Chapter 3

My boots slid over frozen dirt. Kane stopped so fast I slammed into his back. Before I could stumble away, he turned and dragged me against him.

Leather scraped my coat. Heat poured off him, too hot for the freezing woods. His grip tightened until my pulse beat against his fingers.

His eyes glowed in the dark.

"You're a little spitfire, aren't you?" he murmured.

"Let go."

"You're not in a position to give orders, little bird. You're barely in a position to breathe."

"I'm not a bird. And I'm not yours."

A cold laugh left him. He leaned close enough that his breath warmed my ear.

"The mark on your neck says otherwise. Every drop of blood in your veins belongs to me now. You're only the vessel. Remember that before you play hero."

I shoved at his chest. He didn't move.

"Touch me again and I'll—"

A howl ripped through the trees.

The sound shook the pine branches overhead. Not a normal wolf call. This came from the pack's elite hunters—the same monsters Justin sent whenever he wanted someone dragged home in pieces.

Kane shoved me toward the tree line.

"Move."

"You don't get to—"

"Sia!"

The shout came from the ridge.

My blood went cold.

Marcus stepped into view with a dozen hunters behind him. Their silhouettes spread across the slope, blocking the only path back to the pack. Claws flashed beneath the gray sky.

Marcus lifted his chin. "Still playing in the dirt? Justin said if you came back alive, he'd let you scrub the kennels for a month."

"Go to hell."

He grinned. "That's not very obedient. Come quietly, little outcast, or we start taking fingers."

The hunters laughed.

My hand curled into a fist. I wanted to tear that grin off his face. I wanted to make every one of them remember my name.

But I had no wolf. No rank. No power.

And they knew it.

Marcus pointed at Kane. "Who's the stray?"

Kane stepped out of the shadows.

He didn't rush. He didn't need to. The air seemed to tighten around him as he walked, and the laughter died in the trees.

Marcus's grin slipped.

"Get out of the way, freak," he snapped. "This is pack business."

Kane ignored him.

His gaze stayed on me.

"Tell me, little bird." His thumb brushed the red mark on my neck. Heat jumped through my skin, sharp enough to steal my breath. "Do you want them dead?"

Every hunter heard him.

Marcus's face twisted. "You think you can threaten us?"

"Yes," I said.

Kane's eyes sharpened.

I swallowed the fear clawing up my throat. "I want them all to burn."

"Careful. That's a dangerous request."

"You asked."

A slow smile touched his mouth. It held no warmth.

"Then I'll make you a deal. A real one."

Marcus barked a laugh. "She doesn't make deals. She begs."

I kept my eyes on Kane. "What kind of deal?"

"I lend you enough of my strength to make them regret hunting you." His fingers settled against the mark. "In exchange, you give me obedience."

I stared at him. "You want a slave."

"I want control."

"At least you're honest."

"Total obedience," he continued. "You don't question me. You don't run from me. When I call, you come. No matter where you are. No matter what you're doing."

Behind him, Marcus cracked his knuckles.

"Pick faster," he called. "I don't have all night."

Kane didn't look away from me. "He's getting impatient. That's when he becomes creative."

"You sound like you've met him before."

"I've met worse."

"And if I refuse?"

Kane's thumb pressed harder against my mark. His body heat crowded mine, but his voice stayed calm.

"Marcus pins you down. Justin puts the slave mark back on your skin. Then they drag you through the pack gates while everyone watches."

My stomach turned.

Marcus smiled like he'd heard every word. "You remember how it feels, Sia? Kneeling in front of the whole pack?"

My nails dug into my palms.

Kane's gaze dropped to my hand, then rose again.

"Choose," he said.

The hunters started down the ridge.

Fifty yards.

Forty.

Marcus raised one clawed hand. "Last chance. Walk over here, and I'll only break one arm."

I looked at the line of wolves coming for me. I looked at Kane's hand around my wrist. One monster offered pain. The other offered a chain.

At least one of them was standing between me and Justin.

"Fine," I said.

Kane's eyes flashed. "Say it properly. Bind it."

"You really enjoy this, don't you?"

"Say. It."

The hunters were close enough now for me to see the hunger in their eyes.

I lifted my chin. "I bind my will to yours. Give me the power."

The woods went silent.

Kane's fingers drove into the mark on my neck.

Pain exploded through me.

I gasped and grabbed his coat. A golden-black surge tore from his hand and raced through my arm. It hit my chest like a battering ram, then spread through every nerve at once.

My vision blurred.

Then the world snapped into focus.

I heard every heartbeat around me.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Fear hid beneath Marcus's anger. I could smell it now—sharp and sour beneath the cold air and pine sap.

Kane's voice slid through the noise. "Stand up."

"I am standing."

"No. You're shaking. Stand up."

I pulled away from him.

Power cracked beneath my boots. Frozen dirt split in a line.

The hunters stopped.

Marcus frowned. "What did you do?"

I looked down at my hands. Golden-black light crawled beneath my skin, fading in and out like a second pulse.

Kane's mouth curved. "Show them."

Marcus snarled. "Take her!"

I moved before the first hunter finished turning.

The woods smeared around me. One second I stood beside Kane. The next, Marcus was in front of me, his eyes wide.

I caught his wrist.

"You said you'd break my arm," I told him. "Try yours first."

His expression changed. "Sia—"

I squeezed.

He screamed and dropped to one knee.

The sound felt good. Too good.

I drove my palm into his chest and sent him flying through the frozen brush. Branches snapped as he crashed into the trees.

Nobody moved.

I turned toward the others.

One hunter whispered, "She's powerless. She can't—"

"Finish that sentence," I said.

He took a step back.

I lunged.

The fight became a blur of claws, shouting, and hard impacts. Every strike landed with a force I didn't know my body could carry. Hunters hit the ground. Others stumbled into the brush. Their fear filled the air, sweet and sharp.

"Run!" someone shouted.

"Don't let her touch you!"

"She's not human anymore!"

I caught the last wolf by the collar before he could escape.

He froze.

I leaned close. "Tell Justin I'm coming for him."

"Please—"

A pulse of power shoved him away. He crashed into the snow and scrambled into the trees after the others.

Then the strength vanished.

My knees hit the ground.

The cold rushed back all at once. My hands shook so hard I couldn't close them. I dragged in a breath, but my lungs felt scraped raw.

Kane stood over me.

He hadn't moved.

Not once.

"Enjoy the rush?" he asked.

I glared up at him. "I could've killed them all."

"You could've tried."

"Don't act like I failed."

He crouched in front of me and caught my chin. His hand was warm. Too warm. His thumb rested beneath my jaw while his eyes searched my face.

"You survived because I allowed it."

I slapped his hand away. "I survived because I fought."

His gaze dropped to my fingers, then returned to mine.

For one charged second, neither of us moved. His breath brushed my cheek. Mine caught before I could stop it.

Then he smiled.

"Keep telling yourself that."

I shoved to my feet. My legs nearly folded.

Kane caught my arm before I fell.

"Don't touch me."

"Then stop falling."

"I hate you."

"Good. Hate keeps you alert."

He dragged me deeper into the woods.

I fought his grip, but my strength was gone. "Where are we going?"

"Away from here."

"You said this was a deal. Not kidnapping."

"The deal includes keeping you alive."

"Convenient."

"Necessary."

Behind us, a distant howl rolled through the trees.

Kane stopped.

His head turned north.

The sharp amusement left his face.

"What now?" I whispered.

He raised one finger.

I listened.

At first, there was only my breathing and the crunch of our boots. Then the ground began to tremble.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Hundreds of paws struck the earth in perfect rhythm.

My mouth went dry. "That's not a search party."

"No."

"How many?"

"Enough to burn the whole forest while they look for you."

Another howl answered from the east. Then one from the west.

They were surrounding us.

Kane grabbed my wrist again. "Move."

"You said you could handle them."

"I can."

"Then why are we running?"

His eyes cut toward mine. "Because I don't intend to spend my night killing an army when I can make them kill each other."

That stopped me. "What does that mean?"

"Keep up."

He pulled me through a wall of frozen brush. The branches tore at my coat. His shoulder blocked most of them, but one caught my cheek.

I hissed.

Kane stopped immediately.

His fingers hovered near my face, close enough for me to feel the warmth of his hand.

"You're bleeding."

"Don't sound so worried. It ruins your reputation."

His eyes held mine for a beat too long.

Then his hand lowered.

"Keep moving, little bird."

We broke through the thicket.

A sheet of parchment had been nailed to the tree ahead.

I stopped so hard Kane nearly collided with me.

"What is that?"

The paper snapped in the cold wind. My name was written across the top in thick black ink.

SIA.

TRAITOR.

OUTCAST.

Reward: Total Forfeiture of Rank for the one who brings her head.

My stomach twisted.

Beneath the words sat a seal stamped in dark red wax.

Not Justin's.

Not the pack's.

A crown surrounded by jagged northern peaks.

The royal seal of the Northern Hegemony.

I reached for the notice.

Kane caught my hand before my fingers touched it.

"Don't."

I looked at him. "Why is the King's seal on my head?"

For once, he didn't answer right away.

The army's footsteps drew closer behind us. The parchment trembled between us. Kane's grip tightened around my wrist, and his eyes turned darker than the woods.

"Because, Sia," he said, leaning close enough that his breath warmed my ear, "you're not just a traitor to a little pack. You're a threat to the entire crown—and if the King finds out what you really are..."