Chapter 1
I was the eldest daughter of a vampire prince, yet my family considered me a failure.
My blood could not create thralls.
My fangs couldn't break human skin.
The day my sister, Ivy Rheinhardt, was born, every blood-red rose in the castle bloomed at once.
My father, Victor Rheinhardt, held her in his arms and turned to me. "Serina Rheinhardt, you are a stain on my bloodline."
The night of my seventeenth birthday, they bound me to the altar.
My mother, Maya Rheinhardt, fastened the silver shackles around my wrists herself. "Rather than let you humiliate this family any further, you'll pave Ivy's path to succession."
I was sent into the Black Forest, an offering to appease the wolves.
What they didn't know was that when my blood seeped into the earth, the entire pack dropped to their knees.
The silver-haired Wolf King shifted into human form and knelt before me on one knee.
He pressed his lips to my ankle, his voice trembling. "Welcome, my sovereign, my Luna."
*****
Victor stood before the altar without looking at me. "Hold her down."
Two blood guards seized my shoulders.
The moment the silver shackles clamped onto my wrists, my skin blistered and bled.
Maya bent to inspect the locks.
Her hands were steady.
She did not hesitate.
"Mom," I called out to her.
Her fingers paused for a fraction of a second.
"Don't call me," She looked up, her tone ice-cold. "After tonight, the Rheinhardt family has no such daughter."
Ivy stood beside Victor.
She wore a crimson cloak and held the heir's silver staff in her hands.
It had been made for me.
She asked, "Is Serina really going to the wolves?"
Victor stroked her hair. "She never belonged here."
Ivy blinked. "But wolves eat people."
Maya smiled. "She doesn't even have a full bloodline. She's barely a vampire at all."
Below the altar, the elders murmured among themselves.
Someone said, "Mute-blood."
Another echoed, "A disgrace to the prince's house."
Someone else chimed in, "Should have been dealt with long ago."
I'd been hearing these words for seventeen years.
When I was small, Victor ordered me to bite through my first human thrall's throat.
I couldn't.
After that day, everyone knew that the prince's eldest had never awakened.
At nine, the other vampire children learned to summon blood thralls.
I pricked my finger and let the blood fall into the ritual circle. Nothing happened.
Victor overturned the ritual plate in front of everyone. "Useless."
At thirteen, Ivy was born.
The moment she let out her first cry, Victor's blood ring flared to life.
The elders fell to their knees.
They said the Rheinhardt family had finally found its true heir.
From that day on, I was moved to the North Tower.
They fed me leftover cold blood.
They dressed me in the maids' castoffs.
No one remembered I existed, except to humiliate me.
Tonight, they finally remembered.
Because the wolves had named their price for a truce.
The wolves demanded a sacrifice from the prince's bloodline.
Victor chose me.
When Maya made the announcement, I was adjusting Ivy's gown.
"Serina, you should be grateful to this family," Maya said. "You had no value. Now you finally do."
Ivy sat before the mirror.
She watched me being dragged away, then spoke up. "Maya, she touched my red dress. I don't want it anymore."
Maya answered immediately. "Burn it."
The fire pit on the altar roared to life.
Victor walked up to me. "Sign it."
A disownment contract was pressed against my chest.
I stared at his face. "And if I refuse?"
Victor finally looked at me. "Then I'll drain every drop of blood from your body and send the corpse to the wolves instead."
Maya frowned. "Do not miss the appointed time."
I let out a hollow laugh.
My throat was parched. "You're that afraid of me being alive?"
Victor's expression darkened. "Every breath you take reminds everyone that I once produced a defect."
A blood guard grabbed my hand and forced it down onto the inkpad.
The print was made.
The contract took effect.
A tearing pain ripped through my chest.
The family crest peeled itself from my skin.
Ivy covered her nose. "Her blood smells awful."
Victor's voice cut through the air. "Take her to the Black Forest."
The carriage had no cabin.
I was locked inside an iron cage.
As it passed the castle gates, every servant came out to watch.
Someone spat at me.
Someone else said, "Good riddance to the waste."
Ivy stood at the top of the steps, waving at me. "Be good over there, Serina."
Maya scooped her up.
Victor never turned around.
The iron cage was wheeled to the edge of the Black Forest.
The werewolf elder, Varg Hawthorne, stood waiting, flanked by several grey-furred wolves.
Victor raised his goblet. "To lasting peace."
Varg accepted the contract. "This offering is too weak."
Victor replied coolly, "Weak is what makes her suitable for sacrifice."
Maya added, "Do whatever you want with her."
The cage door swung open.
I hit the ground.
The silver shackles were still locked around my wrists.
Victor turned and climbed back into the carriage.
I called after him, "Victor."
He stopped.
"What if one day you come crawling to me?" I asked.
The elders laughed out loud.
Victor glanced back.
His eyes held nothing but disgust. "Serina, trash doesn't get to dream."
The wheels rolled over the muddy ground.
The castle lights shrank into the distance.
The grey wolves closed in.
One of them lowered its head and sniffed my blood. "Prince's bloodline?"
Another bared its teeth. "Impure."
They lunged at me in unison.
As their claws came down, a crack split through my silver shackles.