Chapter 4

Selene took me to the most exclusive dress shop in the territory.

As the woman about to become the Blackmoor pack’s Luna, her gown had to be custom-made, naturally.

"You.” She pointed at me. “Kneel. Straighten my hem.”

I knelt in silence, my knees cracking against the stone floor, pain shooting through my body.

She tried on dress after dress, and for every single one I knelt and adjusted the fabric.

"This one makes my waist look too wide.” She turned in the mirror. “Next.”

"Yes.”

"Wait.” She glanced down at me. “Your hand is on my train.”

I was pulling my hand away when her boot came down on it.

The stiletto heel of her designer boot drove straight into my fingers.

"Ahh—”

The pain was blinding. My vision went black.

"Stop screaming.” She pressed harder. “You’re a maid. You can’t handle a little pain?”

I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood.

Don’t scream. If this turns into a scene, I won’t get out today.

Just a little longer…

"Selene.”

A low voice.

I looked up. Kael stood nearby, a drink in his hand, his expression blank.

"Kael!” Selene lifted her foot instantly and switched to a sugar-sweet smile. “What brings you here?”

"Passing through. Thought I’d look in.” His gaze swept over me without a flicker. “Servant giving you trouble?”

"Ugh, yes.” Selene clung to his arm, pouting. “She’s so clumsy—she’s driving me crazy.”

"Do whatever you want with her.” His tone was indifferent.

I dropped my head. My nails dug crescents into my palms.

It didn’t matter.

After today, I would never see him again.

On the way back, Selene made me walk behind them while she clung to Kael’s arm up ahead.

At a turn in the staircase, she stopped and glanced back at me.

That look—dripping with smug cruelty.

A heartbeat later, she let out a piercing scream and tumbled down the stairs.

"Ahhh—!”

"Selene!” Kael rushed down to catch her.

She lay on the floor, blood streaming from her forehead, barely conscious, one trembling hand pointed at me. “She… she pushed me…”

"I didn’t!” The words tore out of me.

No one listened.

The Betas swarmed in and slammed me to the ground.

Selene was rushed to the Blackmoor pack’s medical ward. The healer said her injuries were severe and she needed a transfusion immediately.

But her blood type was impossibly rare. In the entire territory, only one person was a match—

Me.

"Sign it.”

Kael dropped a contract and a bag of coins at my feet. His voice was ice.

"Save her, and these thousand gold pieces are yours.”

I looked at the coins, and a bitter smile curled my lips.

"I have one condition.”

He frowned. “What?”

"After the transfusion, let me go.” I lifted my head and met his eyes. “And never come looking for me.”

He was silent for a few beats, then gave a cold laugh.

"Deal.”

I was taken to the blood draw room.

The healer took one look at my condition and winced. “She’s too weak for a major draw.”

"Draw it.” Kael’s voice came from outside the door. “However much you need.”

"But we need a thousand milliliters!” The healer gasped. “Taking that much from her alone could kill her!”

"Draw it.” His voice didn’t change.

I looked at the hesitating healer and gave a firm nod.

I couldn’t put all my eggs in Lucian’s basket. If something went wrong on his end, this transfusion was my best chance to leave.

The needle slid into my vein. Blood crept into the bag.

I watched the liquid—my life draining drop by drop—as the room went dark at the edges.

When it was done, I could barely stand.

But I braced myself against the wall and forced one foot in front of the other, out of the ward.

Kael stayed in the treatment room with Selene. He never looked back. Not once.

Good.

Better that way.

I stumbled toward the ward’s back entrance, each step heavier than the last.

The moment I pushed the door open—

Lucian was there, waiting.

"Seraphina!” He rushed forward. “Are you all right?”

I shook my head, my body so spent I could barely stay upright.

"Let’s go. We have to leave now.” He caught me and guided me toward the carriage.

Just as I was about to climb in, a commotion erupted inside the ward.

I turned and saw Kael burst through the doors.

To my shock, his eyes were no longer cold. They blazed with something familiar—something feverish and wild.

That look. That suffocating, all-consuming look.

Had his memory come back?

"Bella—!” He was sprinting toward me, his voice raw and shattered. “Don’t go!!”

I stood there, watching him claw his way toward me, my name torn from his throat over and over.

"Bella… don’t go… don’t leave me…”

"Seraphina, we have to go!” Lucian urged. “He’s alone—my people will hold him off!”

I took a deep breath and stepped into the carriage.

Behind me, I heard the clash of a struggle and Kael’s anguished roar.

"SERAPHINA—!!!”

The carriage tore away from the ward.

I didn’t look back.

He’d left me shaking in a frozen cell. He’d starved me in isolation. He’d let a healer drain me dry.

And now that his memory was back, he thought one “Bella” would make me turn around?

Make me crawl back into the hell he’d built?

Not a chance.

As the carriage sped on, I finally escaped the Blackmoor pack’s cage.

Through the window, the Blackmoor territory shrank, shrank, and finally disappeared behind the mountains.

I sank into unconsciousness, a cold smile on my lips.

When I returned to the Nightbane pack…

Magnus. Isolde. Elowen. Selene.

And you, Kael Blackmoor.

Blood for blood.

Every. Last. One.