Page 4

Up at the front of the room, as my father brought me to a standstill beside Magnus Blackthorn, I reminded myself of my mother’s words.

My gaze took in the gray-haired man beside me, his cool brown eyes sweeping me with a covetous look that it took everything in me not to retch at.

I told myself to be as strong as my mother.

I caught glimpses of familiar faces—my packmate’s smiles were strained, and beneath their false cheer was a pooling look of pity. It was that, paired with not wanting to glimpse Stephen, that had my gaze firmly glued to the officiate, one of the Blackthorn elders, directing the ceremony.

Beyond the elder and outside the windows lay manicured lawns bordered by blooming flowers—red roses, white lilies, and golden daffodils. I blinked past at the blooms—this villa and its grounds for all their refinement felt like something out of a nightmare.

As the officiant began his speech, the words flowed over me like water over a stone, ungraspable and devoid of meaning. My thoughts spiraled as I tried to grapple with the fact that this was really happening. I was about to be mated to Magnus Blackthorn.

Suddenly, a growl broke through my inattention. I turned around, expecting to see a couple of overzealous packmates, perhaps having shifted to howl their excitement. It was not something you’d expect in our high-society world, but maybe they’d been drinking.

You know how weddings can be.

But then, wolves, their coats etched with strange markings, stormed into the huge hall.

Screams erupted, and some guests froze in terror, while others—Silvermoons and Blackthorns alike— started to shift, their gray coats the same as the attacking wolves, except for the totem markings the invaders had. My pulse skyrocketed.

Panic consumed the hall as packmates scrambled back from the aisle where the rogue wolves were surging.

I watched as my father transformed—fur erupting from skin and bones shifting as he morphed into his wolf.

A powerful growl reverberated from him, blending with the rumbles of the rogue wolves and shouts of guests, who frantically edged back against the walls .

I stumbled as fear grasped at my throat. The luxurious wedding hall had devolved into chaos, and I couldn’t help but feel that the foreboding sense that had been blanketing me had been prophetic.

My shock made my reactions sluggish, and I still hadn’t shifted as the rogue wolves surged toward me.

“Lina!” My mother’s frantic call split the air, urging me from my stupor just as a rogue lunged toward me.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion, the rogue wolf springing at me and Magnus, who I realized hadn’t yet shifted either.

But then a silvery wolf leaped in front of us, a blur of sleek, rippling fur and muscle acting as a protective arc.

I gasped as he took a vicious hit in his side.

My chest squeezed, his overpowering spicy scent telling me exactly who he was: Stephen.

His body crashed down in front of me and his father.

“No!” My scream tore through the air, resonating with anguish, but shock kept me rooted to the spot.

The rogue staggered back, dazed, and it then lunged again, teeth bared as Stephen’s wolf shot up and barrelled into the rogue.

Magnus’s wolf collided powerfully with another rogue, but there were too many, crashing like waves around us.

One of the totem-marked wolves struck Magnus, his teeth clamping onto his shoulder.

The next moment, Stephen careened toward his father, mauling the rogue wolf in the side with a furious viciousness, even as his own wound seeped a steady stream of blood.

The room was a sea of screams and growls. Most of the packmates had run out of the room. The rogue wolves were going for the alphas and their immediate families. The thought had my brain finally kicking into gear.

My eyes hurried to my mother. Like me, she hadn’t shifted, and she was on the floor. Just then, a brutal force crashed into my side, sending me sprawling to the floor, too. Heat radiated down my arm, and I gasped in pain as fabric and flesh tore.

Stephen’s silvery wolf crashed into my attacker, forcing the totem-marked wolf away from me.

Gratitude mingled with my shock as he defended me.

But almost immediately, resentment needled through me.

If he’d only stood by my side as any true mate would, I wouldn’t even be here amidst whatever this attack was.

Quickly, I shot over to my mother. Panic punctured through me as I took in her sage green dress, covered in blood. I darted to her, picking her up off the floor and forcing her to her feet.

Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was getting my mother out of there. I hurried her toward the wall, past the rows of chairs, darting toward the main doors as quickly as I could while supporting her weight.

We were going to make it. The other rogue wolves were engaged with Stephen, Magnus, and my father.

I chanced a glance back at them as we’d almost made it to the door.

In that split second, I saw four rogue wolves pounce on my father, their vicious jaws sinking into him.

Despair flooded me, bringing me to a startled halt.

Blood sprayed across the polished floor, splattering the chairs draped in white linen as my father let out a piercing howl and fell to the floor.

My mom startled me as she leaned closer to me. “This is your chance. Go, Lina. Now!” She shoved me toward the door with a force that sent me stumbling. “Go!”

“No!” I cried, clawing at the ground, but she’d already shoved the doors shut behind me. Dread pounded through me as I heard the key in the lock.

I pounded on the door, but her distant scream came through the wood.

“Go!” she shouted.

I stumbled forward, anguish piercing my chest, but I was jolted out of my spiraling despair by a sharp tug at my arm. I blinked at one of my packmates, Mira, her eyes wide with urgency.

“Lina, we have to get out of here. Now!” She glanced back, fear etching her brow.

I could hear the guttural snarl of wolves from behind the door, and my heart battered against my ribcage, the instinct to run battling with the agony of leaving my mother behind.

My wolf cried out in frustration at the prospect of abandoning her, but as Mira yanked me onward, panic surged.

There was no time to think, only to run .

The urgency in Mira’s voice propelled me to move, and the resolution in her expression drove me on.

I ran faster and faster as if to try to make up for the way the shock had paralyzed me back there. My mother’s voice mingled with each of my hurried footsteps as if I could still hear her, propelling me into a desperate sprint, “This is your chance. Leave, Lina. Now!”

It hit me that the desperation in her voice hadn’t just been about the attack.

She meant this was my chance to get away from Magnus.

Thankfulness beat through my chest as I thought of her words.

My heart squeezed painfully as I realized that even as she’d been bleeding out, she’d been thinking of me.

I crashed down the cavernous hallway, my heart pounding in my ribcage. I glanced over my shoulder, every moment expecting to be pursued by those totem-marked wolves who had brought my father down.

My hands shook, my legs threatening to buckle as the gruesome image of my mother’s dress, stained with blood, flashed in my mind.

My parents…My parents were likely now both.

..But I forced the unfinished thought away, remembering the steel of my mother’s blue eyes.

She wanted me to get away. With instincts I didn’t know I possessed, I ran with utter abandon as if those rogue wolves were clawing at my heels.

As I hurtled outside, Mira broke off to the right, running toward other packmates, but I spotted the catering van parked with its engine idling.

I rushed inside and put my foot on the gas.

The engine roared to life, the sound sparking hope.

With trembling hands gripping the wheel, I pressed down on the accelerator, shooting forward and leaving behind everything I’d ever known.