Chapter 1

On the night of our Blood Bond Ceremony, my mate, Vampire King Aldric, cut the bond in front of his entire court.

He chose a pure-blooded vampire princess instead.

While my bite mark on his neck was still fresh.

"The bonding is void."

Aldric's voice rang through the crimson-lit throne room like a death sentence.

I was still wearing the ceremonial gown — white silk now stained with the blood we'd exchanged not three hours ago. His taste was still on my tongue. His scent was still buried in my skin.

But he wasn't looking at me.

He was looking at her.

Vivienne. Pale, perfect Vivienne, standing in the doorway in a gown of liquid gold, her ruby eyes glistening with rehearsed tears.

"What did you say?" My voice came out steady. I needed him to say it again. I needed the entire court to hear it twice.

"A werewolf cannot sit on the Crimson Throne," Aldric said, finally turning to face me. His jaw was set, his silver eyes cold as frozen mercury. "The bloodline must remain pure. Vivienne is the bride this kingdom needs."

I stared at him.

Six years.

Six years of fighting his wars against the rogue clans.

Six years of hunting down traitors who would have slit his throat in his sleep.

Six years of being the only reason his kingdom still stood.

And he was throwing me away for bloodline purity?

"Last month," I said, "when the Shadowfang clan breached your eastern wall — who held the line?"

Aldric's eye twitched.

"That's not relevant—"

"It is relevant," I cut him off. "Because while I was bleeding out on your battlefield, Vivienne was redecorating your bedroom."

A ripple of murmurs went through the court.

Vivienne pressed a delicate hand to her chest, her lower lip trembling. "Sera, I never meant to come between you—"

"Then why are you wearing my crown?"

Silence.

Every eye in the room dropped to the thin silver circlet resting on Vivienne's golden hair.

My circlet. The one Aldric had given me the night he swore I was his eternal mate.

Vivienne's face went white. She looked at Aldric, panicked.

"I— Aldric told me I could—"

"Enough." Aldric stepped between us, shielding her with his body. "Sera, you're making a scene."

"No," I said, walking toward the massive stained-glass window behind the throne — the one that depicted our bond, etched in crystal and blood. "You made a scene when you voided a sacred bond to replace me with a decoration."

I pulled the ceremonial dagger from my belt — the same blade I'd used to seal our blood exchange.

Aldric's eyes widened. "What are you—"

I drove the blade into the stained-glass window.

CRACK.

The entire panel shattered. Shards of crimson and silver rained down like a bleeding sky, scattering across the marble floor.

The court gasped.

I held up the dagger, my blood dripping from a cut on my palm where the glass had bitten deep.

"I bled to build this kingdom," I said, my voice so calm it made the nearest vampires flinch. "And now I'm taking back every drop."

Aldric stared at the ruined window, at the blood on the floor, at the destruction of the symbol of our bond.

For the first time in six years, I saw real fear in his eyes.

Not of me.

Of what he'd just unleashed.