?"

"The scent." Zephyr took two steps toward the hearth, his brow drawing into a deep, furious knot. He inhaled again, deep and sharp. "Cedar. Crushed pine needles. Cold snow."

Blood rushed to my ears, roaring like a waterfall.

"Mira brought fresh boughs from the woods this morning," I stammered, stepping between him and the bed. "To clear the air. To help with my lungs."

"Don't lie to me." Zephyr's voice dropped to a dangerous rasp. He turned his head toward the four-poster mattress. "I know my brother's scent. Why does my Luna's bedchamber smell like Kael?"

"You're imagining things, Zephyr."

"I don't imagine scents, Iris." He took another step forward, his eyes fixing on the foot of the bed. "Kael was supposed to be running border patrol at the eastern ridge."

A faint scrape sounded from beneath the wooden frame.

It was tiny—barely the brush of a boot against stone—but to an Alpha wolf, it was a thunderclap.

Zephyr snapped around, glaring directly at the dark fabric draping the floor.

"What's under the bed?" he demanded.

"Nothing."

Zephyr took a violent stride toward the mattress.

If he lifted that valance, he would find Kael. He would smell the sex clinging to the sheets. He would kill Kael, and then he would execute me for high treason before the sun rose.

I didn't think. Instinct took over.

I lunged forward, grabbed both lapels of Zephyr's black shirt with my fists, and yanked him down.

I smashed my mouth against his.

Zephyr stiffened instantly. His body went rigid as granite, shock freezing him in place.

I kept my lips pressed to his, desperate, clumsy, pouring every ounce of terror and false heat into the seam of his mouth. My fingers twisted into the fabric of his shirt, anchoring him, keeping his eyes away from the floor.

"Zephyr," I whimpered against his lips.

For one terrifying second, he didn't react.

Then, something snapped inside him.

A deep growl rumbled from the depths of his chest. His broad hand shot up, fingers tangling viciously into my hair, gripping the back of my neck to hold me still. He shoved forward, slamming my spine against the thick timber of the bedpost.

The tentative contact shattered into absolute violence.

Zephyr parted my lips with his tongue, tasting me with a ferocious, starving hunger that stole the breath straight out of my lungs. He kissed me like a man dying of thirst, bruising my mouth, his teeth catching my lower lip until I tasted salt and iron. His other hand dropped to my waist, hauling my hips up tight against his pelvis.

He was rock-hard. The heavy ridge of his cock pressed through his trousers right against my core, pinning me to the wood.

Underneath the bed, inches below our boots, Kael lay in the dark, watching, smelling his brother taking my mouth.

Zephyr's fingers tore at the tie of my nightgown, ripping the collar open to expose my bare chest to the cold room. His mouth left mine, dropping hot, wet bites down my throat, heading straight for the scarred mark on my collarbone.

"Iris," he groaned, his voice wrecked with sudden desire. "Fuck... finally."

His hands gripped my thighs, hiking my silk shift up to my waist. He was seconds from lifting me onto the mattress. Seconds from ripping his trousers down.

*BAM! BAM! BAM!*

The heavy thuds hammered against the bedroom door.