Chapter 2

I went cold.

Everyone knew who Vivienne Forsythe was.

The most feared She-Wolf Warrior in the realm.

Battle records that matched Dorian's. A legend.

That night Dorian was gentler than he'd ever been.

But I cried the whole time.

The moon was bright and white, dissolving in my tears.

I saw the Full Moon Gathering so many years ago.

The young Alpha Heir hiding that magnolia behind my seat out of spite.

I saw myself in the Calloway Manor through all those years.

Counting the clock chimes and crying until dawn.

The pain nearly killed me.

Dorian didn't notice.

He pressed against me.

His shadow swallowed me whole.

And he kept calling that name, soft and desperate.

"Vivienne. Vivienne."

Through those years.

I kept the rules and treated him with the respect he was owed.

Even his harshest Pack elders couldn't find fault with me.

I once overheard Dorian talking to his men.

"Ivy's a good mate. Just not the one I wanted. My heart's been dead since the border."

I didn't care anymore.

But somehow, it still hurt.

Then Vivienne was killed in battle.

Dorian locked himself in his study and refused to see anyone.

I didn't want to deal with him.

But his men ran out of options.

They came to me, begging me to go in and check on the Alpha Heir.

When I walked in.

The room was completely dark.

Dorian came up from behind and grabbed me.

"Vivienne. Don't go."

His voice was slurred, broken, on the edge of sobbing.

"You married someone else. Fine. You had a child. Fine."

"But why did you have to die—"

The writing desk was covered in letters that had never been sent.

I looked at every single one.

They all started with her name.

I stood in the dark.

Listening to him cry. For a long time.

Then I decided to let him go be with her.

I pulled those letters out one by one and spread them on the floor.

I had always been weak.

Never done a single bold thing in my life.

Never even raised my voice.

But right then, I didn't want to live like this anymore.

I lit the letters on fire.

I didn't wake him.

They burned gray and curled at the edges.

Like ash offerings to the dead.

"Vivienne is gone. You loved her this much. You should go with her."

The flame lit my face in flickers of orange and shadow.

I touched Dorian's face.

"Can you hear me?" I whispered.

"She's lonely. Go to her. Go on and die."

"I've already sent her your letters. You're next."

The flames shot up suddenly, catching the edge of his jacket.

I stood up and walked into the dark.

I didn't know where to go.

My family's home was closed to me. The Calloway Manor wasn't mine.

The world was so large.

But where could I actually go?

Pack warriors ran past me in a panic.

Screaming about fire. About the Alpha Heir still inside. Calling for me.

Stupid, I thought.

Why call for me? I couldn't put out fires.

I looked at my reflection in the garden pond.

That woman had always kept her eyes down.

Like a statue with no feelings, enduring everything.

But right now, her eyes were curved.

She was laughing.

She looked at me and said.

"Ivy Pemberton. You're free."

The moment my reflection broke apart in the pond.

The moon turned in the corridor above me.

I looked up at the magnolia branch.

And thought about the Full Moon Gathering.

Dorian was still the young Alpha Heir I knew.

Cold, dismissive, above it all.

When I turned him down, he let a little irritation show.

"Don't flatter yourself. I wasn't going to take you anyway."

I was still going over it in my mind.

Then a cold laugh broke through the quiet.

"Stupid."

Ice crept up my spine.

I spun around.

At the far end of the corridor, half in shadow.

Someone was standing there.

Pale skin. Black eyes.

In the moonlight, they cast no shadow.

Not a person, I realized. Not really.

It was the ghost that hadn't burned to ash in that past-life fire.

The one that had crawled out of the cinders.

Cold breath swept across my neck.

The ghost smiled and called to me.

"My mate."

"Oh."

I sighed, soft.

What a shame.

Dorian's ghost leaned closer.

I could feel the cold coming off him.

"You look disappointed."

"I am," I said.

I met his eyes and smiled.

"I couldn't burn you down to nothing."

"And now here you are. Half dead and still following me."

The night wind picked up.

Dorian reached out and touched my face with a gentle hand.

"You are my properly bonded mate."

"In this world or the next, I'll stay by your side."

He said it tenderly. Like a vow.

But I wasn't scared.

He had no body.

Just a wandering soul.

The most he could do.

Was stir up a strange wind at a gathering.

I shot back.

"Your mate? You're dead. I'm still alive."

"Who I choose next is none of your business."

The ghost flinched like I'd struck him.

He stared hard at me.

"You turned him down publicly. The real Dorian isn't going to let this go."

I smiled.

Had the fire burned his brain too?

If he wanted to watch someone make a fool of themselves.

He should look in a mirror.

"You mean that boy?"

"I'm waiting."