My fingers clench the fabric so hard the nails dig half-moons into my palm. Quinn's vacant stare, Shawn's soft eyes-everything feels so grotesquely comic I almost burst out laughing, yet the dull weight in my chest swallows the sound before it can escape.

"I." Quinn starts, her eyes flickering, but she says nothing more, just ducks her head with a shy smile.

I turn away, throat constricted. Telling him now would serve no purpose; I am already promised to another. If Shawn is convinced Quinn rescued him, let him keep that belief.

I scoop up my fallen fan and slip into the depths of the garden.

As the she-wolves scatter to admire the blooms, Shawn murmurs to a maid to look after Quinn, his eyes never once drifting my way.

A sharp scream shatters the garden's calm. "Bees! Bees!"

I spin around. Quinn's flailing, a swarm buzzing around her as she swats with her handkerchief.

Maids scramble, waving torches to drive the bees off, but one catches a curtain, and flames leap up, smoke billowing.

"Fire! Run!"

The surge of the crowd knocks me down; ribs blaze as shoes drum across me. Clenching my teeth, I drag myself upright,and spot Shawn ploughing against the flow.

My heart leaps.

But he brushes past me, racing to Quinn. He sweeps her into his arms, and as he turns, his shoulder slams me back to the ground.

My skull slams into the stone steps and the world blurs. Smoke floods my lungs while heat crawls across my skin. Just before the dark takes me, I catch sight of Shawn's steady silhouette, Quinn in his arms, moving away without a backward glance.

Everything fades.

I don't know how long I'm out, but faint sobs pull me back. "Leah, you must hold on. The healer's on his way."

I heard some whispers.

"Diana gave him her best, but Shawn took them all for Quinn."

"We begged him to come, saying you're hurt worse, but he. he didn't care."

My chest aches. But I squeezed my eyes shut.

Suddenly I heard footsteps.

"The healer's here!"

A healer checked my pulse, and the prick of silver needles made me wince, but I was too weak to even groan.

"Her injuries are severe. Why her treatment was delayed." The healer's voice is grim. "She'll live, but she'll suffer."

"She's alive! Thank the stars!" The maids cried bitterly.

I wake up the next day, propping against the headboard.

The healer returns, checks my pulse, prescribes herbs, and orders me to have a good rest.

Outside, servants whisper. "Shawn hasn't visited Leah once."

"Quinn just got spooked, and he's there every day, spoon-feeding her medicine."

My fingers clench, heart sliced open by a dull blade. But I just stroke my bandages, pretending I hear nothing.

While I heal, I begin to arrange my dowry. In the previous life I had packed it with joy, convincing that tying myself to Shawn would open the way to happiness; instead it ushered in a nightmare.

I will not walk that path again.

I catalog my mother's heirlooms,jewelry, silks, paintings and have the deeds to my lands and shops double-checked. Everything's in order.

The next day, the town buzzes.

Shawn arrives with a lavish betrothal procession, and servants crowd the corridors to gawk.

"A bushel of East Sea pearls!"

"Hundred bolts of silk!"

"A pair of rosewood screens, carved with gold!"

Shawn's steward belts out the list as lackeys haul in leather chests. The servants murmur. "Shawn's got deep pockets!"

"Leah and Quinn both get treasures fit for Lunas. Talk about prestige!"

I stand on the porch, watching calmly. The gifts are identical, down to the last pearl, as if to scream that Quinn and I are equals in this bond.

Once the list is finished, the steward raises a polished jade bangle from a lacquered box. "This Yates family heirloom is to be presented by Madam Yates to the next mistress of the den."

Every eye turns to me. As the high-born she-wolf, it should be mine.

But Shawn takes the bangle and strides to Quinn, sliding it onto her wrist. "Wear it," he says softly. "In my heart, you're the only one worthy."

Quinn's eyes light up, though she glances at me, feigning hesitation. "Is this. okay?"

Shawn chuckles. "Leah's big-hearted. She won't mind."

The crowd steals glances at me, pity in their eyes. I just smile faintly and turn to leave.

The bracelet was never mine; I will not bind myself to him, so his heirlooms are unnecessary. When I leave, these gifts will be returned unopened.

Shawn and his entourage depart, but Quinn calls after me, her smile smug. "That scene back there sting, sister?"

I pause but don't look back.

"That bracelet is only the beginning," she murmurs. "Shawn loves me. Even if we both wear his mark, you will remain below me, unloved and alone for the rest of your days."

My fingers shake; that final life is gone. I have vowed not to love Shawn again, and this time I have taken another road, determined not to retrace the old steps.

I close my eyes briefly, then walk away without a word.

Quinn's frustration crackles behind me. Then her gaze sharpens, venomous, as if a new scheme's brewing.

That night, as I settle into bed, my door crashes open. A cold hand yanks my wrist, dragging me from the sheets.

"Leah!" Shawn's voice is ice, his eyes blazing with fury. "How could you be so cruel? Sending wolves to throw your sister in the lake?"

Pain shoots through my wrist as I meet his glare. "I didn't do it!"

"Didn't?" He scoffs.

"Quinn's too kind to lie about you."

In his eyes, Quinn is pure, but what about me?

"I'd never hurt her," I say, voice shaking as I fight the pain.

"I have no reason to hurt her."

"No reason?" His eyes are cold.

"You love me. I love her. That's reason enough."

He flings my arm aside.

"I know everything you've done-staying up all night to nurse me through the fever, taking a blade meant for me, even smashing the zither you loved just to please me."

Each word pales my face further.

"But all I owe you is gratitude," he replies.

"I love your sister. Had you kept to your place, I would have shown you the respect due a mate. Instead you defied me and struck Quinn-an act I will not forgive."

"It wasn't me!" I choke out.

He doesn't listen to me at all.

Grabbing my arm, he barks, "Guards! Throw her in the lake. She stays there till dawn. No one pulls her out without my say."

Icy water closes over me. I surge upward, only to be forced beneath again by the guards. My throat scorches, sight dimming. In the blur, Shawn stands unmoved on the bank while Quinn, cloaked and fragile, presses against him.

"Shawn." Her voice trembles. "She didn't mean it. Forgive her."

"You're too kind," he murmurs, arms around her. "If I don't punish her now, she'll only hurt you worse later."

He tucks her closer. "Don't worry. I'll give you the reins. You'll never suffer."

They turn and leave.

"Shawn!" I scream his name, voice raw.

But he doesn't look back.

Cold slips through to my bone, and I shiver while a hollow laugh rises. If he ever discovers that I was the one who rescued him, the one he ought to have loved, will his heart fracture the way mine is breaking now?

At first light, the guards haul me outside.

My maids swaddle me in blankets, cheeks wet.

"He treats you like this before you even enter the bond," one whispers through her tears. "What will become of you since you're bond with him?"

I'm freezing, lips bloodless, but I shake my head weakly. "I'm. not bonding with him."

"Not bonding with me?" Shawn's voice cuts through.

He stands in the doorway. "Then who else would take you?"