The moment I saw him, I wanted to kill him.
He stood at the far end of the Fae High Court’s grand hall, a shadow among shadows, his broad frame silhouetted by the flickering torchlight. Kaelen. The Wolf King. Alpha of the Northern Packs. The man who had torn my sister’s throat out and left her body in the snow like a warning.
And now I was walking toward him.
My boots made no sound on the ancient black stone, my spine straight, my breath even. The air was thick with the scent of incense and old magic—jasmine, blood, and something darker, like wet earth after a storm. The kind of smell that clung to power. The kind of smell that made your skin prickle.
I didn’t flinch. I didn’t look away.
The hall was packed. Fae lords in gilded masks, vampire elders with eyes like frozen wine, werewolf betas with their collars high and their fangs just visible. All of them watching me. All of them knowing I didn’t belong.
Half-blood. Half-witch. Half-human.
They thought I was weak. Fragile. A mistake.
They didn’t know I’d spent the last five years sharpening my mind like a blade. That I’d memorized every law, every loophole, every secret the Supernatural Council had tried to bury. That I’d studied political sabotage in Prague’s underground covens, learned how to weaponize silence in Vienna’s blood bars, and mastered the art of deception in Edinburgh’s glamour clubs.
I wasn’t here to beg.
I was here to burn.
The silver locket around my neck held my sister’s ashes. I could feel its weight against my skin, cold and heavy. She’d been a peace envoy, sent to mediate between the packs. A neutral party. And they’d killed her. Framed her as a traitor. Burned her name from the records.
But not from mine.
I reached the center of the hall. The Council dais loomed above me, a curved throne of black marble and thorned vines. The Magistrates sat in their seats, cloaked in midnight silk, their faces half-hidden behind masks of bone and silver.
Lord Veylan, the Fae High Court Magistrate, tilted his head. “You requested audience, Misty Vale.”
My name on his lips sounded like an insult.
“I do,” I said, voice clear. “I’m here to present evidence of murder. Of conspiracy. Of betrayal by the Alpha of the Northern Packs.”
A ripple went through the crowd.
Kaelen didn’t move.
He just watched me. Amber eyes, unblinking. Predatory. The kind of gaze that made your pulse stutter, not from fear—from something worse. Recognition.
“Proceed,” Veylan said, waving a hand.
I reached into my coat for the scroll—the one that held the truth. The one that proved Kaelen had ordered the kill. The one that showed the council had covered it up.
And then the world exploded.
It started as a hum—a low, vibrating thrum deep in the stone beneath my feet. Then the air changed. Thickened. The torches dimmed, their flames turning crimson, like blood in firelight.
And then the moon.
Through the high arched windows, the Blood Moon rose over Blackveil Spire, its light spilling across the floor in waves of red. I’d known it was coming. The Blood Moon Summit only happened once every thirteen years. But I hadn’t known—no one had known—that the Blood Moon Ritual was still active.
Forbidden. Ancient. A binding of souls.
And it was happening to me.
“No,” I gasped, stumbling back.
But it was too late.
The magic hit me like a physical force—hot, invasive, tearing through my ribs and wrapping around my spine. I screamed. My body arched, my hands flying to my chest as fire surged through my veins. My vision whited out, then flooded with images—flashes of fur and fangs, of moonlight on snow, of a man with golden eyes kneeling over me, his mouth at my throat.
And then—him.
Kaelen.
He was moving. Snarling. His wolf was close to the surface, his canines lengthening, his muscles coiling. But he wasn’t coming for me.
He was fighting it too.
“This isn’t mine,” he growled, voice guttural. “I didn’t call this.”
But the ritual didn’t care.
The magic found him. Reached for him. And when our eyes locked across the hall, the bond snapped into place like a chain forged in fire.
I felt it in my bones.
A tether. A pull. A connection so deep it wasn’t just in my mind—it was in my blood, my breath, my heartbeat.
And then I felt *him*.
Not just his presence. Not just his power.
His *hunger*.
It rolled through me like a wave—raw, primal, a need so fierce it made my knees weak. My skin burned. My breath came in short, ragged gasps. My pulse thundered in my ears, but it wasn’t just mine.
It was his too.
Our heartbeats were syncing.
“What is this?” I choked out, clutching my chest.
No one answered.
The Council was silent. The crowd frozen. Even Veylan looked stunned.
And then a voice—ancient, resonant—echoed through the hall, though no one had spoken.
“The Blood Moon Claim is awakened. Two souls bound by fate. One mile apart, or death. Thirteen days to complete the bond… or both shall perish.”
My stomach dropped.
Bond. Fate. Death.
No. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t part of the plan.
I had come here to destroy Kaelen. To expose him. To make him pay.
And now I was *bound* to him?
I turned to him, fury cutting through the haze. “You did this.”
He bared his teeth. “You think I’d chain myself to a witch? To a half-blood with death in her eyes?”
“Then stop it!”
“I can’t.” His voice dropped, rough with something I couldn’t name. “It’s not ours to break.”
The magic pulsed between us, a living thing. Every breath I took pulled him closer, not in distance, but in *presence*. I could feel the heat of his body, the weight of his gaze, the way his wolf prowled just beneath his skin.
And worse—I could feel the pull in my own body.
A low, aching throb between my thighs. My nipples tightening against the fabric of my shirt. My breath hitching every time he took a step toward me.
This wasn’t just magic.
This was *desire*.
And it was mutual.
He stopped a few feet away, close enough that I could see the flecks of gold in his eyes, the faint scar running through his eyebrow, the way his throat moved when he swallowed.
“You’re mine now, witch,” he said, voice low, dangerous. “And I don’t share.”
I slapped him.
My palm cracked against his cheek, the sound sharp in the silent hall. For a second, I thought he’d back off. That the Alpha would retreat.
He didn’t.
He caught my wrist before I could pull away, his grip like iron. His other hand gripped my hip, yanking me forward until our bodies were flush.
And then I felt it.
The full force of the bond.
Heat exploded between us—white-hot, uncontrollable. Magic surged, crackling in the air like lightning. My skin burned where he touched me. My breath came in gasps. My vision blurred.
And in that moment, I saw it again—the flash of us tangled together, his mouth on my neck, my fingers in his hair, our bodies moving in perfect, desperate rhythm.
It wasn’t a memory.
It was a *promise*.
He leaned down, his lips brushing my ear. “You want to kill me?” he murmured. “Fine. But you’ll have to get close first.”
I wrenched my arm free, stumbling back. My heart was racing. My skin still burned. My body still ached.
And the worst part?
I wanted to go back to him.
I wanted to feel that heat again. That connection. That terrifying, intoxicating pull.
But I couldn’t.
Because I wasn’t here for him.
I was here for justice.
I straightened, forcing my voice steady. “This changes nothing.”
He smirked, slow and cruel. “It changes everything.”
Behind us, the Council began to murmur. The Magistrates exchanged glances. Veylan’s mask hid his expression, but I could feel his satisfaction like a knife in my back.
They’d wanted to discredit me. To paint me as unstable. A witch with a vendetta.
And now I was bound to the very man I accused.
It was perfect.
“The bond must be honored,” Veylan announced. “You will remain within one mile of each other for the duration of the summit. You will participate in the Blood Moon Trials. Failure to complete the bond…” He let the threat hang.
Death.
I looked at Kaelen. He was watching me, his expression unreadable.
One mile.
Thirteen days.
A bond that tied our lives together.
And a body that betrayed me every time he came near.
This wasn’t just a setback.
This was a war.
And I was already losing.
But I wasn’t dead yet.
I straightened my coat, met his gaze, and let every ounce of venom I had pour into my voice.
“I came here to destroy you, Kaelen. Now I’m chained to you.”
I took a step closer, until our breaths mingled.
“Fine. I’ll kill you from the inside.”
He didn’t flinch.
But I saw it—just for a second—in his eyes.
Fear.
Or maybe it was hunger.
Either way, I’d use it.