Chapter 2

The SUV was armored—reinforced steel, bulletproof glass, the scent of cedar and old leather. A man sat across from me, silver-haired, sharp-eyed, his posture rigid with decades of authority.

"Miss Sera. I'm Elias, your grandfather's Beta. He sent me personally."

I stared at him, my mind reeling. The rejection wound on my neck throbbed with every heartbeat. "I haven't had any contact with the Thornwood bloodline since I was a child. My mother erased everything. She said they'd kill me if I went back."

"Your mother was trying to protect you," Elias said carefully. "But circumstances have changed. Your grandfather, Alaric Thornwood—the Alpha King—has been poisoned. Slow-acting silver compound in his bloodstream. The healers give him weeks. Possibly less."

My chest tightened. I barely remembered my grandfather—just a tall figure with warm hands and a voice like rolling thunder. My mother had taken me from the Thornwood estate when I was five. She never told me why.

"There's more." Elias opened a leather case and slid a document toward me. "Your grandfather named you his sole heir. You are the next Alpha Queen."

I blinked. "That's impossible. What about his brother? His nephew?"

"Your uncle, Fenris Thornwood, has been contesting the succession for years. He's ruled the five packs in your grandfather's absence and has no intention of stepping aside. He believes the crown belongs to his son, Cain."

"Then why me?"

"Because your grandfather trusts no one else." Elias met my gaze. "And because Fenris is the one who's been poisoning him."

The SUV climbed a mountain road. Pine forests blurred past the tinted windows.

I looked down at the document. The Thornwood line controlled all five major packs—Ironmaw, Bloodfang, Nighthollow, Silvercrest, and Stormpeak. Over fifty thousand wolves. Territories spanning three states. The most powerful werewolf dynasty in the Western Hemisphere.

Three hours ago, my mate told me I was worthless.

"What does my grandfather want from me?" I asked quietly.

"He wants you to come home, claim your birthright, and stop Fenris before he destroys everything the Thornwood line has built." Elias paused. "He also wants you to know he never stopped searching for you. Not once in twenty years."

Something cracked inside me. I pressed my lips together and stared out the window.

The Thornwood estate appeared just before midnight—a stone fortress carved into the mountainside, surrounded by ancient oaks and ringed by watchtowers. Armed wolves patrolled every entrance.

Inside, the main house was oppressively quiet. A healer led me to a chamber on the second floor.

My grandfather lay in bed, gaunt and gray, his massive frame reduced by poison. But when he saw me, his eyes—golden, wolf-bright—blazed like a flame catching.

"Sera." A fragile whisper. "You look just like your mother."

I knelt beside his bed and took his hand. Cold. Paper-thin over bones that had once commanded armies.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner," I said, my voice breaking.

"You're here now." He squeezed my fingers. "There's something you need to know—something your mother never told you."

He coughed. The healer stepped forward. He snarled her away with a flash of Alpha authority that even illness couldn't extinguish.

"Your mother didn't leave because she wanted to. Fenris threatened her. He told her if she didn't take you and disappear, he'd kill you in your sleep. You were five years old."

The room tilted. "What?"

"He wanted the crown for his bloodline. You were the obstacle." My grandfather's golden eyes burned with fury. "I've spent twenty years building a case against him. Everything is in the vault—documents, recordings, testimony from wolves he bribed and betrayed."

He pressed a small iron key into my palm.

"Take the crown, Sera. Destroy Fenris. And when Drake Voss comes crawling back—because he will—let him see exactly what he threw away."

His grip tightened with surprising strength.

"Promise me."

I closed my fingers around the key. "I promise."