LOGINThree wolves burst through in the space of one breath, black fur, yellow eyes, Silvermoon scouts. Ella’s men. They shifted mid-leap, landing on two legs with steel in their hands. Alaric moved before Hazel could blink. He was unarmed. Shirtless. Bare feet on frozen floor. Didn’t matter. He caught the first scout by the throat and slammed him into the wall. Wood cracked. The wolf choked, claws scraping uselessly at Alaric’s forearm. “You should’ve stayed in the packhouse,” Alaric growled. His voice wasn’t his own, low, layered with his wolf. “You should’ve remembered who I am.” The second scout lunged. Alaric twisted, using the first man as a shield. The blade meant for his ribs sank into his own scout’s shoulder instead. Blood sprayed across the hearth. Hazel didn’t think. She couldn’t. The dagger Alaric gave her was small, cold, but her hands knew what to do. Her mother had taught her which veins to cut to stop a bleed, and which to cut to end one. She darted forward as the
The cabin was small, half-collapsed, and buried under snow, but it had four walls and a fireplace. For now, it was enough.Alaric kicked the door open with his boot and carried Hazel inside. The air smelled of rot and old wood, but he didn’t set her down until he’d cleared the bench with his arm and wrapped her in every blanket he could find.“Stay awake,” he ordered, his voice rough as he knelt and shoved dry kindling into the hearth. “Hazel. Eyes on me.”She blinked slowly, her head heavy against his shoulder. “I’m awake,” she lied. Her voice was soft, threadbare. The claim had warmed her, but the cold was still in her bones.The first spark caught. Orange light flickered across Alaric’s face, carving shadows into his jaw. He hadn’t shifted back into clothes. He sat shirtless in the snow-melt, muscle coiled, every inch the Alpha who’d just committed treason for her.Hazel stared. Her bond with him pulsed, steady and warm, but underneath it she felt it. His rage. Not at her. At Ella.
Hazel stood at the edge of the packhouse gates. No pack. No cloak. No weapon. Just the thin clothes she’d worn yesterday and a small satchel with a waterskin and a piece of bread. The guards hadn’t stopped her. Orders were orders. Exile at dawn.The air bit her lungs. It was colder than it had been in weeks, and the wind cut through her like knives. She pulled the thin fabric of her shirt tighter around herself and stepped past the iron gates.Behind her, the packhouse doors stayed shut. Alaric hadn’t come. She hadn’t expected him to.He can’t, she told herself. If he follows me, he loses everything. But that didn’t make the ache in her chest any less sharp.The path down the mountain was steep and treacherous with ice. Hazel moved carefully, one foot in front of the other. The bond inside her screamed with every step that took her further from Alaric. It felt like her ribs were being pulled apart, like someone had hooked her heart and was dragging it backward.She didn’
The moon was high when the council doors opened. Moon light spilled across the stone floor of the great hall. It made the wolves’ shadows stretch against the wall.Hazel stood in the center of the circle. Alone.No seat. No shield. No Alaric beside her. Pack law was clear , during a trial, the accused stood unprotected. The Alpha could speak for her, but he could not stand with her. It was meant to prevent bias. Right now, it felt like abandonment.The seven council elders sat in a semicircle above her, their robes dark, their faces half-hidden in shadow. Ella sat at the center, on the seat that had once belonged to Alaric’s father. She hadn’t been offered it. She’d taken it. No one had stopped her.Alaric stood to the right of the circle, tall and still as stone. His hands were clasped behind his back, but Hazel could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw was locked tight. He wasn’t allowed to interfere unless she was directly sentenced. Until then, he could only wat
The silence felt like a death threat to Hazel.Ella stood there, scroll in hand, radiating quiet triumph. She’d played this perfectly. Public. Legal. Irreversible. If Alaric marked Hazel now, he’d be admitting the bond existed before the council approved it. That was grounds for a vote of no confidence. If he didn’t,Hazel would be exiled before sunset.Hazel swallowed hard. Her throat was dry, her palms slick. Claimed or exiled. Two words. One cage.She wouldn’t beg. She wouldn’t run. But gods, she wanted to look away.Alaric descended another step. The temperature in the courtyard seemed to drop ten degrees. His scent rolled over her like a wave, making her knees weak. The mate bond pulled at her chest, sharp and aching, as if it wanted to drag her to him and be done with it.“Ella,” he said, and his voice was low enough that only those in the front heard. “You know as well as I do that a mate bond cannot be forced.”Ella’s smile didn’t waver. “And you know as well as
The gates of the pack had not opened for an outsider in a long time. Not since the night the victims of the old rules were rescued .So when the iron bars groaned upward at dawn, every wolf in the courtyard froze. Even the guards. Even the wind.Ella stepped through first.She hadn’t changed. Still tall. Still composed. Still wearing white like she owned the snow. Her dark hair was braided with silver cords , the mark of a pack envoy, not a rogue. The scent of pine clung to her cloak, sharp and deliberate. She wasn’t here to visit. She was here to claim after being exiled.Behind her, two council elders from our pack followed, their expressions grave. One carried the ceremonial scroll bound in blue leather. Pack law. Nothing good came wrapped in blue leather.Hazel felt it before she saw it. Then she felt a pull. The mate bond. Alaric was already moving.He appeared on the stone steps above the courtyard, shirtless, hair still damp from training, a sword strapped to his b
Hazel’s POVWe left at dawn. Seven days after Vincent died. Seven days after Alaric’s fever broke. Seven days after the bond was sealed.His leg still needs the staff. But he walks. No limp if he’s careful. My work. Cleric rides at our right. Beta leathers finally fit him again. He’s cut his hair
Hazel’s POVThe pack house is quiet for the first time in three days.No screams. No guards at the door. No Ella hissing poison. No Vincent’s shadow. Just me. Alaric. And the bond humming between us, gold and insistent and hungry.We’re in the Alpha suite. His rooms. Our rooms, now. The sheets wer
Hazel’s POVThe first thing I do is save his life. Again.Vincent’s dead on the Beta quarters floor. Ella’s screams are still echoing down the corridor. But Alaric is burning up in my arms, blackroot and fever eating him from the inside out.“Get him to the healing wing,” I order. My voice doesn’t
Hazel’s POV The maids didn’t curtsy to me before. Now three of them dropped into full bows when I walked into the kitchen, hands still shaking from Alaric’s office. “Luna,” the head cook whispered, eyes down. I almost dropped the empty water pitcher. “I’m not—” “Alaric claimed you,” a young om







