Chapter 1

By day, I killed for him.

By night, he folded my body beneath his—

legs hooked over his shoulders,

breath stolen from my mouth

until the only sound I had left was the one he forced out of me.

He never asked if I wanted it.

The moment his hand clamped around my waist,

my body remembered the pace of his growls against my throat

and obeyed before my mind had time to protest.

But the cruelest part of him wasn’t his strength.

It was how easily he could make my knees tremble at midnight—

and then treat me like nothing but a shadow by morning.

Like now.

I pushed open the door.

He stood shirtless by the window,

skin still marked with the faint imprints of his fingers on my hips,

the same place he’d held me down last night.

But he didn’t turn.

Didn’t look at me.

“You’re late.”

His voice was low—rough in the exact way it sounded

"I was tracking the Eastern border." I locked the door behind me, already feeling the pull. "Found three breaches."

"Come here."

Two words, and my body moved on instinct.

I crossed the room, and his hand caught my wrist, yanking me against his chest.

"You smell like blood." His nose traced my throat. "And adrenaline."

"I killed what needed killing."

His grip tightened.

"Always so violent, my little blade."

I tilted my head, offering my neck—the ultimate submission.

"Only for you."

His teeth grazed my mark, and electricity shot through every nerve.

Then he pulled back.

Cold air rushed between us.

"We need to talk."

My wolf whined at the loss of contact.

"I'm announcing my engagement tomorrow." He finally faced me. "To Seraphina Dragunov."

The room tilted.

"You're... what?"

"The Eastern packs need to align with New Orleans. Her father controls half the continent." His expression was carved from stone. "It's political."

"Political." I laughed, sharp and broken.

"You marked me." My hand flew to my neck. "Your wolf claimed mine."

"And you'll remain claimed." He stepped closer, and I hated how my body still responded. "Nothing changes between us, Lyra. You're still mine—"

"Your secret."

"My blade. My shadow. My—"

"Your whore."

His hand shot out, gripping my jaw.

"Don't."

"That's what I'll be, isn't it?" I could barely breathe. "She gets the title, the ceremony, the daylight. I get whatever's left."

His thumb traced my bottom lip.

"You've always understood the game."

"The game?" My claws extended, pricking his wrist. "I'm your mate, Ronan. Your wolf chose mine in blood and bone."

"My wolf doesn't rule this pack." His eyes flashed gold. "I do."

Something inside me shattered.

The bond that had felt unbreakable cracked straight down the center.

"Lyra—"

"Don't touch me."

I wrenched free, and he let me go.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere you'll never find me."

"You can't leave." His voice dropped to Alpha command. "You're mine."

I turned at the door.

"Then you should have kept me."

---

My nest reeked of him.

Everything did.

His shirts tangled in my sheets.

His taste still on my tongue.

Ten years of secret promises scattered across every surface like shrapnel.

I grabbed the first thing—a blade he'd given me after our first kill together—and hurled it into the fireplace.

Then his shirts.

The photos we'd hidden in false-bottom boxes.

The ring he'd slipped on my finger last month, whispering "soon, I promise soon."

Everything burned.

My wolf howled as I destroyed our life, but I didn't stop.

When the flames finally died, I pulled out my phone.

One contact.

"Dad."

"Lyra?" Magnus Hale's voice sharpened instantly. "What's wrong?"

I watched the last photograph curl into ash—Ronan's mouth on my throat, taken in this very room.

"Make the name Lyra disappear."

"What did he do?"

"Everything we feared." My fingers traced the mark on my neck, still warm with his claim. "And I'm done being invisible."

"Where are you now?"

"Burning the past." I smiled without warmth. "How fast can you create a new identity?"

"Seventy-two hours if we're careful—"

"Make it forty-eight."

"Lyra, if you're running from him—"

"The Shadow Blade is dead, Dad." My reflection stared back from the darkened window—wild eyes, tear-streaked face, and something new burning beneath.