I had lived two lives.
In both, I followed Fenris Vargr into the quiet territories beyond the Dominion's reach after he stepped down from the Crimson Fang, living peacefully in a small den at the edge of the world, wanting nothing.
And in both, his adopted sister clawed her way into the Moonhold Citadel and dragged us down with her. Our territory was seized. Our pack, annihilated to the last pup.
It always started the same way. She would kneel outside our cabin in the frost, sobbing that the Alpha Supreme had cast her aside, that he'd chosen another wolf as his Luna.
Fenris would set down his axe and sigh. "You know I can't stand watching you cry."
Then he'd pull his dust-covered battle pelt from the chest and follow her back to Aurelia.
It took dying twice for me to understand.
All that talk of sibling devotion.
Every word of it was a lie.
——
Fenris Vargr was returning to Aurelia in triumph, and every unmated she-wolf in the territory had rushed to the gates to welcome him home.
I was the only one walking the other way.
My little sister Briar Ashgrove tugged at my sleeve. "Seraphina, aren't we going to meet him?"
I should have been. In both my previous lives, that was exactly what I'd done.
The script never changed.
I congratulated him on his victory.
He declared his courtship claim in front of the entire territory.
We mated, we grew old together, we never parted.
It took a third life to see the truth: I'd given my heart to the wrong wolf.
I tightened my grip on Briar's hand. "We're going home."
The crowd pressed in from every side, the air thick with dust and the mingled scents of too many wolves. Dozens of scent signatures tangled together until they became one choking wall of musk and adrenaline and excitement. Each breath felt like swallowing stones.
Briar pointed at my hair. "But you got up before dawn to do your hair. Wasn't that for him?"
"Did he make you angry? Is that why you won't let him see your pretty hairdo?"
I had no answer for that.
I reached up and pulled the moonblossom from my hair.
Placed it in my palm and crushed it, slowly, between my fingers. The petals bruised silver, then went dark.
Once, a bright-eyed boy had tucked a twin-stemmed moonblossom behind my ear.
He made me promise to wear one when I came to welcome him home from war.
And so for ten years, I, who never cared for anything flashy or ornate, always pinned the most vivid moonblossom I could find before going to see him.
I stood beside him through his glory days, his war markings and swift wolf-form runs across enemy lines, his meteoric rise.
And my reward was a blade through the belly and a pack in the ground.
This life, I intended to live differently.
I walked faster.
Briar rose on her toes and hurried to keep up.
Behind us, the crowd erupted. Howls split the air, dozens layering into a wall of sound that rattled in my chest.
Hoofbeats hammered closer, louder, shaking the ground beneath my feet.
"Seraphina!"
A man's voice split the air beside my ear.
My feet stopped. My body turned, stiff as a board.
Fenris Vargr sat tall on his warhorse, silver-edged battle pelt gleaming, the Crimson Fang crest burned into the dark leather across his chest. Sharp brows, striking eyes, a jaw cut hard enough to draw blood on. He was so handsome it almost hurt to look at him.
His scent hit me before his words did. Woodsmoke and hot iron and crushed juniper, and beneath it all something like scorched earth. My wolf stirred, a low involuntary pull in my ribs that I had spent two lifetimes mistaking for love.
I held still. I did not let it move me.
"Not going to congratulate me on my victory?"
He watched me, expectation written across his face.
Every she-wolf in the crowd turned to stare at me, green with envy.
Once, I would have basked in those looks.
Savored the certainty that I was the only one in Fenris Vargr's heart.
Until I saw with my own eyes what he did for Ravenna Vargr.
Then I understood. All that devotion he'd shown me was nothing but a screen to hide the feelings he could never let the world see.
My voice came out flat. "The line of wolves waiting to congratulate you stretches from one end of this territory to the other, Alpha Commander. You won't miss me."
His brow furrowed. "Three years apart, Seraphina, and this is what you have to say to me?"
I let my gaze drift across his face, calm as still water. "Oh, one more thing. When you find the time, send our scent-bond courtship contract back to the Blackthorn household."
Fenris froze.
He swung off his horse and nearly stumbled on the landing.
"What is that supposed to mean? Explain yourself."
I had no interest in explaining anything to him.
The only thought in my head was to get as far from here as possible.
She-wolves swarmed around Fenris, closing in like a tide.
I seized the chance and slipped away with Briar.
She squeezed my palm. "You don't want him anymore, Seraphina?"
"Everyone says he's a great hero who won the Territory War. They're all fighting over him!"
"Why doesn't my sister want the great hero?"
I didn't know how to explain it to her.
Probably because when a great hero decides to betray you, he does it more ruthlessly than anyone else.
He doesn't just crush your heart.
