"Take me instead."

Three words. The fastest decision Guinevere had ever made in her life. No regrets.

Heads turned.

"I am Guinevere Lunaris. King Lunaris’s favorite daughter and crown princess. My value is higher."

A ripple moved through the three hundred women and children chained behind her.

Alpha Stonehowl’s eyes snapped to Guinevere. He let go of Maria’s neck, sending her to the stone floor coughing.

"You would die for this lot?"

"Yes."

He stared in disbelief. Guinevere didn’t flinch or look away.

"That takes some balls. I’ll give you that," he said after a moment. "Let’s see how brave he taught you to be when I open you on his floor."

Heat drained from her face, but she held his gaze.

Warriors seized her arms and shoved her forward to her knees in front of their Alpha.

The Alpha grabbed her jaw, tilting it up. Then he went very still.

"So you’re the secret Lunaris princess Renwick locks away. All that effort, and here you are on your knees." He crouched to her eye level, his fingers still clamped under her jaw. "Daddy’s a liar, sweetheart."

He shoved her face aside and straightened.

"You," he barked to the nearest chained woman. "Is she untouched?"

The woman’s voice was thin enough to snap. "Yes, Alpha Stonehowl."

"Has she had her first heat?"

"No, Alpha."

"Has she shifted?"

There was a pause, because the woman knew what this might mean.

"No. She is a runt."

Guinevere didn’t let a muscle twitch. Her wolf stayed coiled and quiet somewhere deep in her chest. A secret no one in the room knew.

Stonehowl studied her for a long, silent moment.

"Change of plans. My son has a temper. You might actually last." He jerked his chin. "Cuff her. We’re done."

Warriors pulled her to a stand and escorted her out of the throne room with the kind of grip on her arms that said ’try it.’

Degrading. Humiliating. She kept her shoulders back and eyes lifted. No one was in the streets. But she knew at least two hundred were there, all hidden. And they would not see the woman who just shielded them break. She refused.

A little wolf pup peered out of a barrel. She was careful not to turn her head, but her eyes met his. One look and he understood. He lowered himself back down.

They marched her past the courtyard to the south gate, and her stomach lurched. Impaled on silver spears along the wall were the heads of the old guards.

Old Bren, who had let her win at dice. Calder, who had taught her how to fight with a blade.

On the wall above, letters dripped in fresh blood:

LUNARIS FALLS TONIGHT

Stonehowl watched her take it in and smiled.

Her eyes burned and overflowed before she could stop them, two hot lines down a face she was trying to keep blank.

They stopped in front of horses outside the castle walls.

A guard knotted a cloth around her mouth. Unnecessary. But okay. She wasn’t planning on making conversation.

The same hands bound her ankles. Then, with one arm hooked around her waist, he mounted his horse, hoisting her up with him like she weighed nothing.

Cuffed. Gagged. And now side-saddle. Lovely. Like a regency painting titled ’Girl Being Trafficked.’

The horses broke into a dead gallop as if they were racing the clock. Stonehowl clearly had an inkling that Lunaris’s army would be back tonight.

Whether her father would actually send for her was the question. Even if he did, he’d still be a day behind. The math looked grim.

Her eyes closed from exhaustion and the inability to accept this as her new reality.

What woke her was the sound of a roar from above. She blinked a few times, and her vision groggily came into focus. Tight chains bound her back against a tree, where she had been for hours, judging by the snow dusting her dress and the violent shivers racking her body.

She glanced up. A dragon silhouetted the moon, then disappeared into the clouds.

Voices carried from the fire fifteen yards away.

"Hell’s a dragon doin’ on this side of the map?"

"That’s the third pass. Think it’s circling?"

"A big bird takin’ a lap, mate. Nothin’ more."

"Should we wake the Alpha?"

"Tell ’em what? Dragon took a walk? We ain’t on the menu."

Two minutes went by and the guards lapsed back into silence.

A branch snapped in the distance. Her head turned towards the sound. No movement. Just her mind playing tricks.

Without warning, warmth flooded into her chest, spreading through her limbs. A hissing noise followed. She watched, stunned, as the iron that bound her liquefied into hot wax, dripping onto the snow with a sizzle.

That was new. Definitely new. Impossible or not, she was free. Her wolf bristled in her chest.

Mother, I am about to break my promise to you. I’m sorry.

It was the last thing her mother asked before passing. But this was her one and only chance, and she wasn’t going to waste it.

Shift. Run. Don’t die. A simple three-point plan.

Legs trembling, she pushed herself to her boots and shifted into a run. White light exploded outward. A small detail she hadn’t realized was THAT bright until right now.

"Lying bitch—GET UP!"

"She’s got a wolf."

"I can SEE THAT!"

"YOU were supposed to tie her!"

"SHUT UP AND RUN!"

Bones popped, and paws thrummed at her back. Hunting speed.

Not only had she lied about being a runt, she was also attempting an escape. Two crimes against an Alpha in one day. Personal best.

This was her third shift ever. She had zero training in wolf form. And she was being chased by career killers. The odds were exactly as bad as they sounded.

In a blur of white, she wove through the trees as howls grew louder, closing on her tail.

A column of golden fire slammed down to the earth in front of her. She skidded to a halt, then turned. Before she understood what was happening, the flame split and raced around her from both sides, meeting at her back.

Fucking hell. Today was just full of firsts.

A shadow dropped from the sky, changing from beast to man, then walked through the gold towards her.

Fight-or-flight unanimously picked flight.

She bolted for the ring of fire, bracing for a sear that never came. Instead of agony, a soothing warmth engulfed her, like sinking into a hot bath.

Dragonfire. On her fur. Not burning. Either she was dead, or the rules of life had just changed. That was a question for tomorrow’s Guinevere.

The fire didn’t follow her once she made it through, and she didn’t give it a chance to catch up. She sprinted the entire night, her paws frozen. Her wolf was a literal lantern, and if she stopped, a sitting duck rogue-magnet.

The miles blurred into a hazy marathon powered by adrenaline.

It hadn’t fully registered that she was back in Lunaris territory until she felt the stares. Wolves in the distance were tracking her.

At least twenty. All familiar. All thought she was a runt.

Brilliant. Fantastic. Truly her finest work. She pivoted, sprinting in the opposite direction.

A forest green wolf chased after her. Her half brother, Cassian. Because of course it would be him. He moved at Alpha speed, closing the gap rapidly.

There was a chance he’d already picked up her scent as it was. If he got close enough, she was done. Five years of hiding a wolf. Blown by her own stupidity.

Her options were "glow in the dark" or "die of hypothermia."

She was going to need a moment to weigh these.

Hypothermia won. She leapt into the half-frozen river, shifting to human form. It was the only way to cover her scent, and it was about as cold as expected. When she forced her head under the surface, every nerve in her body fired at once before flatlining.

Cassian’s paws thundered. More followed.

She counted. One. Two. Three. The paws above grew louder. Four. Five. Her diaphragm spasmed. Six. They passed. She broke the surface, mouth open, pulling air so hard it burned on the way down.

More paws drummed in the near distance. She bolted through the trees in the opposite direction. Her vision narrowed to a dark tunnel and nothing else. Each exhale came out ragged. Too loud. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Panic was steering the ship at this point, and she knew it. It drove her face-first into an unmovable chest that came out of nowhere.

An arm locked around her and a hand covered her mouth before she could scream. Which, she would have, because it definitely scared the living daylights out of her.

His scent hit her next. Pine and something darker underneath. Her wolf, who had been clawing the inside of her ribs, went still.

She looked up trembling. Tall. Broad. Warm. And currently the only thing in this forest not actively trying to murder her.