Chapter 1

As I was being torn at by a wolf, my fated mate, Kael Draven, the Alpha of our pack tribe, was occupied with preparing special surprise for his childhood sweetheart, Nyx Wraith.

On the verge of death, I tried with all my strength to reach him through the mind link he’d long since severed unilaterally, but he blocked me off, just as he’d coldly shut his heart to me.

"Stop faking near-death. That trick’s gotten old. If you really can’t hold on, crawl somewhere no one can find you. Never let me see you again."

That night, he was summoned to handle a brutal attack on pack territory. The attackers had dismembered the body, trying to destroy our bloodline.

Under his rule, no pack conflict lasted more than three days.

Yet a full week passed, and this leader — renowned for his keen sense of smell and Alpha aura — still hadn’t realized that the victim of that bloody attack was the luna he scorned the most, the fated mate he’d rejected.

After dismembering me and stuffing my remains into three hide sacks, the attackers discarded the sacks at the entrance of the wolf den on the border.

The pack healer stayed up all night, trying to piece together my mangled body. Only the heart was missing.

He spoke softly with a compassionate gaze:

"Silver poison was poured over her before death. The silver burned inside her like liquid fire… it’s the most feared pain for wolves…"

"Too cruel…"

Thane Hawke, the young beta lieutenant, stood behind the healer, then burst out of the hall and vomited into the night wind.

My mate, Kael Draven, the pack’s Alpha leader, furrowed his brows. His eyes glowed a dangerous yellow with rage, a sign that his wolf was about to fully surface. He was the pack’s strongest Alpha; no conflict endured more than three days under his iron fist.

The healer handed him the compiled notes.

"The victim is a female, between 25 and 26 years old. She suffered extreme suffering before death. Multiple heavy blows to the torso, broken ribs, limb bones twisted and snapped, burned by silver poison all over her body before death. Additionally, there are deep lacerations on the abdomen. Her death… was extremely brutal."

Thane muttered a curse: "Bone-shattering bastards!"

"Daring to dump the body at the wolf den entrance on the border, it’s a blatant provocation to our Alpha authority!"

Kael stared at the incomplete body on the stone slab, his voice heavy with regret:

"She wasn’t even 26… so young…"

Yes, I was only 25. Only a quarter of my life’s journey had passed. I’d even dreamed of bearing him strong Alpha cubs, but he’d destroyed it all with his own hands.

Kael, wearing blood-stained gloves, slowly reached out to touch the hollow in my chest.

"Her heart… is gone."

I was too tense to breathe.

Would he catch this clue?

My heart had been injured a year ago, when I saved him. That damage had nearly cost me the ability to shift into a wolf forever.