What if the monster you were sold to wasn't the real danger?

They call him the Monster. Nine wives. Nine graves. No heirs.

I was supposed to be the tenth.

Sold by my family to save a sister who betrayed me, I thought survival meant staying invisible.

 But when I healed Alpha Kael Cinderclaw in the snow, I accidentally bound us together, a mate bond neither of us wanted and neither can sever.

Now I feel his rage like fire beneath my skin.

 He feels my fear like a blade against his throat. And the fortress that buried nine wives is watching us both.

My family wanted me erased.
His enemies want me dead.

And Kael? He looks at me like I'm the one thing he can't afford to want—but can't let go.

They wanted a sacrifice.
They're getting an awakening.
In a world where power is everything, the wolfless girl just became the Alpha's greatest weakness, and his most dangerous obsession.

I didn't check on the guards again. I didn't question anyone in the corridors. By the time I stepped out of Isolade's empty room, I already knew one thing clearly, this wasn't just her.


Isolade didn't walk out of a guarded chamber without help.


And there were only a few people inside this fortress bold enough to do something like that and still expect to walk away from it.


I didn't waste time pretending otherwise.


My steps carried me straight through the corridors, ignoring the stares that followed me. Word had already spread. It always did. The moment something shifted inside this fortress, everyone felt it even if they didn't understand it yet.


But I did and I knew exactly where to go.


The door wasn't closed when I got there. It never was. She liked people to walk in. It gave her the illusion that she wasn't hiding anything. I pushed it open without knocking.


Chapter 48 - Chapter 48: The First Crack