"The Seraphina I knew would never be this unreasonable."

I stood there, frozen.

Something cracked open in my chest, and the cold wind howled straight through.

Three years of mating. Three years in those outer territories, choking down broth made from wild roots.

Hands that once held embroidery needles split open at the knuckles from chopping firewood.

When the kindling was too damp to catch, I got on my hands and knees and blew into the stove until tears streamed down my face.

I never once complained.

And in the end, because Ravenna whispered one word of grievance,

he blamed me.

I ran after their carriage.

I just wanted to ask what I had done wrong.

I lost my footing at the cliff's edge. Two lives gone in an instant: mine, and my unborn pup's.

Then came the second life. I was careful beyond measure, steering clear of the cliff, making it back to Aurelia alive. I said every kind word I could think of, poured out every ounce of devotion I had. But he still raised his warpack and stormed the Moonhold Citadel for Ravenna Vargr's sake. The entire Blackthorn bloodline was sentenced to annihilation because of it. I stared at him through burning eyes and asked, "Why?" Why sacrifice so many lives for one Ravenna Vargr? He reached up and wiped the tears from the corner of my eye. "Because she's my sister." "I would betray the whole world to see her happy. What's the erasure of three bloodlines compared to that?" In that moment, I finally understood. Childhood scent-bonded, steadfast mates, all of it was a lie. The only person Fenris Vargr had ever cared about was Ravenna.

……

I pulled myself out of the memories and unclenched my fists, my palms aching where my nails had dug in.

"Father," I said quietly, "I want to enter the Moonhold Citadel."

He blinked in surprise. "You mean you want to join the Alpha Supreme Heir's Luna Selection?"

I nodded.

His lips moved soundlessly for a moment. "Seraphina, even if you don't mate with Fenris, there are plenty of fine young Alphas in Aurelia worth considering. A mating bond is too important a matter to decide out of spite."

I cut him off. "Besides the Alpha Supreme Heir, who in this Dominion outranks Fenris Vargr?"

"The Blackthorns aren't what they used to be. You've already been generous enough to let me sever the scent-bond courtship with the Vargr pack on a whim."

"But I refuse to let our bloodline keep declining."