Nora's POV
The belt cracks across my back before I can run.
Pain explodes through my body, white-hot and familiar. I've felt this belt before—hundreds of times over twenty years. But tonight feels different. Worse.
Because Lyanna isn't just angry. She's furious that I matter now.
You embarrassed me! Another strike. Made our family look like trash in front of both packs! Strike. You should have DIED in that ceremony instead of bonding to those alphas like some kind of— Strike. —cursed abomination!
I curl into a ball on the floor, trying to protect my ribs. The twin bonds in my chest flare with each hit, sending distress signals to both alphas. Through the connections, I feel their responses:
Kael's rage is ice-cold and deadly. Somewhere far away, he's destroying something—I hear wood splintering through our bond.
Dane's fury is calculated and precise. He's planning. Scheming. Finding ways to get to me.
But they're not here. And Lyanna knows it.
The Council said I have you for seven days. Her smile is cruel as she coils the belt. I'm going to make every single one count.
She locks me in my tiny attic room—barely bigger than a closet, with one small window and a mattress so thin I can feel the floorboards underneath.
No food until you learn gratitude, she announces. Those alphas want a pretty mate, don't they? Well, you're too fat. Seven days of fasting will make you presentable.
I'm not fat. I'm already too thin from years of getting the smallest portions. But arguing only makes things worse.
The door slams. The lock clicks.
I'm alone.
Day One passes in a blur of pain and hunger. My back throbs where the belt broke skin. My stomach cramps, but I'm used to being hungry. What I'm not used to is the twin bonds BURNING constantly in my chest.
Through Kael's bond, I feel his wolf pacing like a caged animal. He wants to come for me, but something—probably Council guards—is stopping him.
Through Dane's bond, I feel him talking, negotiating, planning. He's trying to find a legal way to get me out early.
Neither of them sleeps. I know because their restless energy keeps me awake too.
Day Two brings my stepsisters.
Cassandra and Vera burst into my room while I'm too weak to fight back. They tear through my few possessions—a chipped cup, a threadbare blanket, a small wooden carving Mira gave me last year.
You don't need these anymore, Vera sings. You're going to live in a fancy mansion with your precious alphas.
They rip my blanket to shreds. Shatter my cup. Snap my carving in half.
I don't cry. I learned years ago that tears only make them crueler.
But through the bonds, I feel both alphas ROAR. The sound doesn't reach my ears, but I feel it vibrate through my entire body. They know I'm hurting. They're going insane from being unable to help.
Day Three is when everything gets worse.
I haven't eaten in three days. Haven't had water since yesterday morning. My vision blurs when I try to stand, and my legs won't hold my weight.
I collapse on the thin mattress, shaking and dizzy.
This is it. I'm going to die here, and the bonds will kill both alphas because I'm too weak to survive my own stepmother.
Through the haze, I hear tapping at my window.
Nora! Open up!
Mira.
I drag myself across the floor, every movement agony. When I unlatch the window, Mira climbs through with a bag slung over her shoulder.
Moon Goddess, you look awful. She pulls out stolen bread, cheese, and a water bottle. Eat. Slowly.
I want to devour everything, but Mira makes me take small bites. Too much too fast will make you sick.
While I eat, she cleans the wounds on my back with supplies she brought. Her hands are gentle, but I still flinch.
Those alphas are losing their minds, she whispers. I work in Silverclaw's kitchens, remember? Alpha Dane has guards stationed around this house. He knows you're suffering.
Then why doesn't he stop it? My voice cracks.
Council law. You're still technically your stepfamily's responsibility for seven days. If the alphas interfere early, the Council can reject the bond entirely. She meets my eyes. But trust me—on day seven, they're coming. And hell is coming with them.
Hope flickers in my chest.
You're going to survive this, Mira promises. Those alphas won't let you die here.
But I'm not sure I believe her.
Days Four, Five, and Six blur together in a nightmare of hunger, pain, and Lyanna's creative cruelty.
She can't leave visible marks—the alphas would lose control if I showed up covered in fresh bruises. So she finds other ways.
Ice baths that leave me shaking for hours. Locked in darkness until I'm afraid of my own shadow. Verbal abuse that cuts deeper than any belt.
You're worthless. Damaged. Those alphas will see it eventually and reject you themselves.
Through the bonds, I feel Kael's barely restrained violence. He's one wrong word away from starting a war to get to me.
I feel Dane's cold calculation. He's planning something big for day seven.
They're both holding on by a thread.
So am I.
Day Seven arrives with Lyanna's footsteps on the stairs.
Get up. She drags me out of bed by my hair. Time for one final lesson in obedience before those alphas take you away.
She hauls me downstairs to the main room where my stepsisters wait, watching with cruel anticipation.
Lyanna pulls the belt from her waist. Kneel.
I'm too weak to fight. Too broken to run. I sink to my knees on the cold floor, waiting for the pain.
This is how it's always been. Lyanna in control, me powerless, no escape.
Her hand rises with the belt.
And then the world EXPLODES.
The front door doesn't just open—it detonates. Wood splinters fly across the room as the entire door frame is ripped from the wall with brutal force.
Two massive figures stand in the doorway, backlit by moonlight.
Alpha Kael Blackwood on the left, his eyes blazing molten silver.
Alpha Dane Blackwood on the right, his eyes glowing liquid gold.
Both of them radiate such raw power that every wolf in the house drops to the floor in submission—except Lyanna, who's too shocked to move.
Touch her again, Kael growls, his voice inhuman with barely controlled rage, and I'll burn this house to ash with you inside.
Dane's smile is beautiful and absolutely terrifying. We'd hate to have to do that. But we will.
Through the bonds, I feel them fully for the first time in seven days—not just emotions but PRESENCE. They're here. Really here.
Lyanna's hand trembles, the belt still raised.
She's mine for seven days, she says, but her voice shakes. Council law—
Seven days are up, Dane interrupts smoothly. It's midnight. Your time with our mate is over.
Kael takes one step forward, and the floor cracks under his weight. Get. Your. Things.
I try to stand, but my legs won't work. Seven days of starvation and abuse have left me too weak.
Before I can fall, both alphas move at the same time.
Kael reaches me first, sweeping me into his arms like I weigh nothing. His touch sends warmth flooding through the bond, and I realize he's shaking with the effort of not killing everyone in this house.
Dane appears on my other side, his hand gentle on my face. Breathe, Nora. You're safe now.
Through blurring vision, I see Lyanna backing away, the belt falling from her hands.
And then I see something else.
Behind my stepmother, shadows move in the darkness of the house. Figures I don't recognize. Wolves who shouldn't be here.
One of them raises a weapon.
DOWN! I scream.
The arrow meant for Kael's heart flies through the air.
Everything goes black.