Chapter
One
Blood.
It pools beneath my bare feet, dark and warm against ancient stone. I try to step back, but my legs won’t obey. The scream builds in my throat. Terror or triumph, I can’t tell which.
A massive shadow moves at the edge of my vision. I can’t see it, but I know it’s fixed its gaze on me with an intensity that should terrify me. Should. But the fear bleeding through me feels wrong, misplaced. As if I’m afraid of the wrong thing entirely.
The shadow speaks, voice rough as granite grinding. “Mine.”
I reach toward him, fingers trembling, desperate to touch?—
—and he’s gone. The blood, the stone, the burning eyes. All of it, gone.
What remains is worse. Silver chains bite into my wrists, cold fire against skin. I’m alone, cut off from everything warm and alive, floating in a void that tastes of metal and despair. A woman’s voice echoes from somewhere I can’t see.
“It ends here.”
I jolt back to consciousness, my heart hammering against my ribs like a caged bird. The rough bark of the ancient oakbites into my spine as I press against it. My hands shake as I press them to my face, feeling the wetness on my cheeks.
Blood and tears.
The visions always leave me like this, hollow and aching, with fragments of futures I can’t quite grasp rattling around in my skull like broken glass.
I scramble in my pocket for a handkerchief, pressing it to my bleeding nose.
Blood and shadow. Silver and chains. And that voice...
“Mine.”
The word echoes in my mind, and I shiver.
Whose voice was that?
I drag in a shuddering breath, forcing myself to focus on the present. The annual Claiming ceremony will begin soon. I can hear the other females’ excited chatter and nervous laughter drifting through the trees.
For them, tonight represents possibility of being chosen by a strong male who’ll value and love them.
For me, it represents the inevitable.
Every unmated female must run, and the males will give chase. Whoever catches you becomes your mate—no exceptions, no appeals.
No escape.
I close my eyes, seeking calm. The wolf within me reaches out, nuzzling me gently with a wave of calm.
A mate cannot harm you.
The ceremony exists to ensure the survival and strength of the pack. In our world, a female may hold knowledge, skill, and even influence, but at its core, our society is still ruled by the strength of its males. If you haven’t been claimed by the time you come of age, you’re required to participate in each Claiming until a mate takes you. Because an unclaimed female is seen as a resource left untapped. And every resource must serve the pack.
I close my eyes, trying to make sense of the vision’s fragments. The blood, was it mine? The shadow with burning eyes, friend or enemy? And those silver chains...
A chill runs down my spine. Silver suppresses wolf gifts. If someone bound me with silver chains, I’d lose access to my visions entirely. I’d be truly useless then.
I shake my head, frustrated with myself. Visions aren’t prophecy, they’re possibilities. Fragments of potential futures that may never come to pass. I’ve learned not to trust them too completely, especially when they’re as chaotic as this one.
A twig snaps behind me.
