Chapter 2

Twenty minutes later, my best friend Kira Ashford crashed through the villa doors in full battle leathers, her twin daggers still strapped to her thighs.

She was the Silvercrest pack's Head of Intelligence and the most dangerous woman I'd ever met. The moment she saw my face, her amber eyes blazed with fury.

"Tell me he didn't. Tell me that spineless, reborn piece of—"

"He did."

"I'll gut him."

"Sit down, Kira."

She didn't sit. She paced like a caged wolf, which she partly was.

"There's something else," she said, her voice dropping. "The Silvercrest Elders held an emergency session this morning. Your grandfather gave you two options: reclaim Damien as your mate, or accept a political union with the Alpha King of Vaelheim."

Vaelheim. The northern empire. A frozen territory so vast and powerful that even the Elder Council didn't dare challenge it.

I poured two glasses of whiskey. "What do we know about the Alpha King?"

Kira stopped pacing. "Nikolai Volkov. Thirty-one. Unmarried. Rules Vaelheim with an iron fist. They call him the Winter Wolf. No one's ever seen him smile. Rumor says he killed his own uncle to take the throne."

"And in our past life?"

"Vanessa married him." Kira's lip curled. "It was a disaster. She tried to manipulate him the way she manipulated everyone else. He saw through her in a week. Within a year, she'd destroyed the alliance and nearly started a continental war."

"And Nikolai?"

"Cold. Ruthless. But fair. He never touched Vanessa. Never marked her. The bond was political, and he treated it as such."

I swirled my whiskey. "Then I'll take the match."

Kira stared at me. "Sera, you can't be serious. You'd marry a man they call the Winter Wolf? A king who's never shown affection to anyone?"

"If I'm going to be forced into a political bond, I'll choose the one that gives me power. The Silvercrest pack needs Vaelheim's military alliance. And unlike Damien, at least Nikolai won't pretend to love me while handing me poison."

I told her about the wolfsbane. All of it.

Kira's glass shattered in her grip, whiskey and blood mixing on her palm.

"That drug is banned by the Continental Wolf Council! It doesn't just suppress memories—it destroys the soul's bonding capacity! Permanently!"

"I know."

"He KNEW?"

"He didn't read the full report. He was too busy saving Vanessa."

Kira's voice went deadly quiet. "Then he deserves everything that's coming."

I looked at the blood dripping from her hand. "Clean that up. And send word to the Volkov delegation. Tell them the Silvercrest heir accepts."

The next morning, a Vaelheim envoy arrived.

They brought documents—territorial agreements, military alliance terms, trade contracts—and a letter.

I opened the envelope. Inside was a handwritten note in precise, angular script.

"Ms. Silvercrest. I understand this is a political arrangement. I will not pretend otherwise. But I give you my word: you will be treated as an equal, never as a possession. I look forward to meeting you. —Nikolai."

Short. Direct. No flowery promises. No manipulation.

In our past life, Vanessa had complained endlessly about his coldness. But reading this note, I didn't see coldness.

I saw honesty.

The signing ceremony was scheduled for six days later in Vaelheim's capital, Frostholme—the same day as Damien's mating ceremony with Vanessa.

He would bond with her.

I would leave the territory forever.

And the wolfsbane would finish its work.

That afternoon, I drove to the old market district in Silvercrest. It was snowing, and the shop windows were still decorated for the Winter Solstice festival.

I stopped outside Lyra's—the jeweler where Damien had commissioned my bonding cuff in our past life. A platinum band engraved with our wolves intertwined. He'd sold his warrior's blade to pay for it.

"Sera, this cuff is my soul. One of a kind. Only for you."

The shop door opened.

I stopped breathing.

Damien and Vanessa walked out.

He was leaning over the counter display in the window, examining a cuff. The same design. The same platinum. The same engraving.

"This is the one," he told the jeweler. "The intertwined wolf design. The one I ordered last week."

Same style. Same metal. Same meaning.

He'd sold his blade for mine. Now he'd sell his inheritance for hers.

So much for one of a kind.

"It's gorgeous!" Vanessa squealed, holding up her wrist. "Damien, you must've traded something incredible for this!"

"You're worth it," he murmured, clasping it around her wrist.

I turned to leave, but he caught my scent.

He was at my side in three strides.

"Sera? What are you doing here alone? This part of town isn't safe after dark. Let me walk you—"

"Alpha Blackwood." My voice was ice. "Where I go is none of your concern. You're about to be bonded to Vanessa. Don't you think chasing after another woman is inappropriate?"

His face crumbled. Something raw and wounded flashed through his golden eyes.

Vanessa appeared behind him, the cuff gleaming on her wrist.

"Sera! You shop here too? Such a shame—this design is completely unique. Damien had it custom-made just for me. One of a kind in the entire world. Isn't it stunning?"

I glanced at it. "Beautiful. He clearly spared no expense."

Damien stared at me, searching my face for something—anything.

"If you... if you want, I could have one made for—"

"For me?" I laughed, and it came out sharp enough to cut. "A matching set? So this is who you really are, Alpha Blackwood. The kind of wolf who marks one woman and offers jewelry to another. You're pathetic."