Chapter 2

I had a full breakdown. But Cain looked at me with a cold face and told me I was the one in the wrong for disrupting their work.

I knew then that the scales had already tipped inside Cain's head.

Cain was still talking.

"Elara, if I'm being honest, the Moon Root was mine to give, so this is on me. Be angry at me if you want to be angry at someone."

When she heard Cain say that, Vivienne grabbed a sword, pulled out the blade, and held it against her own hair.

"It's just hair. Fine, I'll cut mine too. I do things for my Pack brother — a little sacrifice is nothing. Don't blame Cain for this."

She said it, but the blade didn't move an inch.

I looked at her and suddenly smiled. "Go ahead, then."

Vivienne's hand froze.

I pushed her. "Cut it."

She moved the blade forward half an inch but didn't use any force.

Vivienne gritted her teeth. "I — I'm doing this for my Pack brother. I'll cut it."

That was when Cain stepped forward and drew his sword. He knocked the blade out of Vivienne's hand in one clean move.

He looked at me. His face was dark. "Enough. Elara, you have no grace."

I went still.

Cain was practically grinding his teeth.

"Vivienne is my Pack sister. She would take a blade for me on the battlefield."

"Why do you always go after her? She spent three years fighting on the border. The blood she's spilled is more than all the tears you've ever cried."

"Meanwhile, you sit here in the Pack Manor and treat every other woman like a rival. Vivienne's bigger than that. She carries the whole territory in her heart. What about you? What do you carry?"

Vivienne tugged at his sleeve from the side.

"Cain, stop. She's still your Chosen Mate."

But Cain didn't stop.

"Chosen Mate or not, she's been sheltered too long. Her whole world is this small."

"Vivienne was testing your awareness. It's something we do at the border all the time. It's normal Pack training."

"Why can't you let it go? You'd actually make her cut off her own hair over this? Do you understand what it means to take something that belongs to someone's body?"

I stood there listening.

I'd already told myself so many times to let Cain go.

But right then, a quiet pain spread through me anyway.

I looked at the hair still scattered across the floor and thought:

I really do hate Cain Sterling now.

As dawn broke, the servants at Whitmore Manor began moving outside the window.

Cain's face changed the moment he heard them. He grabbed the warriors and slipped out over the wall.

When my mother pushed the door open, she was carrying a warm bowl of herbal broth.

"Elara, tomorrow's the big day. I made you some—"

Her words caught in her throat. The bowl slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor.

My mother let out a horrified cry.

"Your — your hair. Where is your hair?"

She looked at the clumps of dark hair spread across the floor. "What — what happened? Who did this?"

I had sharp ears. I caught the sound of Vivienne's quiet laugh drifting over the wall.

I pressed my mother's hands between mine. "Mom. It's fine."

My mother's voice was shaking. "The Bonding Ceremony is tomorrow. How are you supposed to walk out looking like this? The whole Pack is watching."

I looked her in the eyes. "Mom, help me send a message to Ravencroft Manor."

When I'd finished writing, my mother took the letter, wiped her tears, and left.

Once she was gone, I pulled the Moon Root pouch off the bedpost and packed it carefully into a small box.

By evening, a reply arrived from Ravencroft Manor.

The reply was short. Just ten words: Bonding Ceremony proceeds as planned. Leave the rest to me.

Also in the package: a hairpiece crafted so precisely it looked completely real, along with a full set of gemstone hair accessories.

The Bonding Ceremony was tomorrow. That night, I couldn't sleep.

I ended up sitting at the window, running my hands over the Bonding dress.

The Manor went quiet. Everyone had gone to bed.

Then the door was pushed open again.

Cain stood in the doorway. Behind him was Vivienne. None of the other warriors.

He saw me touching the dress. Guilt crossed his face.

Vivienne spoke first. "Elara, we're even now."

I didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

Vivienne stepped forward and pulled back her collar.

Her neck and shoulder were covered in bite marks, dense and dark, trailing all the way down under the fabric.

"That Moon Root — you breathed it in and fell asleep. But it hit him differently."

Vivienne looked away. "I was the one who packed the pouch and there was some leftover root I hadn't thrown out yet. Then he walked in and—"

Cain said nothing. His jaw was tight.

Vivienne kept going.

"He lost control. I wasn't expecting it. So — we're even. You lost your hair, I lost my honor."