Chapter 1

The Alpha King had gone without an heir for years. Every high-ranking wolf in the territory had been watching the succession with hungry eyes.

I was a She-Wolf with a rare fertile bloodline. After a year living within the Ravencroft Pack Grounds, I finally gave birth safely to a son.

Alpha King Damien was overjoyed. Right there, he formally declared the newborn the Alpha Heir of Ravencroft Pack.

But my mother, Vera, who had come to visit me, let out a little laugh.

"Alpha King," she said. "The child my daughter carries is the bastard of a Guard she was sleeping with. And you're actually declaring him your Heir."

I stared at her, unable to believe what I was hearing. Cold sweat broke out across my entire body.

The Pack's most sacred laws concerned bloodlines and honor. A She-Wolf sleeping with a Guard was a capital offense — grounds for execution and the banishment of her entire family line.

This child was supposed to bring our family unimaginable honor.

My father had lectured Vera before she set foot in the Pack Grounds: the Alpha was dangerous, don't say anything reckless.

But she had started running her mouth again.

The moment Vera finished speaking, every voice in the hall went silent. Even breathing stopped.

I lay on the birthing bed, the post-birth weakness replaced instantly by cold dread.

Vera had always had a loose tongue and no sense of occasion.

She made careless jokes at the worst possible times, offending people left and right.

I was always the one who had to go apologize on her behalf.

I had thought that inside the Alpha Manor, she would at least hold herself back.

I had no idea she would be this reckless.

I stared at her from where I lay, my voice shaking.

"Mom. Do you know what you just said?"

Vera laughed out loud.

"What did I say that was wrong? I'm this old — do you think I don't know what I'm talking about?"

At those words, Alpha King Damien finally moved. His hand, which had been holding the formal decree, slowly lowered.

He had ruled this Pack for over a decade. He crushed challenges and eliminated rivals without hesitation.

What he hated most was being deceived. What he valued most was the purity of Pack bloodlines.

And this child was the only foundation he had for securing the future of Ravencroft Pack.

Damien's gaze settled on Vera. His voice was ice-cold.

"Say what you just said again."

Vera finally noticed something was wrong. Her eyes flickered with panic.

"Alpha — Alpha King, I was just joking around..."

Flynn, the Alpha King's chief Pack Enforcer, snapped his hand up, his voice sharp.

"Joking? The bloodline of an Alpha Heir is something you joke about?"

"The Alpha King has waited years for a legitimate heir. The succession has been declared. You dare stand here and openly slander the Pack heir's bloodline?"

Those words pulled every nerve in the hall to the breaking point.

My father Gerald went white. He grabbed Vera's arm hard.

"You crazy woman! Get on your knees and admit you made it up! Tell them every word was a lie!"

"Are you trying to get the whole family executed?!"

Vera stumbled from the force of it, instantly furious.

"Made it up? Which word was a lie?"

"I saw it with my own eyes. You think I'm imagining things?!"

Damien's voice dropped lower.

"What exactly did you see?"

Vera straightened her back and pointed toward the door of the hall.

"Pack Guard Luca Thorne! My daughter was sleeping with him!"

"The child is his! And I have hard evidence!"

My vision went dark. A surge of blood rose in my throat. I nearly passed out.

Damien's gaze swept to me.

All the warmth that had ever been in his eyes was gone. Only killing intent remained.

"Bring in Luca Thorne. Immediately."

"Also — seal off the entire Eastern Wing. No one in or out."

Luca had barely been shoved in by the Pack Enforcers before he threw himself to the ground. His forehead slammed into the stone floor so hard it split open and bled.

"Alpha King! I am innocent! I would die before committing an offense that would wipe out my entire family!"

Damien's voice was cold.

"You know exactly what this charge means."

"Pack law: a Guard who sleeps with a Pack She-Wolf under the Alpha's protection is executed by extreme measures, and his entire bloodline is banished."

"A She-Wolf who violates her status and contaminates the Alpha's lineage is guilty of treason against the Pack. Exile and a sanctioned death — leaving the body intact — is the Alpha's mercy."

His gaze cut to me like a blade.

"Serena Colton. These laws — you memorized them when you came to live here, didn't you?"

I knelt on the floor, my body shaking, still weak from giving birth.

"Yes, Alpha King. I have always been loyal to you. I have had no contact with Guard Luca whatsoever. I have done nothing improper. I beg you to investigate."

Luca pressed his forehead harder against the floor. The bloodstain spread wider.

"Alpha King! I have served in this Pack for five years and never once entered the Eastern Wing's inner quarters! I have never spoken a single word to Serena! I beg you to find the truth and clear my name!"

Only then did Vera begin to grasp how serious this was. But with every high-ranking Pack member watching, she couldn't bring herself to admit she was wrong.

After a long pause, she muttered.

"I... I was just talking... I don't even live here. How would I actually know whether she'd been with someone..."

The hall was dead silent.

Vera's face went pale, then flushed, then pale again.

"I was just saying things, making a little joke. Why are you all taking it so seriously..."

I was shaking with rage, nausea rising, my vision going dark at the edges.