I hadn’t shifted in days, nor had my cycle returned—so why did this pain hit me like a blade twisting inside? It wasn’t just a cramp, not merely physical agony. Something primal was clawing at me from within—my wolf, desperate and frightened, thrashing in silent rage.
I gripped the edge of the bathroom sink, knuckles blanching as I fought to breathe through the searing coil that wrapped around my stomach.
No blood.
No heat.
No bond snapping.
And yet… I could feel it. Something was wrong. Terribly, unmistakably wrong.
I pushed myself from the sink, swaying, searching for the relief of open air, maybe even a way to flee. My hand shot to the doorknob—and it wouldn’t budge.
Click.
It was locked. From the outside.
“Hello?” I called out, my voice raw and sharp, panic beginning to prick at the edges of my mind. “Someone… anyone?”
Then her voice—sweet, venomous, the last sound I wanted to hear.
Veronica.
“Bitch,” she hissed from the other side, every syllable laced with smug triumph. “How’s that cast-off, hand-me-down life treating you?”
My chest tightened.
“Alpha Moises has always loved me,” she continued, venom dripping from her words. “From the start. And now that I’m back? You’re in my way. Really? You have the nerve to show up here tonight, trying to steal the limelight from me?”
Pain radiated through my belly, folding me over as if the world itself had slammed into me. Cold sweat slicked my temples, my wolf groaning in alarm beneath my skin. Something was very, very wrong. This was no petty jealousy—it carried the taste of something unnatural, something invasive. Poison? A curse?
Through gritted teeth, I pressed myself against the door. “Veronica… take him, then,” I rasped. “I don’t want him anymore.”
A beat of silence.
Then her laughter—sharp, cruel, merciless—shattered the air.
“Funny,” she said, a cruel smile in her voice. “Do you really think I’d believe that? You stole my mother, my Alpha father, and now you think you can take my mate too? Who do you think you are?”
Mate.
That word sliced through me sharper than any blade could. Because Alpha Moises… Moises Blackwood had been mine. Or so I had thought.
“You’re not going anywhere tonight,” she snapped. “No one’s coming for you.”
I heard the scrape of metal, the shift of something heavy being dragged across the floor. A sharp click followed, and then: Restricted Area. Do Not Enter.
Of course. This section of the auction hall was forbidden, reserved for rare, magical objects. Phones surrendered, cameras diCalistad. No one would think to look here—not Moises, not anyone. Especially not with Veronica glued to him, radiating a sense of ownership.
I slid down to the cold floor, trembling. The stabbing pain in my belly had dulled to a slow, dragging ache, but my heart… my heart was a gaping wound, wide open and raw.
I pounded weakly on the door. “Help… someone… please…”
My voice cracked, ragged and strained. I screamed again, fierce and wild, but all that answered me was silence. The sign outside was a ward in itself; anyone seeing it would assume I had nothing to do with them.
Time blurred. Minutes or hours—I had no measure. I cried until my eyes were empty, screamed until my throat burned, until I had nothing left to give. Eventually, darkness seeped in and claimed me, wrapping me in cold, suffocating quiet.
---
The Next Morning
The first thing I heard was the clatter of keys and the soft creak of a door swinging open.
“Oh, the moon above—Miss? Are you awake?” a woman gasped.
My eyes flickered open, the room swimming in a gray haze. Cold clung to me like a second skin. My dress stuck to my body, soaked and heavy. My limbs refused to obey, stiff and unresponsive.
Then I saw her—the cleaner.
I tried to speak, but my throat burned raw. With trembling hands, I pressed myself up, palms against the icy floor.
“No…” I whispered, barely audible. “It’s… okay. I’ll manage.”
A lie.
Everything inside me was broken. My wolf curled tight within, silent, untouched since the pain began.
The cleaner helped me to my feet, worry furrowing her brow. I gave her a weak smile, leaning on the wall for support, step by shaky step, forcing myself forward.
As I had feared, Alpha Moises hadn’t come.
Not once.
A stone of realization settled in my chest. I remembered when Veronica had gone missing for mere minutes at a pack ball; Moises nearly shifted then, storming the entire building searching for her.
But me? A whole night of torment, and not a single thought. Not a word. Not a call.
Indifference was a blade. And last night, it had cut me deep.
I retrieved my phone from the entryway. I didn’t bother checking for his name—I already knew. Nothing. No missed calls, no texts, no message of concern from the mate who had sworn to protect me.
Except one.
Corvin Draven.
The only man who still saw me—not as the shell I’d become, but as the woman I had been before betrayal hollowed me out.
“Lyriana, I can’t wait a whole month. One week. I’m coming for you in a week.”
Tears blurred my vision, but they weren’t tears of sorrow. They were sharp, burning with resolve.
Last night’s agony wasn’t just heartbreak or betrayal. Something more feral stirred inside me—ancient, wild, untamed. My wolf, dormant for too long, began to awaken, stretching and sharpening beneath my ribs, feeding on the rage and injustice.
Whatever Veronica had attempted—whatever cruel schemes she had set in motion—she had misjudged me.
It didn’t break me.
It awakened me.
I felt the bloodline rise in my veins—the legacy of moonlight and fire, of survival and vengeance, of war etched into my very bones.
They had tried to erase me. Starve me. Strip me of my name, my pride, my power.
They had locked me away like I was nothing.
But I am not nothing.
I am Lyriana Blackthorn.
And they are about to learn the price of a wolf who has been wounded—and refuses to vanish.
She evolves.
She rises.
And when she strikes… she never misses.
