Bound and Burned by the One I Loved

In my dream, I slipped back to the first time I ever laid eyes on Cassian.It was at a pack gathering. He stood beside the sacred flames, his face carved from ice, his silver eyes gleaming like winter stars. His lethal hunting skills and commanding presence had already captured the hearts of half the females in the territory.I was no exception. After that single glimpse, I started hunting for every scrap of information about him.Back then, I was nothing but a Beta trainee from the outer territories. He looked right through me.To earn his attention, I worked myself to the bone.Once I finally earned my place as a full pack member, I invited him to a feast of fresh prey under the guise of giving thanks.That night, I caught the shift in his gaze—the way his eyes lingered.I seized that opening and pursued him with everything I had.Fresh rabbits, polished wolf-fangs, rare healing herbs, golden wild honey.I never spared a single gift.Finally, I got what I wanted. He accepted my court

I dragged myself upright on the cold stone, movements stiff and broken. Blood dripped from my forehead into my eyes, but I didn’t wipe it away. I clutched my satchel tight against my flattened abdomen—hiding the tomb where my daughter had been—and fixed Cassian with a gaze dripping with black venom."The pup?" My voice was a rusted blade. "How touching. The territory’s beloved guardian—the compassionate Alpha—concerns himself with a bastard whelp? Your worry is wasted. She’s ash. Died in the fire while you were playing hero with your foster sister.""Congratulations on your union, by the way. Enjoy your happiness while it lasts. Soon enough, you’ll visit your beloved through the bars of an enforcer’s cage."Cassian’s face twisted, fury warping his handsome features into something grotesque. "Must you speak with such poison? I am the Alpha—protecting the pack is my sacred duty. I didn’t press charges against you for arson. I saved Eira. And now you blame me?""You have no right to speak

Three days.I polished silver and gold until my claws bled, until the master grunted approval. I wore a mask to hide the healing burns, but nothing could hide the flatness of my abdomen beneath the work tunic. The other workers ignored me, whispering traitor when they thought I couldn’t hear.Then they walked in.Eira’s scent hit me first—jasmine and poison. She wore a silk dress that cost more than this shop earned in a month. Cassian’s arm was draped around her waist, possessive, triumphant.She saw me immediately. No surprise in her eyes. Only hunger."Mate," she purred, holding up a delicate golden chain. "Look how this shines on me."Cassian nuzzled her ear, loud enough for the entire shop to hear. "My Eira looks radiant in anything. Like it? It’s yours. I earn only to spend on you."I turned away, reaching for a polishing cloth, but Eira’s voice snapped like a whip."Attendant. Fetch me the moonstone ring. The large one."The other workers vanished. Cowards.I cursed silently an

The interrogation chamber was cold stone and dim light.They played the security crystal. Cassian watched Eira pour the oil—his foster sister, his "little sister," striking the spark with a smile. He watched it three times. Four. On the fifth viewing, his hands began to shake. He gripped the stone table until his claws cracked, his knuckles white as bone. When the crystal showed Eira running from the flames while I lay bleeding, he made a sound—a wet, broken gasp, like a wolf taking a death blow to the throat."She was reborn too," he said finally. His voice was dust and ashes. "She remembered. She burned us twice. She let me burn you both times."I said nothing. I stood in the shadows, watching him shatter.Eira, in the adjacent chamber, screamed. Not with pain—with desperation. She threw herself against the bars, her perfect silk gown torn and soiled, her face streaked with mucus and tears. "Asha !" she howled, crawling on her knees toward the dividing wall. "Please! Please! I confes