Chapter 1

Vane

"I want your daughter."

Four words, and every wolf in the clearing went still.

Our Alpha's voice barely held. "Surely there's something else I can offer. Land. Resources. Wealth."

I stood behind our Alpha with the rest of his guard. What remained of it. Twenty of us had died in the siege, and their bodies still lay in the dirt behind the packhouse, not yet cold, not yet buried.

My lip curled back before I could stop it. My canines ached.

Cain Corvus.

This man wanted more.

He was younger than I expected. Mid-twenties, maybe. Tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and a jaw that hadn't seen a day of softness.

He'd conquered ten packs before ours. Ten. And he stood in our clearing because he owned it now.

His men flanked the tree line, silent. A dozen at least, all watching our Alpha the way wolves watch a wounded deer.

Our Alpha looked nothing like the man who'd led us for thirty years. His shoulders curved inward. Blood still crusted beneath his fingernails.

He looked old. He looked finished.

Behind me, Elara sucked in a breath.

I didn't turn around. But my hand found her wrist and locked.

Elara was my best friend. The Alpha’s only daughter. The only person I had left.

Three months ago, I’d lost my mother. Today, I’d watched my pack bleed for a man who still wanted more.

I was not losing her too.

Cain's gaze moved across the clearing, cold and unhurried. Then it landed on me.

I didn't look away.

His eyes narrowed. I bared my teeth.

Something shifted in his face. Not surprise. A notation.

He filed it away and turned back to our Alpha.

"I don't want your land." Cain's voice was flat. Bored, almost. "I want your daughter. And if you won't give me what I want willingly, I'll take it another way."

Not a threat. A schedule.

I felt Elara's fingers tighten on the back of my jacket.

Elara stepped forward. I yanked her back so hard she stumbled.

The idea was stupid and reckless and the only thing I had. Cain had demanded the alpha's daughter, but he'd never met Elara. He didn't know her face. He knew only the title.

And right now, standing at our Alpha's side with my hand clamped around Elara's wrist, I could be anyone.

My heart hammered so hard I felt it in my teeth. I swallowed it down. I'd made worse bets.

"I'll go."

Every head turned.

I released Elara and stepped forward, past the remaining guard, past the wolves who'd dropped their weapons an hour ago. I stopped three paces from Cain Corvus and lifted my chin.

"I'll be your tribute," I said. "Give me three days to prepare."

Cain studied me. Up close, his eyes were pale gray, sharp and cold enough to burn. The wind carried his scent: cedar and iron and something darker beneath both.

I cataloged his face. The cheekbones cut sharp. The mouth that hadn't smiled in years.

My wolf stirred.

I told her to shut up. This was not the time, and he was not the man.

"Thirty minutes," he said.

"Three days."

"Thirty minutes." He turned his back to me. "Half an hour. Then you come to Darkmoon, or I come back here and take what I was promised."

He walked away. His wolves fell back without a sound.

The clearing felt emptier than it had during the siege. At least during the fighting, I'd known which direction to run.

I stood there for three full seconds before my knees remembered they were angry at me. Then I moved.

My jaw ached from clenching. The Alpha House was loud and falling apart.

Elara caught me in the hallway and pulled me into her so hard I couldn't breathe. She was crying. I wasn't.

I'd learned a long time ago that crying took time I never had.

"You can't do this." She gripped my shoulders, nails biting in. "He asked for the alpha's daughter, Vane. When he finds out you're not—"

"He won't."

"He will! He'll kill you."

"Your pack needs you." I peeled her hands off and held them. They were shaking.

Mine were steady, which was annoying, because it meant the fear was hiding somewhere lower.

"Your family needs you."

"And who do you have?" Her voice cracked. "Who's waiting for you to come home?"

Nobody. That was the answer, and we both knew it.

No mate. No siblings. No one waiting for me except her.

"I'm a warrior," I said. "I know how to protect myself. I'm the right one for this."

"Surviving isn't the same as living."

Something burned behind my eyes. I blinked it away.

I didn't have an answer for that. The clock was ticking, and we both knew it.

Our Alpha appeared in the doorway, his uniform torn at the shoulder. He wouldn't meet Elara's eyes. In his hand, he held a silver chain with a pendant that caught the light.

"Corvus is downstairs," he said. He pressed the necklace into my palm. "Wear this. It'll mask your scent. Make you smell like alpha blood."

I stared at the pendant. Small and silver, heavier than it looked.

"This is what I need." I closed my fist around the chain.

He held my gaze. "The pack thanks you for your sacrifice."

I didn't want thanks. I wanted to hit something. But I nodded and turned to Elara.

Her mouth trembled, but she forced herself to stand still.

I pulled her in and pressed my mouth against her hair. "I already lost too many people today. I'm not losing you."

She squeezed me back so hard my ribs protested.

I memorized the weight of her. The smell of her shampoo. The way her shoulder fit under my chin.

Three sharp knocks. The door didn't wait for permission.

It swung open, and Cain Corvus filled the frame. Not a scratch on him. Not a crease in his coat.

His gaze swept the room and stopped on me.

"What's taking so long?"