Chapter 1

On the day of my wedding to the Lycan prince, his childhood sweetheart, Rue, his wet nurse's daughter, killed herself with her own claw.

Kane knocked over the blood covenant cup. He was silent for a long moment. Then: "Give the wet nurse some gold coins for her retirement. Bury Rue properly."

Then he went back to completing the blood covenant ritual with me, as if nothing had happened.

Five years later. The night before Kane's coronation as Lycan King. The elders examined me and declared I was barren. Would never bear children.

He had his warriors drag me to the stone quarry behind the royal grounds. Made me pave a road of atonement. Said I could never return to court.

That night, he pointed at Rue's grave marker and said, "She was carrying my pup when she died. If your Stormfang tribe weren't so powerful, why would I have married you? Rue would still be alive, and so would my child."

"You don't deserve to have offspring. Spend the rest of your life moving stones. Atone for Rue and her pup."

Within a year, my father and brother were framed for colluding with vampires. The entire Stormfang tribe was slaughtered. I coughed up blood and died.

Then I opened my eyes.

I was back. The day I was marrying into the royal court.

Outside, the wolves were howling at the moon. The sound of Alpha Kane kicking the wedding carriage axle snapped me fully awake.

I was reborn.

I clenched my fists. My heart pounded. If the Moon Goddess was giving me a second chance, I wasn't going to waste it.

The Stormfang tribe wouldn't die in vain. I would live this time. And I would make Kane pay for every drop of blood he spilled in my past life.

Kane led me into the ritual circle. Wolf-bone beads hung lightly over my face. Freya, my handmaiden, steadied my arm. As she leaned in, I whispered a few quick words.

Freya's eyes flickered. She slipped away without a sound.

She was a warrior raised by the Stormfang tribe. She'd been by my side since childhood. A handmaiden in name, a bodyguard in truth. I trusted her completely.

The wedding between Alpha Kane and the daughter of Stormfang, every chieftain in the northern territories had come with their mates.

It was the biggest union the North had seen in years. The daughter of Stormfang was about to become the Luna of the royal court.

The ritual circle was alive with noise. The elder chanted: "In the name of the Moon Goddess, bind by blood."

Then a young servant from Rue's room came running in, stumbling over herself. "Alpha! Rue tried to kill herself!"