What if the monster you were sold to wasn't the real danger?

They call him the Monster. Nine wives. Nine graves. No heirs.

I was supposed to be the tenth.

Sold by my family to save a sister who betrayed me, I thought survival meant staying invisible.

 But when I healed Alpha Kael Cinderclaw in the snow, I accidentally bound us together, a mate bond neither of us wanted and neither can sever.

Now I feel his rage like fire beneath my skin.

 He feels my fear like a blade against his throat. And the fortress that buried nine wives is watching us both.

My family wanted me erased.
His enemies want me dead.

And Kael? He looks at me like I'm the one thing he can't afford to want—but can't let go.

They wanted a sacrifice.
They're getting an awakening.
In a world where power is everything, the wolfless girl just became the Alpha's greatest weakness, and his most dangerous obsession.

Chapter 49: The Girl Who Pretended Not to Know


By the time the sun had properly settled into the sky, I had already made up my mind.


I wasn't going to confront Ivy. Not yet.


There was no point in rushing into it, not when I already knew how she would react. She would deny everything, look at me like I was being unreasonable, and somehow twist it until I was the one questioning myself again. She had always been good at that. Too good.


I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing in particular, letting my thoughts run through everything I had been avoiding since last night. Ivy had always been capable of hurting me when it suited her. That was not new. What I had never imagined was that she would go this far, that she would offer my life so easily just to get what she wanted.


Chapter 49 - Chapter 49: The Girl Who Pretended Not to Know