Chapter 2

The water in the dungeon cell was laced with wolfsbane, a brew meant to smother a werewolf's healing. It bit to the bone.

My shattered hands soaked in the murk, flesh gone pale and raw. Every ripple sent a white-hot spike of pain through the broken bones.

But despair never came.

I leaned against the moss-slick wall, staring up at the iron grate, waiting for the next command I'd be forced to obey.

I didn't wait long. The grate clattered open, and blinding sunlight flooded in.

Beta guards dragged me out and dumped me on the freezing marble of the great hall like trash.

Inside, my family was having breakfast.

Lilith sat in my seat, Enzo feeding her bites of roast with his own hand.

At the sight of me — the wreck I'd become — a flicker of triumph crossed her eyes. Then she shrank into herself and burrowed into his arms.

"Elara… what happened to you?" Her voice trembled, her eyes glistening. "I hate you for what you did to me, I really do. But you're still my sister. Seeing you like this… it breaks my heart."

"Lilith, you're too kind for your own good," Mother said, stroking her hair.

But when she turned to look at me, her eyes were pure ice. "That poisoner deserves everything she got and more."

I lay there, my ruined hands weeping rank blood onto the polished marble. I didn't speak. I just waited for the next verdict.

Father slammed his goblet down. "Show some remorse, Elara! Lilith can barely tolerate the scent of wolves now, because of your poison! Surrender your Moonstone to her so she can recover. Consider it penance."

The Moonstone was the token the Moon Goddess had given me at birth. Bound to my blood, it was my only proof of rightful place in this family.

Tearing it out would be no different from carving out my living heart.

"Fine."

I tore open the rags over my chest. No knife. I drove the jagged ends of my broken fingers straight through the flesh over my heart.

Blood burst free. Under the horrified stares of my parents and brother, I dug the glowing Moonstone from my chest with my ruined hands.

Clink.

The blood-soaked stone landed at Lilith's feet.

Second bond severed: my identity. Second act of obedience. Done. Five left.

The clatter of cutlery died. Derek's hand froze mid-air. Martha went sheet-white. Even Carl jerked his head away, unable to look at the gaping wound in my chest.

Once, the slightest scrape had me sobbing in my parents' arms. Now I'd carved out my own heart without a flinch.

But that shock faded fast. Lilith's eyes were fixed on the stone at her feet, naked greed burning in them.

The next second, she clutched her chest and gave a sharp, gasping breath.

"Lilith! What's wrong?!" Enzo gathered her into his arms.

"Enzo… the mark on Elara's neck… it's so bright it hurts my eyes." She pointed at the mate mark on the right side of my neck and tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Every time I see it, I feel like the outsider. I wasn't born a wolf. I'll never have a mate mark of my own… I'm just so… lesser than her."

Enzo's face darkened. He turned and stared at my neck like it was something filthy.

By pack law, a mate mark bound two souls together. It could only ever be removed by death.

To strip it by force was to tear through the soul bond itself — and cost you half your life.

"Elara," Enzo said, his voice cold as a blade, "a poisoner like you doesn't deserve my mark. Wearing it is an insult to me."

He crossed the room and stood over me. "You've lost your hands and surrendered your keepsake, but that's not enough. If you have a shred of regret, destroy that mark yourself. Stop rubbing it in her face."

The hall went deathly still. Carl and my parents sucked in their breath.

They hated me, yes. But even they knew that ripping out a mate mark alive was crueler than death.

"Enzo, isn't this going too far—" Martha began — but just then Lilith let out a thin, pitiful whimper from her chair, and the words died in her throat.

"Too far?" Enzo sneered. "She didn't think poisoning was too far, did she? I want her to understand that being my mate means less than nothing to me!"

He snatched the silver steak knife off the table and hurled it clattering at my feet.

"You do it, or I do?" he barked.

Staring at the blade on the floor, I felt no tears. No panic. No anger. The old me would have been on my knees, sobbing, begging him to go easy.

Now all I felt was relief.

"All right," I said quietly. "I'll obey."

With my ruined hands, I trapped the knife handle between the broken bones of my fingers.

Bone scraped against torn flesh, and pain shot through me hard enough to blur my vision.

I lifted my head and looked calmly at Enzo. His brow was knotted, as if waiting for me to crack and beg.

Instead, I turned my head and pressed the blade to the mark on my neck.

It sank into flesh without a moment's hesitation.

"Elara!" Carl shot to his feet, knocking his chair over.

The silver began to hiss against my skin. I kept cutting, working the knife along the edge of the mark, inch by inch.

Flesh peeled back. Blood poured down my neck, soaking my rags. The wrenching pain of my soul being torn loose sent black spots swimming across my vision.

My body spasmed on instinct, but I clamped my jaw and made not a sound.

"You're insane! Completely insane!" Enzo's pupils shrank.

Watching me butcher myself in silence, he actually stepped back, fists clenched until the veins stood out on his hands.

I ignored him. The blade moved again. Once. Twice.

The last thread of flesh gave way, and Enzo's mark came free.

Blood loss and the tearing of my soul left me barely able to breathe. I forced in one last breath, then gathered the ragged, blood-slick strip of flesh with my useless hands and held it out to him.

"Alpha Enzo." My voice came out ragged through the wound in my throat, but it remained steady. "Your mark. Take it back."

As I released it, my third act of absolute obedience was complete.

Enzo stared at the flesh, his face white as paper. He stumbled back as if he'd seen a ghost, then slapped it from my hands and sent it skidding across the floor.

"You—! Drag her out of here!" he roared, his voice shaking. "Don't let Lilith look at her another second!"

That barely concealed flicker of panic in his eyes drew a cold smile from me.

Then darkness took me.

As it pulled me under, only one thought remained.

Four left.