"Get on your feet."

Garrick, Kael’s scarred Beta, yanks the heavy silver chain attached to my collar.

The metal bites into my neck, cutting off my air. I stumble forward, my bare feet dragging across the rough stone floor of Ironfang Keep.

"I'm moving," I snap, my voice raspy from disuse.

"Move faster. The Alpha doesn't like to wait."

He yanks the chain again. I slam my shoulder into the stone wall. Pain flares down my arm, but I push myself off the wall and keep walking.

For over two years, I have counted the cracks in these bricks. My blood fills every crevice. Every corner of this fortress holds a memory of my torture.

"Where are we going?" I demand.

"You have a role to play today."

We turn a corner. Black obsidian stones and twisted thorn wreaths decorate the grand hallway. The scent of winter roses hangs in the air.

It is a political union. The lords of the North demand a proper Luna, and Kael is giving them one.

Garrick shoves me through a pair of heavy oak doors into the chapel’s dressing room.

He drives his heavy boot into the back of my knee.

My joint buckles. I crash onto the hardwood floor, my knees hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Stay down." Garrick thrusts a small velvet cushion toward me.

Resting on top is a massive obsidian ring. The Luna’s band.

I stare at the black stone. "Give it to her yourself."

"You'll hold it, prisoner, or I'll break your fingers one by one."

"Try it. I heal faster than you can break them."

"Not anymore," he sneers. "You look paler every day, mutt."

I look past Garrick. Kael stands in front of a tall mirror at the far end of the room. He wears a tailored black suit. His golden-green eyes meet mine through the reflection.

"You look miserable for a groom," I tell his reflection.

"And you look exactly like what you are," Kael shoots back, turning around. "A murderer in chains."

"I didn't kill them, Kael. Two years, and you still haven't found a single piece of proof."

"I don't need proof. I have you."

"Is that why you're marrying her? To secure the northern borders so you can keep torturing me in peace?"

He crosses the room in three massive strides. He grabs my chin, his large fingers digging into my jaw.

"I'm marrying Lilith because she is loyal. Something you know nothing about."

"She's a political pawn."

"She's my Luna."

"You promised that title to me once."

His grip tightens until my teeth grind together. "I told you to forget that night."

"I refuse to. It's the only thing keeping me sane in this hellhole."

"Then you'll go mad."

He drops his hand and turns away just as footsteps approach from the hallway. A rustle of heavy silk follows.

Lilith steps into the room. Her white wedding gown drags across the floorboards, scattered with tiny diamonds that catch the light.

"Is this the little spy?" she asks, her voice coated in fake sweetness.

"Yes, my lady," Garrick replies, stepping back.

Lilith stops right in front of me. She looks down at me, her eyes filled with disgust.

"She smells like copper and defeat," Lilith complains.

"She won't be here long," Kael says, adjusting his cuffs.

Lilith reaches out and pinches the obsidian ring between her manicured fingers.

She lifts it to the chandelier, inspecting the dark jewel.

"It feels light," she murmurs. "Are you sure this is the real Luna ring, Kael?"

"It belonged to my mother," he answers flatly.

Lilith's smile falters for a second, but she recovers quickly. She opens her fingers.

The ring clatters onto a silver tray resting on the vanity table. The tray is completely filled with sharp, upright silver nails.

"Pick it up, Silverblood mutt." Lilith smiles, her red lips curving upward.

"Pick it up yourself."

She kicks my injured shoulder. "You are a captive of this pack. You obey."

I look at Kael. "Is this how you let your bride behave? Like a spoiled child?"

"Watch your mouth," Garrick warns, stepping forward with his hand on his blade.

"Let her speak," Lilith laughs. "It's amusing. A dog barking at its betters."

"I am an Alpha's daughter," I growl, glaring up at her. "I bow to no one."

"You bow to my future husband," Lilith replies. "And you will bow to me. Pick up the ring."

I turn my attention back to the silver tray. The nails gleam under the bright lights.

I press my right hand flat against the spikes.

The metal pierces my flesh instantly. The silver burns like fire.

I bite the inside of my cheek to stop the scream. White smoke erupts from my palm. The foul stench of burning meat fills the small room.

I curl my fingers inward, grasping the obsidian ring.

Blood drips from the back of my hand. A single red drop splashes onto the pristine white hem of Lilith’s gown.

It sizzles, burning a tiny hole through the silk.

"My dress!" Lilith shrieks, jumping back. "You filthy animal!"

She raises her hand to strike me.

"Enough," Kael commands. His voice is absolute ice.

Lilith freezes. "She ruined my gown, Kael! Look at it!"

"Don't stain the rug," he says, staring directly at my bleeding hand. "Leave the ring on the table."

I drop the obsidian band back onto the vanity. The silver poison races through my veins, making my vision blur.

Lilith pouts, snatching the ring from the table. She rubs the black stone against her dress, then slides it onto her finger.

She walks over to Kael and wraps her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his.

"Darling," she purrs. "I want to hear her sing tonight."

"She doesn't sing," Kael replies, his jaw tight.

"But I heard a Silverblood's whine sounds like a nightingale. Let her entertain the guests during the reception."

"She stays outside."

"Just for a little while? It would be so fun."

"I said she stays outside, Lilith. Do not push me on this."

Lilith sighs dramatically. "Fine. You're no fun."

Garrick grabs my chain again. "Let's go, mutt."

He drags me out of the dressing room. Kael never looks back.

Garrick hauls me through the courtyard. The northern wind howls, carrying the bitter sting of frost. The sky above Ironfang Keep is entirely black.

He shoves my back, forcing me against a massive silver pillar just outside the chapel doors.

"Stay put."

He yanks my arms around the thick column and locks the heavy cuffs around my wrists, securing me to the freezing metal.

The silver immediately burns my skin. I grit my teeth, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a scream. My knees hit the icy cobblestones.

Garrick checks the padlock. "Enjoy the music."

"You're making a mistake, Garrick," I tell him. "He's going to destroy this pack."

"He's saving it from trash like you."

He walks back inside, pulling the heavy chapel doors shut.

The massive organ roars to life.

The deep, vibrating notes rattle the stained-glass windows above me. The sound is deafening, vibrating straight through my skull.

I lean my head against the cold stone base of the pillar.

Snow begins to fall, dusting the courtyard in a thick layer of white.

Through the slight crack in the heavy doors, the priest's voice echoes out into the freezing night.

"Do you, Kael Vane, take Lilith to be your Luna?"

"I do."

"To protect this pack, to enforce its laws, and to rule with eternal loyalty?"

"I swear it."

His voice is steady. Unshaken. There is no hesitation.

I close my eyes. The vows hammer against my mind, louder than the organ music. Two years of holding onto a ghost, and this is how it ends.

I open my right hand.

Snowflakes land directly on my ruined palm.

I stare at the gaping hole left by the silver nails.

Three hours have passed since I touched the tray in the dressing room. The ceremony inside is dragging on, moving from vows to rituals.

The edges of the wound are black and jagged. The flesh is completely dead.

I don't feel the freezing snow. I don't feel the sting of the winter wind.

The wound hasn't closed.

My heart skips a beat. A cold dread settles deep in my stomach, heavier than the chains binding my wrists.

Silverblood wolves heal in minutes. Even deep silver burns fade within an hour.

But my skin is just dead.

The regenerative power in my blood is fading. The silver sand in my hourglass is running out, dripping away with every drop of blood I lose.

I am far from the Moon Blessed Lands. The curse is finally taking hold.

I look up at the dark, starless sky.

Twenty-nine days.

I have exactly twenty-nine days left to live.

And Kael Vane is going to spend every single one of them making me suffer.

A sudden, sharp crack echoes from the woods beyond the courtyard walls.

I snap my head toward the tree line.

A pair of glowing red eyes stares back at me from the shadows.

"Why am I here, Kael?" I demand, straining against the thick leather straps binding my wrists and ankles.

The blinding surgical lights overhead force me to squint. The harsh glare reflects off the cold alloy table beneath my spine. The sterile stench of bleach coats the back of my throat, failing to mask the heavy, metallic smell of old blood lingering in the room.

"Lilith's Beta body is failing," Kael replies. He stands near a metal tray, adjusting the collar of his white medical coat.

"Failing at what?"

"Carrying my heir."

"She's barren."

"Watch your tone, prisoner," Lilith snaps from the adjacent hospital bed. She props herself up on a pile of plush pillows, glaring at me.

"It's the truth," I shoot back. "And how does strapping me to an operating table fix her?"

"Lilith needs your Silver Marrow," Kael states. "And you're the only living Silverblood who can provide it."

He picks up an electromagnetic scalpel. The tip hums to life, emitting a vicious violet glow.

"You're insane," I gasp, thrashing against the restraints. "An extraction that deep could kill me."

"A normal wolf would die. Silverbloods regenerate."

"Not from the sternum! Kael, the marrow binds my wolf to my body!"

"Stop lying," Lilith whines, crossing her arms. "You just don't want to help the pack. Kael, she's trying to scare me."

"Quiet, Lilith," he orders without looking at her. "It will be over soon."

"Where is the anesthesia?" I ask, my voice trembling as he steps closer.

"We don't waste sedatives on traitors."

"You're going to butcher me awake?"

"Consider it payment for my parents."

"I didn't take them!"

"Hold still."

He presses his left hand flat against my collarbone, pinning me down with crushing force.

"Wait. Kael, please."

He lowers the blade. The violet energy slices straight through the skin and muscle over my sternum.

"Ah—!" I scream, arching my back off the metal surface.

The leather straps groan under my desperate struggle. Fire rips through my chest.

He tosses the scalpel aside and grabs a heavy steel marrow drill.

"Don't do this!"

He plants the serrated tip against my exposed breastbone and pulls the trigger.

*Crunch.*

The drill punches through my sternum. The sound echoes through the clinic, a sickening grind identical to a saw biting into frozen wood.

I scream until my vocal cords tear. Blood fills my mouth, choking my cries into wet, gurgling sobs.

Kael fits a thick extraction needle into the hole in my breastbone and drives it deep into the marrow cavity.

Silver-blue light floods the glass chamber attached to the needle. It pulses in time with my heartbeat—the living marrow that binds every Silverblood wolf to their human body.

Our eyes lock.

For a fraction of a second, the dead winter in his golden-green gaze shatters. His jaw tightens. A sharp flash of raw, undeniable pain crosses his features. His hand trembles around the extraction handle.

"Kael?" I whisper, blood bubbling past my lips.

The hesitation vanishes instantly. Pure ice reclaims his expression.

"For the pack," he mutters.

He twists the valve and pulls the plunger.

"No!"

The needle tears a stream of radiant marrow from my bones.

My vision goes entirely black. The world drops out from underneath me.

Every organ in my body violently seizes. I choke on the thick, metallic foam rising in my throat, my spine bowing off the table in a massive, uncontrollable spasm.

"Is it done?" Lilith asks, leaning over the edge of her bed.

"The marrow is pure."

Kael pulls the blood-slick needle from my chest. The extraction chamber is half full of glowing silver-blue fluid.

I lie paralyzed on the alloy table, staring blindly at the ceiling. The deafening roar of my own erratic heartbeat fills my ears.

He transfers the radiant marrow into a large medical syringe.

He steps over to Lilith's bedside.

"Kael, be gentle," she whimpers, offering her pale arm. "I'm afraid of pain."

"I know." He leans down, pressing his lips softly to her forehead. "It won't hurt soon."

He pushes the needle into her vein.

I turn my head weakly, forcing my eyes to focus on my own ruined body.

The drilled wound in my sternum gapes open beneath the harsh clinic lights.

Before Kael chained me in Ironfang Keep, my flesh would have knit together in three seconds. Muscle and bone would have sealed seamlessly.

Now, I watch the sluggish, agonizing crawl of tissue trying to repair itself.

One minute passes. Two.

Three full minutes tick by before the skin finally seals over my damaged breastbone.

The new scar isn't the usual faint, shimmering silver of my bloodline. It is a necrotic, dead gray.

Kael walks past my table toward the exit, wiping his hands on a towel.

He tosses a crumpled, blood-soaked gauze pad onto my stomach.

"Don't play dead," he orders, stopping at the door. "I'm taking another dose tomorrow."

"You drill into me again..." I cough, spitting a red glob onto the floor. "...and there won't be anything left to torture."

"Then you better heal fast."

The heavy steel door slams shut. The magnetic lock engages with a loud click.

Silence fills the sterile room.

I reach up with trembling fingers and touch the dead gray scar on my chest.

A broken laugh escapes my throat.

Tears spill over my temples, mixing with the blood smeared across my cheeks. The warm liquid pools inside my ears.

I laugh harder, my shattered ribs aching with every breath.

He doesn't know.

He thinks I am just another wolf. He thinks I will bounce back to entertain his cruelty.

One extraction weakens a Silverblood. A second cripples the wolf within. A third severs the bond between wolf, body, and soul. The physical body turns to ash soon after.

Nine days have passed since the wedding.

I only had twenty-nine days left to live then.

Now, I have exactly twenty days left before the curse of leaving the Moon Blessed Lands claims me.

Tomorrow, he will drain what remains of my Silver Marrow.

I will dissolve into ash right in front of him, and he will never get the answers he wants.

A low scraping sound interrupts my laughter.

I freeze, turning my head toward the ceiling.

The heavy iron ventilation grate above the door rattles.

The screws pop loose, clattering onto the tile floor.

A massive shadow drops silently from the ceiling, landing in a crouch beside the surgical supply cabinets.

Two glowing red eyes pierce the darkness of the clinic, staring directly at my exposed, ruined chest.

"Found you," a raspy, unfamiliar voice growls.