Chapter 1

“Your wolf is dead, baby. Let me take care of you,” my mate, Dorian, said.

For three years, I believed him. I had no reason not to. I could not feel her. I could not see. Every morning I woke in darkness and reached for a mate who promised he would be my eyes, and I let myself believe that was love.

Tonight, she woke up.

The first thing she gave me was a recording of my husband ordering her bound.

But first, she gave me one impossible hour of happiness.

It was our anniversary. I had spent the afternoon cooking Dorian’s favorite meal by touch, the way I had done for three years. Candles waited beside the stove. Then something moved beneath my ribs. Warm and small at first—then unmistakably alive.

My wolf.

Light split open behind my eyes. The knife on the counter came into focus. My shaking hand. The blue flame beneath the pot. I could see.

I pressed both hands over my mouth. The kitchen tiles blurred beneath my tears. Then I felt the second heartbeat. Tiny. Fast. Mine, but not mine.

A baby.

For one stupid, shining second, I pictured Dorian’s face when I told him.

My phone buzzed.

One message. No name.

Play this before Dorian comes home.

I pressed play.

Static. A door. Then his voice, calm and cold.

“Bind her wolf. Silver and wolfsbane. All the way down. I don’t want a flicker.”

A woman answered. The pack healer. “Alpha, her blood runs silver. A wolf that strong will fight it.”

“Then keep her drinking the tonics. She thinks they keep her alive. Let her think it.”

“And the ceremony? The pack expects a silver Luna.”

“Celeste can wear silver. No one checks a blind woman who cannot see her own wrist.” His voice dropped, almost gentle. “Once her wolf is gone, she has nothing. She will cling to me. She will be grateful. And Celeste and I will run this pack the way we always should have.”

The phone slipped from my hand.

No rogues had taken my sight. Dorian had. He had caged my wolf, fed me poison, and promised my place to Celeste.

Then the front door opened. His scent reached me first—and beneath it, rose perfume worked deep into his skin. Celeste entered behind him, smiling at the blind, broken wife who could not see a thing.

I slipped the phone into my pocket, wiped my face, and gave them the only thing that could keep me and my baby alive for one more night.

I smiled.

“You’re home,” I said. “Happy anniversary.”

Dorian kissed the top of my head, as if he had not just ordered me erased. “Happy anniversary. I asked a few of the pack over. Celeste has worked so hard lately. I thought we would celebrate her tonight.”

Behind him, guests already filled my house, talking over the dinner I had cooked and the candles I had lit for us.

Celeste stood in the center of it all, as if the night had always belonged to her.

“That sounds lovely,” I said.

Before I could take three steps, Moira appeared with a white cup in both hands. Wolfsbane struck my new senses hard enough that my wolf recoiled.

Dorian placed the cup in my hands himself.

“Drink it, Elara.”

Around us, the room went quiet. Celeste watched over his shoulder, smiling.

I lifted the cup. The rim touched my lower lip.