Every time I gasped, the snow burned my lungs. My muscles screamed in protest as my legs shook beneath me, but I resisted the urge to fall. Not just yet. I had to keep going. Continue to breathe. Continue to live.
The warm glow of Silvercrest faded like a dream as the pack gates loomed behind me. I made an effort to recall what it had been like to be safe under Kael's authority, to have walls surrounding me, and to belong there. But in an instant, it had all been torn away. branded a traitor and banished. abandoned to perish in the wild.
And yet I was alive.
Barely.
With my thin ceremonial cloak soaking from the snow, I dragged myself to a shallow copse of trees. I was unaware that certain parts of my body could hurt. The rough hands of the guards left bruises all over my arms. The weight of the bloody cloth made my ribs ache. Furthermore, no wound could compare to the raw, excruciating ache in my chest.
I curled up against a tree trunk and allowed my wolf to stir, sensing the subtle blend of fear and rage. She was upset. She was starving. She desired retribution. Justice was what she desired.
And I let her get up a little so her senses could become more acute. I could smell the chilly air, the blood of animals that had died earlier on the snow, and the far-off presence of both wolves and people.
I could also smell him. Kael.
Like acid, the bond burned. Not familiar, not reassuring. Only suffering. Just a friendly reminder. There had been no intervention from the Alpha. He had allowed them to take me away from him, drag me into shame, and discard me as if I were an error. And the connection made fun of me, reminding me that he was still experiencing it. that he wouldn't do anything even now.
I wanted to yell. To scream. to rip something apart. However, I was unable to. Not just yet. First, I had to live.
The hardest night was the first one. In the distance, beasts and wolves prowled. They were circling, I heard. More than any claw, hunger gnawed at me. A constant reminder that the pack had abandoned me, the cold seeped into my bones. I scavenged what I could, using my instincts for strength, berries for sustenance, and snow for water.
I discovered others by the second day. Rogues, exiles. Wolves who were broken and abandoned because of politics, treachery, or fear. They gave me a wary look. I didn't explain. All I did was nod, let the snow gather in my hair, and show them the blood that was still drying on my arms. That in and of itself warned them not to underestimate me.
One of them, a wiry woman with a scar across her left eye, remarked, "You're new." Her eyes flickered to the blood, but her tone remained neutral. "They allowed you to escape unharmed?"
I forced the words past my swollen lips and whispered, "They didn't." "I made it through."
After examining me, the woman nodded. "So perhaps you'll outlive some of us."
I didn't respond. There was no guarantee of survival. It was essential. Furthermore, I didn't want Silvercrest to witness my breakdown.
I learned the truth by the third day. The convoy. The patrols. The letter was sealed in blood. I was framed by them. The evidence, the blood, and the handwriting were all fake.
This had been planned by someone. I was wanted out by someone.
And when I recognized who it might be, my heart constricted.
Rowan.
Kael's beta. The one I'd suspected all along. The serene, unintelligible wolf that had consistently observed, planned, and waited. His gaze had followed me throughout the ceremony, I recalled. not a desire. Not interest. However, strategy. malice. It made sense now. The betrayal had been planned by him. During the bonding ceremony, he had drawn blood from me. I put it to use. altered it. made me an enemy of the pack.
My anger was sharp and unadulterated. It was painful. My inner wolf tore at the walls of my head, wanting to jump, hit, and obliterate. I put my hands to my temples, struggling to keep myself and her under control. I wasn't prepared to go back yet. Not just yet. I needed to have more strength. more intelligent. deadlier.
And I would be.
I trained for the next few weeks. I learned from the rogues. They taught me more about survival than Silvercrest had ever let me know. How to track prey, move silently through snow, and, in the event that weapons failed, fight using only your teeth and claws. I pushed my body harder and my wolf harder every day until I could feel the power growing beneath my skin like a fire that was about to blow up.
But no matter how strong I got, the connection with Kael would always be there in the back of my mind. It was painful and unrelenting, and I would always be haunted by the image of his serene eyes when they cast me out. He hadn't screamed or hit me; he had just let it happen.
And yet... I sensed that he was also having difficulty. He knew the truth somewhere, deep down. He sensed the bond burning just as intensely as I did, somewhere. He wanted to act somewhere.
I hated that I knew it. That knowledge was poison.
It made me ache for him.
And it made my anger burn hotter.
I had discovered something more significant by the fifth week. Bloodfang's Darius had been relocating troops close to the borders. They were getting ready to launch a full-scale assault. Rowan had been supplying them with information, controlling me, Kael, and the council. It dawned on me then that I had been nothing more than a pawn in a conflict that I had been too helpless to recognize.
The wolf inside of me was stirring. She desired a fight. She desired retribution. She desired the blood of all those who had viewed me as weak. And I gave her more time to stir, allowing the rage to become more clear.
I would be seen by Kael again. He would see more than the girl he had banished when he did. He would witness my transformation into a wolf. When everyone thought the woman would die, he would see that she had survived.
And Rowan… Rowan would see the storm he had created.
I was no longer the banished daughter of a minor pack named Lyra Vance by the end of that night. I was Lyra Vance, ready, sharpened, and wolf bonded.
The first move would be mine.
And the second, Kael's.
But the war… the real war… was only just beginning.