Chapter 3

Three nights later, Aldric threw a Victory Gala.

The grand ballroom of the Crimson Court glittered with a thousand black candles. Crystal chandeliers dripped from the vaulted ceiling like frozen waterfalls. The vampire elite swirled across the marble floor in their dark finery, champagne flutes filled with blood-wine.

They were celebrating the defeat of the Shadowfang Clan — the siege I had planned, the battle I had led, the victory I had bled for.

I stood in the shadows near the east colonnade, watching.

"Tonight," Aldric announced from the raised dais, his voice carrying effortlessly across the ballroom, "we honor the person whose courage made this victory possible."

Hundreds of eyes shifted toward me.

My heart clenched. Was he actually going to—

"My queen. My light. Vivienne."

The applause was thin. Scattered. Confused.

I saw Commander Thane, my second-in-command, grip his glass so hard it cracked. Captain Elara, who'd fought beside me in the siege, turned away in visible disgust.

They knew. Everyone who'd been on that battlefield knew.

Vivienne floated onto the stage in a gown of deep crimson, diamonds glittering at her throat. She smiled — that practiced, porcelain smile — and accepted a gold medallion from Aldric.

The Crimson Star. The kingdom's highest military honor.

My honor.

"I am so deeply humbled," Vivienne whispered into the microphone, dabbing at her eyes with a silk handkerchief. "I couldn't have done it without all of you."

Done what? She hadn't set foot outside the castle walls in six years.

I set down my untouched glass and left.

No one stopped me. No one followed.

The training hall was empty and dark. I preferred it that way.

I wrapped my hands and started hitting the heavy bag. No gloves. Just skin against leather.

One. Two. Three.

Each hit echoed through the cavernous space.

The bag swung wildly. My knuckles split on the fifth punch. Blood smeared across the leather.

I didn't stop.

The pain was clean. Honest. Unlike everything else in my life.

"Destroying equipment won't fix anything."

The voice came from the entrance — deep, calm, edged with something dark.

I spun around.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. Tall. Powerfully built. Eyes that burned like molten amber in the darkness.

Kael.

Alpha of the Nighthollow Pack. The most feared werewolf warlord on the continent. And the one man even Aldric's court spoke of in whispers.

"What the hell are you doing in the Crimson Court?" I demanded, blood still dripping from my knuckles.

"I came to collect something valuable," he said, pulling a black envelope from his coat. "You."

He held it out.

I took it and broke the seal.

The offer inside made my breath catch.

Full command of the Nighthollow military forces. A seat on the Alpha Council as his equal. Unlimited resources, territory, and authority.

And at the bottom, one line that made me read it twice:

"The Nighthollow Pack does not ask its warriors to be less than they are."

"Why me?" I asked.

"Because you're wasted here," Kael said bluntly. No flattery. No games. Just truth. "Every battle the Crimson Court has won in the last six years was your design. Aldric is a figurehead wearing a crown you built for him."

"He doesn't see it that way."

"Blind men rarely do," Kael said. He turned to leave, pausing at the door. "The offer expires at dawn."

After he left, my tablet chimed.

An official decree from the Crimson Court:

[BY ROYAL ORDER: All military strategies, intelligence networks, and combat protocols developed by Seraphina Voss during her service are hereby classified as Crown property. Any unauthorized use will be considered an act of treason, punishable by death.]

Everything I'd created.

Every strategy. Every alliance. Every system.

Seized overnight and handed to a woman who couldn't tell a flanking maneuver from a waltz step.

I stared at the decree, then looked at Kael's black envelope.

My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number:

"They're planning to seal your wolf. Tomorrow night. Vivienne's orders. Aldric approved it."

Seal my wolf.

Strip away the very core of what I was.

I picked up the black envelope and typed one word to Kael:

"Yes."