Chapter 4

Everyone knew how terrible the Bonewaste Marsh was.

Adrian had walked through it and come back half-dead, carrying a few stalks of rare herb. When the story spread through the Silvercrown tribe, everyone said the same thing: The Alpha's devotion to Liliana is truly extraordinary.

Liliana was evidently moved as well, because the next day she finally agreed to stand with Adrian before the Moon Goddess and perform the bonding ceremony.

This was the first thing worth celebrating in five years since the Blood Moon War.

The altar was swept clean. The dust was wiped from the covenant stone.

Everyone was busy. Everyone was happy.

Except me.

If I were in her shoes—if I'd fought my way back to my fated mate only to find an Omega wearing my face glued to his side for five years—I'd probably hate her too.

So I stayed dutifully in my cottage, sat with Little White in the sun, and fed it.

The outside commotion had nothing to do with me.

It could have gone on like that.

But on the day of the bonding ceremony, Liliana's attendant came to the cottage.

She stood politely at the door and said the Luna was requesting my presence at the altar.

I refused at first, but she wouldn't leave. Left with no choice, I followed her.

The entire Silvercrown tribe was gathered. A sea of heads packed the space before the altar. I was led to a spot at the very front.

Everyone could see exactly where I'd been placed.

Liliana and Adrian stood side by side atop the altar.

Just as Adrian and I had, five years ago.

She wore a robe of moonlit white. He stood beside her in dark ceremonial dress, expression solemn. Together, they looked like a painting.

Liliana's gaze found me.

She walked to where I stood and gave a thin smile. "Everyone says you were born looking like me."

She tilted her head slightly, appraising my face. "But do you even know who you are?"

"An Omega fished out of the Abyss. No surname, no tribe. Even your name was something he gave you." Her smile deepened. The weight of every eye in the tribe pressed down on me.

Who am I?

Good question. Who was I, really?

I lowered my gaze to her left hand. The finger that had been severed was whole again.

Fully restored.

The ceremony began. The healer chanted ancient rites, voice reverberating above the altar. Adrian and Liliana each held a dagger, blades gleaming cold-white under the moonlight.

They cut their palms. Blood dripped down, seeping into the carved channels of the covenant stone.

The stone began to glow.

I stood quietly at the very front, watching the light bloom. I knew what came next—two names would surface on the stone, and from that moment, souls would be bound. Life and death, shared.

Someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

I turned. Cassian.

He reached out and rapped his knuckle against my forehead. Not hard—somewhere between light and firm.

"Idiot. It's obviously a setup to humiliate you. Why'd you come?"

Before I could retort, a gasp tore through the crowd.

A blinding flash erupted from the altar. A shockwave blasted outward from the stone's center, driving the front rows back several steps.

When the light faded, every eye was on the stone.

Two names were rising slowly to the surface.

Not Adrian and Liliana.

Elaine and Adrian.

Elaine—that was me.

Shock rippled through the crowd. Every head swiveled toward me.

I stood in place. A bitter smile.

Yes. During those five years in the Abyss, Adrian and I had already performed this ceremony at this very altar.

Back then, he'd said he wanted to take me out of the Abyss. At the peak of what I'd thought was love, he'd taken my hand and stood before the stone.

That night, he'd marked me.

Liliana hurled her dagger to the ground. Her face was ashen. "Adrian—what is this? The Luna's seat was already given away? You've been playing me?"

Adrian stood atop the altar, expression impossibly complicated.

He looked at me. "I forgot."

Forgot.

Five years. Together day and night. He'd held my hand before the Moon Goddess and sworn an oath.

He'd said there wasn't another Elaine in all the world. He'd said he would protect me.

He forgot.