Chapter 1 Prologue

The first time Raven Blackwood saw his mate, he knew he would destroy her to save her life.

The annual Harvest Moon gathering had drawn wolves from every major pack in the northern territories. Lyrix Thorne stood at the edge of the celebration, nineteen and restless, silver hair catching moonlight like spun starlight. She didn't belong to any particular group, hovering between conversations, between the girl she'd been and the woman she was becoming.

Raven felt it the moment their eyes met across the fire. The mate bond slammed into his chest with the force of a physical blow, stealing his breath and making his wolf surge forward with a possessive snarl that nearly dropped him to his knees. Everything in him screamed to claim her before any other male even looked her direction.

But Thaddeus Crimson was watching from the shadows, and Raven's world tilted on its axis.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Thaddeus's voice slithered into Raven's ear as the older Alpha materialized beside him. "That silver hair. Those eyes. I've been tracking her bloodline for years, waiting for her to come of age." His smile was all teeth. "Imagine what I could breed with a wolf like that."

Raven's hands clenched into fists, claws threatening to break through skin. "Stay away from her."

"Or what?" Thaddeus leaned closer, voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "You'll start a war your pack can't win? I have three allied packs behind me, Blackwood. Your territory is still recovering from last spring's rogue attacks." He paused. "But I'm reasonable. Reject her publicly. Make her worthless to every pack here, and I'll leave her alone. She'll be too broken for my purposes anyway."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I'll kill everyone she's ever loved, starting with her mother, and make her watch before I drag her to my territory in chains." Thaddeus straightened his jacket, expression pleasant as if they were discussing weather. "You have until sunrise tomorrow. Choose wisely, young Alpha."

Raven watched Thaddeus disappear into the crowd, and something inside him shattered. Across the clearing, Lyrix was laughing at something another wolf said, head thrown back, unaware that her future was being decided in shadows. She caught him staring and smiled, tentative and curious, and the bond between them pulled taut.

His wolf howled in agony at what he was about to do.

That night, Raven broke every promise he'd ever made to himself. He found Lyrix walking alone near the river, and the bond made it easy to draw her in. She came to him like a moth to flame, helpless against the pull of fate. They talked until words weren't enough, until his mouth found hers and she melted against him with a soft sound that nearly undid him. He knew he shouldn't touch her, shouldn't make this harder, but he was selfish and desperate and running out of time.

He marked her just after midnight, sinking his teeth into the curve of her throat while she gasped his name. The bond snapped into place with devastating completeness, tying their souls together. She was his. He was hers. The rightness of it sang through his veins like coming home.

"I love you," she whispered against his chest afterward, fingers tracing his face like she was memorizing him. "I know it's fast, but I feel like I've been waiting for you my entire life."

Raven held her tighter and said nothing, because any words would be lies. He memorized the weight of her in his arms, the scent of pine and vanilla that clung to her skin, the sound of her heartbeat synchronizing with his. He stored it all away, knowing that in a few hours, he would burn it to ash.

Dawn came too quickly. The gathering reconvened in the clearing for the morning ceremony, where new bonds were announced and celebrated. Lyrix stood beside him, nervous and glowing, wearing his bite mark like a brand. She kept touching it unconsciously, smiling every time their eyes met.

Raven waited until everyone was assembled, until Thaddeus Crimson stood front and center with that knowing smirk on his face. Then he stepped forward, putting deliberate distance between himself and the girl who'd given him everything just hours before.

"I have an announcement," he said, voice carrying across the silent clearing. His wolf was screaming, clawing at his insides, begging him to stop. He ignored it. "Last night I marked Lyrix Thorne in a moment of weakness. I regret that decision. She is not fit to be my mate or my Luna. I reject her and this bond."

The gasps were immediate, but nothing compared to the sound Lyrix made. It started as a whimper and crescendoed into a scream as the rejection tore through the bond. Silver veins spread across her skin like cracks in porcelain, the physical manifestation of a bond being ripped apart. She collapsed, convulsing, while wolves backed away in horror.

Raven forced himself to watch, forced himself to stand there cold and empty while his mate writhed in agony on the ground. This was the price of her survival. He would carry this moment for the rest of his life.

Her mother rushed forward, gathering Lyrix's shaking body into her arms. The girl's eyes found his one last time, silver turned to smoke, filled with betrayal so absolute it nearly brought him to his knees.

"I hate you," she whispered, blood trickling from her nose, from her eyes, from the mark on her throat that was already turning black. "I hope you die alone."

Then she was gone, carried away by her family, and Raven stood in the clearing with three hundred witnesses and a mate bond bleeding out inside his chest. Thaddeus caught his eye and nodded once, satisfied.

Raven Blackwood had just murdered his own future, and the only thing keeping him standing was the knowledge that somewhere, Lyrix Thorne was still breathing.