Chapter 1
Aria's POV
I stood in the dim back room with my arms crossed, trying not to breathe too deeply because the entire place reeked of metal and something sharper, like magic that had gone sour.
The loan shark, a thin man with dark ink crawling up his neck, kept flipping through a stack of papers while my father sat slumped in a chair behind me. He coughed into a rag that was already half red. Two of the collectors leaned against the wall as if they had all the time in the world.
“Forty days,” the loan shark said without looking up. “Absolute obedience. You will live under his roof, wear the collar, and do whatever he tells you. No exceptions. If you walk away early, your father’s debt will be collected the hard way.”
I laughed once, short and bitter.
“You’re kidding me, right? Absolute obedience? What is this, some kind of twisted role play? You want me to crawl around and call him Master?”
One of the collectors smirked.
The loan shark finally lifted his eyes.
“Are you finished?”
“Not even close. My dad is dying because you people kept increasing the interest, and now the solution is for me to play house with some wolf for a month and a half? Forget that.”
A low voice came from the shadows near the far wall.
“Watch your mouth, little girl.”
I turned.
Alpha Draven stepped forward as if the darkness itself had taken human form. He was tall and broad shouldered, with black hair pushed away from his face and eyes that looked as though they had witnessed every ugly thing in the world and still wanted more.
He did not raise his voice.
He did not need to.
“She has a point,” I said, because keeping quiet had never been one of my strengths. “This is insane. You cannot just buy people.”
“I did not buy you,” he replied calmly. “Your father made the bargain. I am collecting what he owes.”
Dad made a weak, wet sound behind me.
I did not turn around.
If I looked at him, this would become real.
The loan shark cleared his throat.
“The contract is ready. Blood will seal it. Once the agreement is completed, the portal will open. You will leave with him tonight.”
I stared at the knife lying on the table.
It was simple and silver, its edge catching the weak light above us.
“And if I say no?”
One of the collectors smiled.
“Then we start collecting in pieces. Your father first.”
My stomach twisted.
I looked at Dad for half a second.
His skin was gray, and his eyes were glassy with exhaustion.
Something inside my chest cracked.
Before I could change my mind, I reached for the knife.
“Fine. Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”
Draven extended his hand, palm facing upward.
There was no drama in his expression. He simply waited.
I dragged the blade across my palm.
Pain flashed through my hand, sharp and immediate. Blood welled from the cut, and I pressed my palm against Draven’s.
The moment our blood touched, the air snapped with energy.
Power surged through the room so violently that my teeth ached.
I tried to pull my hand away, but it was already too late.
Something burned across the inside of my wrist.
I looked down.
Black lines were spreading across my skin, twisting together until they formed a strange mark.
The contract was no longer on paper.
It was beneath my skin.
I yanked my hand away.
“What the hell?”
“It is done,” Draven said.
He wiped his palm with a black cloth as though this happened every day.
“The portal will open in sixty seconds. Say goodbye if you need to.”
I spun around to face my father.
“You better not die while I am gone, do you hear me? I am doing this so you can get better, not so you can give up and leave me stuck with an Alpha.”
He tried to smile.
It looked painful.
“Aria…”
“Do not. Just do not.”
My voice cracked, and I hated myself for it.
I turned back toward Draven.
“Forty days. That is all. After that, I am leaving, and you will never see me again.”
He said nothing.
The air behind him began to shimmer.
Then it tore open.
A swirling dark portal appeared, revealing a world beyond it that smelled of pine, snow, and cold stone.
Large wolves paced on the other side.
Actual wolves.
Their eyes glowed in the darkness as they watched me.
“After you,” Draven said.
I raised my injured hand and gave him a rude gesture before walking through the portal.
The mountain fortress hit me like a slap.
Cold air surrounded me. Towering stone walls rose on every side, and the silence was so complete that it felt as though the entire place was watching me.
Torches lined the courtyard.
A dozen wolves in human form stood along the edges. Some wore jeans, while others wore loose trousers. Every single one of them was staring at me.
One of them, a tall man with a scar running across his cheek, gave a low whistle.
“Fresh meat,” he muttered.
Draven's voice came from behind me.
“She is under contract. Keep your hands off her unless I give you permission.”
The scarred man immediately lowered his eyes.
I kept walking.
Stopping would mean admitting that I was scared.
The stone beneath my sneakers was uneven. Somewhere above us, a window glowed with warm firelight.
The entire fortress felt ancient and dangerous, as though it had watched countless people enter through those gates and never leave as the same person.
Draven caught up easily, matching my pace.
“You will have your own room. You will eat when I tell you to. The collar begins tomorrow.”
“Romantic,” I muttered. “Do I at least get a safe word, or is that too advanced for this absolute obedience arrangement?”
He glanced at me.
“You signed the contract in blood. There are rules you will learn soon enough.”
My pulse jumped.
I told myself it was anger.
Mostly, it was.
The rest was something I refused to name.
We passed beneath an archway and entered a long stone hall. Tapestries depicting wolves and blood moons covered the walls.
Somewhere deeper inside the fortress, someone laughed.
The sound was low and rough, and it sent an uncomfortable shiver across my skin.
I stopped walking.
“Forty days,” I said. “I am not yours. I am not staying. I am not going to let you control me.”
Draven stopped too.
Then he stepped closer until I had to tilt my head back to look at him.
His voice dropped so low that only I could hear him.
“You will fight. You will argue. You will try to hate every moment of this.”
His eyes remained fixed on mine.
“But the contract will remain until those forty days are over.”
I swallowed.
“You are an asshole.”
“I am the Alpha responsible for you until the contract ends.”
He turned and continued down the hall.
I remained still for a moment.
The wolves in the courtyard watched me as if they were waiting to see what I would do next.
The stone walls seemed to close around me.
I followed because the alternative was standing there alone while all those eyes remained fixed on me.
My palm still stung.
The strange mark on my wrist throbbed with every beat of my heart.
Somewhere ahead of us, a heavy door groaned open.
I told myself I would endure this.
I would fight.
I would survive the forty days and walk away untouched when the contract finally ended.
But the moment I stepped completely inside the fortress, something changed.
The air felt heavier.
The mark on my wrist seemed to burn beneath my skin, reminding me of the decision I had made.
For the first time since I had picked up that knife, I wondered whether I had made the right choice.
I had thought I was sacrificing forty days of my life to save my father.
I was beginning to suspect that I had just stepped into something far more dangerous.