Chapter 1

The newly crowned wolf king was keeping a human girl in his castle.

She was his Achilles' heel. Anyone who touched her would die.

I was his fiancée, and our engagement was sealed before the gods.

But on my birthday, he announced in front of everyone that the human girl was his fated mate.

And that girl was my younger sister, whom I'd only recently found and contacted.

*****

Kane Samuel took Lilith's hand and, in front of everyone, declared, "From this moment forward, I, Kane Samuel, hereby dissolve my engagement to Daisy Lowell.

"From now on, my only mate will be Lilith Lowell."

My mind went blank. I wondered what Kane was saying.

Lilith Lowell was the child my father had during his travels, the one he left behind.

At the new king's coronation, out of nowhere, she dropped from the sky and landed straight into Kane's arms.

The impatience on Kane's face vanished the instant he saw Lilith. He stood there, stunned, and then gently brought her into the castle.

Before Lilith showed up, I was the only one he had ever treated differently.

I gathered my courage and stepped out from the crowd, bowing respectfully. "Alpha, is it right to defy the will of the gods for Lilith?"

I dug my nails into my palm, determined not to appear defeated, and stared straight at Kane.

I was the heiress of the Lowell family.

Deep down, for a moment, I hoped he might change his mind.

Kane's face darkened instantly. "Shut up. Are you questioning me? Or are you jealous of Lilith again?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a jagged crack, shrouded in black mist, split open at the corner of my left eye.

It was the mark of betrayal, a curse that appeared when my mate turned his back on me.

The agony made black spots bloom across my vision until my left eye was swallowed by darkness.

I sank to the ground, instinctively covering my eye, but I couldn't tear my gaze away from Kane.

Kane was visibly startled, taking a step toward me.

But at that moment, Lilith, standing beside him, suddenly went limp and collapsed next to him.

Kane's attention immediately shifted to her. He scooped Lilith into his arms, calling out urgently, "Doctor!"

I watched Kane turn his back on me.

I wondered if he had really cast me aside like that.

After Kane left with Lilith, the ball quickly returned to its usual buzz.

"So Lady Daisy's been dumped like that? I've never seen the mark of betrayal before," someone said.

"Right? We wolves are famous for being loyal to our mates," another chimed in.

"Wasn't Lilith brought back lately? And she's snatched her sister's fiancé? Damn, that's ruthless," someone else snickered.

I wandered home in a daze, only to find that my father had hurried off to see Lilith.

The maid glanced nervously at my eye, fear flickering across her face.

She kept her head bowed, not daring to come any closer. "Lady Daisy, should I fetch a doctor for you?"

My left eye was already lost to darkness. This was a curse bound by the gods themselves. Doctors couldn't do anything about that.

"I'm tired. You can go now," I said.

My father always told me that Lilith was a fragile human, and as a werewolf, I was a danger to her. He kept warning me not to get too close.

But Lilith seemed endlessly curious about me. Whenever she went out with Kane, she'd always watch me carefully from the sidelines.

She said she wanted to be closer to me and would often ask to come along whenever I went out.

When we were alone, she'd ask what a werewolf's claws looked like, staring up at me with those wide, curious eyes. I couldn't bring myself to refuse her.

But while she was looking, she accidentally got scratched by my sharp claws.

Lilith was squeamish at the sight of blood. She went pale and lost consciousness, mumbling my name over and over.

After that happened a few times, the rumor mill painted me as nothing but a jealous sister.

Every time Lilith tried to explain, people saw it as her reluctantly having to defend me.

That was when I realized Lilith's malice toward me.

I hadn't set foot outside my door these past two days.

That empty, powerless feeling had wrapped itself around me all over again.

And Lilith was at my door once more.

At first, no matter how much she called out to me, I ignored her.

But in the end, she brought our father over.

My father kicked the door open and, seeing how pale I was, yelled, "You're not a kid anymore.

"Why are you still holding a grudge against your sister? She already came to apologize. What else do you want?"

My father probably had forgotten when my illness acted up.

I forced myself to stand and bowed to him. "Yes, Father."

Lilith peeked out from behind him, looking pleased with herself.

Early the next morning, Lilith called softly from outside my door, "Daisy, are you awake?"

When I didn't answer, she began pounding on the door.

She said, "Daisy, I'm sorry. I never wanted to steal Prince Kane from you. I don't know why he said that.

"Nothing is going on between Prince Kane and me. As long as you don't do anything stupid, I'll keep my distance from you both."

I opened my numb eyes, already knowing Lilith had found yet another way to play the victim and make things difficult for me.

I pulled on my robe and went to open the door.

But the instant I did, Lilith toppled straight to the floor. She must have been leaning against it.

Her palms and elbows were scraped and bleeding, vivid streaks of red standing out starkly against her pale arms.

Right then, Kane stormed over, knelt beside Lilith, and carefully checked her injuries.

Then he glared at me. "Daisy, what did you do to Lilith this time?"

I didn't get mad. Instead, I laughed. "I don't need to stoop to dirty tricks like that. If I wanted her gone, she wouldn't survive the night."

My tail flicked out, and my ears perked up, fangs flashing.

Kane paused, his gaze snapping into focus for a moment.