Chapter 1

I hid my power. I chained the wolf within. All for him. My blood-bound mate, Lord Caius.

But when I went into labor and the contractions hit, I was locked away in the abandoned altar beneath the castle.

Magical restraints carved with confinement runes bound me tightly.

The contractions were getting worse. I cried, begging Caius.

"The baby's coming, Caius. Please, get me to the Sanctuary… It's our child…"

He just stepped forward, elegant and cruel. He forced a black pill into my mouth.

"The Blood-Binding Elixir," he said. "It will delay your labor. Be a good girl. I have to make sure you give birth after Isadora."

Instantly, invisible threads seemed to tighten around my veins, strangling them.

Blood soaked my dress. The pain was so intense my wolf spirit screamed, a howl trapped in my throat.

"Why..." I whispered, my voice breaking.

"You are a wolf. An outsider," Caius’s voice echoed in the cold abandoned altar. "Isadora carries the true heir. A pure-blood. My dead brother's only legacy. Tonight is the Blood Moon's Blessing, granted once in a thousand years. Only a child blessed tonight can become the next Lord. I won't let you steal that from her."

Then he dissolved into black mist, leaving me behind to go to Isadora.

I closed my eyes.

The tiny life force thrashing inside me suddenly went still. I slipped into darkness.

……

A tearing pain in my belly ripped me from the darkness.

The cold stone of the magical array was hard against my back. I struggled to sit up.

Another contraction slammed into me, harder than anything I'd ever felt.

My wolf spirit whimpered in agony.

"The baby... My baby is coming! Help me!" I screamed, biting back the pain.

"Still putting on a show?"

Lilith stepped into the dim light, her crimson eyes glittering with malice.

Caius’s little sister.

"Isadora's potions never fail. She made that Blood-Binding Elixir herself. It will stop your labor for four hours, guaranteed."

She lifted a finger, her hand open in the air between us, aimed at my heart. She slowly made a fist.

"The Ancestor's Blessing, the title of Lord... it all belongs to Isadora!"

A roar filled my ears. My own blood turned on me, boiling and surging backward through my veins until I thought they would burst.

I gagged, coughing up a clot of blood that felt like ice. A deep chill settled over me.

"I never wanted to be Lord!" I shook my head, desperate.

"Don't lie!" Lilith’s fingers snapped shut. Invisible magic choked me, forcing my head up to meet her gaze. "You think we're all fools? The moment you learned the blessed child would be the next Lord, you started hurting Isadora! Your ambition is pathetic. Obvious."

She released me, and I collapsed. She stood over me, looking down.

"You tricked Isadora. Lured her to the Star-Gazing Tower. You used your wolf strength to open the sun-shielding dome, didn't you? You tried to burn her and the baby alive!"

No... that's not what happened!

Isadora came to me that day. Crying.

She said she missed Liam’s presence so much, and begged me to go with her to the tower, to feel closer to him.

The moment we got there, she used her vampire speed to push me away, threw open the dome herself, and held her own arm in the sunlight until it burned.

Then she clutched her stomach and screamed that I was trying to kill her child.

...

I had a thousand things to say, a thousand ways to defend myself.

But the agony from the elixir intensified, and all I could do was curl into a ball.

"Please... let me go... The baby is really coming..." I sobbed, reaching for her.

Lilith slapped my hand away. "Why are you still acting?"

"The Blood-Binding Elixir doesn't fail," she sneered. "You'll wait your turn. After Isadora is finished, you can have your little mutt."

"No... please..."

I struggled, but the magical restraints only bit deeper, the energy searing the skin on my wrists.

"Isadora warned me you'd pull a stunt like this." A dark red light glowed at Lilith's fingertips. "If you try another one," she said, her voice low and dangerous, "I'll drain every drop of blood from your body and leave you a dried-up corpse. Understand?"

She motioned to the blood-servants behind her to watch me.

Then she turned and left.

As the heavy door slammed shut, I felt the warm, sticky wetness spread beneath me.

Blood. So much blood. My dress was soaked, my limbs bound by magic. I couldn't move.

The lock clicked. The finality of it hit me. I was completely, utterly alone.

Three months ago, Caius had taken my communication crystal, claiming it was to "prevent hunters from tracking me."

Now I knew the truth. He was cutting me off from everyone.

I was a lone wolf with no pack, no status. I was never truly one of them.

I tried to stop crying, to focus, but the pain made it impossible to breathe.

A new wave of contractions hit, stronger than the last.

My head spun. I was about to pass out.

I remembered the nightmare seven months ago. Caius’s brother, the Lord, was ambushed and killed on a hunt.

When Isadora announced she was pregnant, the whole coven breathed a sigh of relief. The bloodline would continue.

Overnight, my child and I became a threat. A sin.

They all watched me, terrified the outsider would harm Isadora.

Every time she accused me of something, Caius believed her without hesitation.

The pain made me thrash, fighting against the magical restraints until my wrists and ankles were burned raw and bleeding.

And then, a miracle. The confinement runes on one of the restraints shattered.

I dragged myself across the floor, leaving a trail of blood. I pounded on the door with my free, bleeding hand.

"Please! The baby's coming!"

"Shut up in there!" a guard yelled back. "Wait until Lady Isadora is done!"

Then I heard voices. A magical projection.

Caius and Lilith.

"How is Isadora?" Lilith asked.

Caius's voice was tired. "Another two hours, at least. How is Rowan? Is she behaving?"

"Don't even ask," Lilith scoffed. "She's locked in the abandoned altar, and she's still putting on a performance. Crying that she's in labor. What an actress."

Her tone turned venomous. "Wait, Caius. Are you actually worried about her? Don't forget she's the one who stole the labor-inducing potion from Isadora's room, trying to force an early birth to steal the blessing."

"No... I never stole anything..." I whispered to the empty room.

"I haven't forgotten," Caius’s voice was laced with disgust. "Isadora promised me the elixir would only delay the birth, not harm her. Let her suffer. It's a lesson she needs to learn. Nothing can happen to Isadora, or to Liam's child."

The voices cut off. The abandoned altar was silent again.

I collapsed on the floor, cold to the bone. I closed my eyes and surrendered to the despair.