Ten years ago, Belle Madrigal was blamed for her sister’s death and cast out of her pack. Her Alpha father’s final words “Why did she die, but not you?” drove her into exile. She lived among humans, hiding her identity, her wolf, and her pain.


Now, at twenty-eight, Belle learns her mate is none other than Christian Martin, the powerful Alpha of the strongest pack and heir to a billion-dollar empire. But instead of love, he offers her a contract: marry him for one year so he can fulfill the requirements of his inheritance.


Belle accepts to save her parents’ home but finds herself in a loveless arrangement, mocked by the pack and haunted by the past. Then Christian returns with another woman, the one he truly loves… and it’s Belle’s sister, long thought dead.


As secrets explode and bonds unravel, Belle must decide if she can forgive the mate who rejected her or burn the past down with him in it.

The council chamber, built to impress and intimidate, now felt like a tomb trying to remember the shape of its kings. Camille stood at the center, surrounded by high-backed seats of carved obsidian and the hollow stares of the Elders seated above her in a circle of silence. Behind her, Magnolia remained still, arms folded, back straight, her presence a silent promise. Rhett was positioned at the far end of the gallery, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. The room reeked of judgment, not justice. It was the kind of silence that preceded executions clean, ceremonial, and calculated.


Chapter 39 - The Fire Beneath the Bones