Chapter 1

The High Priest, who was in charge of the bonding ceremony, hesitated before setting down the holy water.

"Miss Celeste, should we wait a little longer?" he asked me. "Today is Blood Moon Day. The Alpha Prince might be held up by the Tideforce."

I shook my head, my voice a bit muffled. "He's not coming."

Two hourglasses ago, a weak mental link was suddenly forced into my Sea of Consciousness.

Lily Blackmane: [Would you believe me if I told you that as long as I'm here, you and Arthur will never complete your bonding ritual?]

I was brushing my hair at the time. I thought it was a prank from some low-ranking werewolf and didn't take it seriously.

But then Lily's taunts kept coming through my Sea of Consciousness every so often.

Lily: [You're supposed to receive the Moon Goddess's blessing today, aren't you? Arthur is not going. He's here with me, helping me calm my frenzied inner wolf.

[If you don't believe me, call him through your Bondmark. See if he answers.]

I didn't take the half-blood's provocations seriously.

But Arthur Greywolf, who had always treated the ritual as the pack's highest honor, still hadn't shown up by the time the moonlight fell upon the Sanctum.

Afraid he might be suffering from Lunar Backlash, I activated the Bondmark on the back of my neck anyway.

Nothing happened.

As if she knew what I had done, the next second, Lily's sweet, delicate voice echoed in my Sea of Consciousness again.

Lily: [He's afraid the heat from the mark might disturb my rest, so he's completely closed off his Mental Barrier. I suggest you stop waiting. It's pathetic.]

Over the next two hourglasses, I rammed against Arthur's Mental Barrier 75 times. It cost me 28 drops of Heartblood.

But I couldn't break through the wall he had built.

In the two years we had been bound together, Arthur had always kept a sliver of his mind open for me, even in the middle of a fight.

Yet on the very day we were supposed to be recognized by the Moon Goddess, he cut the bond between us.

The High Priest looked at me with a hint of pity.

"Miss Celeste, the ceremony can be canceled," he said, "but the offerings to the Moon Goddess cannot be returned. I hope you understand."

I turned and walked toward the Skywing waiting outside the palace, the one that would take me to the Human Realm.

The Skywing carried me into the cold, clear night sky of Blood Moon Day.

The Sanctum of the Wolf Court shrank rapidly beneath me, until it was a faint, distant light.

The biting wind at high altitude slashed at my cheeks, but it was nothing compared to the stabbing pain echoing in my Sea of Consciousness.

That was the backlash from overusing my Heartblood.

As an ordinary human with no werewolf blood, the only reason I survived two years in the Wolf Court was thanks to the tiny bit of Healing Essence I had inside me.

Two years ago, Arthur was ambushed by a high-ranking beast in the Northern Frostlands. He was on the brink of death, and I used my Healing Essence to save his life.

That was when we formed the Symbiotic Pact.

He promised to protect me for life, and tonight, on Blood Moon Day, he was supposed to elevate our Symbiotic Pact into a Bondmark blessed by the Moon Goddess.

But now, the half-formed Bondmark at the back of my neck was burning.

It wasn't Arthur's response that made it burn. The Bondmark was dying because of the broken ritual.

A drop of black, tainted blood slid down my neck and splattered onto the Skywing's snow-white feathers, the contrast so stark it made my chest tighten.

Just then, in the Sea of Consciousness I thought was completely dead, Lily's sweet, soft voice echoed again. [Did you really leave, Cecilia?]

She couldn't hide the smugness and sarcasm in her voice. [Arthur just said you were bad-tempered, that you always acted like you were better than everyone else, all because you saved him that one time.

[He said you should go out and feel the cold wind, suffer a bit. In a few days, you'll come back to the Wolf Court and apologize.]

I bit down hard on my lower lip, the sharp tang of blood filling my mouth.

Arthur hadn't bothered to close off his Mental Barrier to Lily. He was even letting her use their mental link to watch me fall apart.

In werewolf culture, letting another person into one's Mental Barrier was the ultimate sign of trust and affection. It used to be a privilege he gave only to me.

Lily added with a light, mocking laugh, [By the way, Arthur ended up smashing all those healing elixirs you left at the Wolf Court while he was trying to calm the frenzied energy in my veins.

[But it's no big deal. He said you're a healer, so you've got plenty of blood to spare. Bleed a few extra drops for me each month, and we'll call it even.]

My stomach churned, nausea threatening to overwhelm me.

To Arthur, those 28 drops of Heartblood I nearly drained myself for were nothing but cheap expendables.

I refused to give Lily the satisfaction of a response.

Slowly, I drew a silver-forged dagger from my boot.

It was a gift from Arthur, meant to protect me. He once claimed this blade could slice through any evil that dared cross my path.

I flipped the dagger in my hand, pressing the icy edge against the rotting Bondmark at the back of my neck.

Since he'd already shut me out, keeping this one-way connection was nothing but disgusting.