I wake up screaming.
Can't help it. The dream's still there, clawing at my brain. Fire everywhere. People running. And a banner hanging from the trees, red and gold, watching while everyone died.
"Sage." Damon's suddenly there, hands on my shoulders. "Hey. You're okay."
I'm not okay. I'm shaking so hard my teeth are chattering.
"Nightmare," I get out.
"Yeah, I felt it." He's crouched in front of me. Shirtless. Hair messed up from sleep. "What was it?"
"Nothing. Just a dream."
"That wasn't nothing. Your fear woke me up from across the hall."
Great. So they get front row seats to my trauma now.
"I'm fine." I shove his hands away. "Go back to bed."
"It's almost dawn anyway. Get dressed, training starts soon."
He leaves. I sit there for a minute trying to breathe normal again.
That banner keeps sticking in my head. Red and gold. Why do I know it?
Training is hell.
Kieran goes easy on me at first. Then he stops going easy and I spend an hour eating dirt.
"You're dropping your guard," he says after knocking me down. Again. "Keep your left up."
"My left is tired."
"Your left is going to get you killed." He hauls me back up. "Again."
Caius is worse. He doesn't talk, just throws me around like I weigh nothing. Which compared to him, I probably do.
I hit the ground hard enough to see stars.
"Get up."
"Give me a second."
"Your enemies won't." He's standing over me. "Get. Up."
I get up. He puts me back down.
This goes on for way too long.
Damon's turn is actually better. Not because he's nicer. He's not. But something clicks. I block one of his hits.
"There." He sounds surprised. "Do that again."
I try. Fail. He corrects my stance.
"Better. You're learning."
"Learning how to lose, maybe."
"Same thing right now." He helps me up. "Keep going."
After training I can barely walk. Kieran basically carries me to the baths.
"You did good," he says.
"I got my ass kicked."
"Yeah, but less than yesterday. That's progress." He grins. "Few more weeks and you might actually land a hit."
"Gee, thanks."
The hot water feels like heaven. I stay in until my fingers prune.
That's when I remember the dream again. That banner. Something about it makes my skin crawl.
I'm still thinking about it when I get back to my room and find a note.
*Lunch with Father. Noon. Be on time. Wear something nice.*
Just what I need. More time with the King who looks at me like I'm a disease.
Martha shows up and stuffs me into a blue dress. Does something with my hair that takes forever.
"You're nervous," she says.
"The King hates me."
"He doesn't hate you. He's scared of you." She meets my eyes in the mirror. "There's a difference."
"Scared of what?"
"What you represent." She pins the last curl. "Done. You look good."
I look like I'm playing dress up.
A guard walks me to some private dining room. Small. Intimate. The King's already there with all three Princes.
"Sage." The King waves at the empty chair. "Sit."
I sit.
Food comes. Nobody touches it.
"I've been thinking," the King says. He's staring at me. "Triple bonds don't just happen. Last time it did, two hundred years ago, it ended bad. Civil war. Lots of dead wolves. You know why?"
"No."
"Because the she-wolf couldn't choose. Took too long. Everyone got impatient." He leans forward. "So here's what's going to happen. You're choosing in six months. Not a year. Six."
"Why six months?"
"Because I said so."
"That's not a reason."
His jaw tightens. "Because I don't have time to wait around for you to make up your mind."
Something about the way he says it sounds wrong. Like there's more he's not saying.
"Are you sick?" I ask.
The table goes silent.
Damon's staring at his father. "What?"
"It's nothing," the King says.
"It's not nothing if you're rushing this." Damon stands up. "What aren't you telling us?"
The King's quiet for too long. Then: "Sit down."
"Not until you answer."
"Sit. Down." Alpha command. Damon sits but he looks pissed.
The King turns back to me. "Six months. You'll choose by then or I'll choose for you. Understood?"
"No. I don't understand any of this."
"You don't have to understand. You just have to obey." He starts eating. "Now eat. You look half starved."
I grab bread because I'm too angry to argue.
Lunch is tense. Nobody talks. The King keeps watching me like I'm going to explode.
When it's finally over, I practically run back to my room.
I'm changing out of the stupid dress when I notice something.
There's a book on my nightstand. Old. Leather bound. I didn't put it there.
I open it.
It's a history book. Kingdom records. And there's a bookmark.
I flip to the marked page.
It's about the last triple bond. Two hundred years ago. A she-wolf named Elena bonded to three princes. The page has illustrations.
And there, in the corner of one drawing, is a banner.
Red and gold.
The same one from my dream.
My hands start shaking.
That's the royal banner. The King's banner.
But why was it in my dream about my pack dying?
I flip through more pages. There are records of attacks. Territory disputes. Pack wars.
One entry catches my eye.
*Year 1285. Northern mountain packs destroyed by royal decree. King's orders. Survivors scattered.*
Northern mountain packs.
That's where I'm from.
I read it again. And again.
Royal decree. King's orders.
No. No no no.
My pack wasn't killed by a rival pack.
They were killed by the King.
The door opens. Caius walks in without knocking.
He sees the book. His face goes blank.
"Where did you get that?"
"Someone left it here." My voice sounds far away. "Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That your father killed my pack." I hold up the book. "It's right here. Royal decree. Northern mountain packs destroyed."
He doesn't answer.
"Did you know?" I ask again.
"Yes."
The word hits like a fist.
"You knew. This whole time, you knew your father murdered my family and you didn't tell me."
"It wasn't like that."
"Then what was it like?" I'm yelling now. Can't help it. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like I'm bonded to the sons of the man who destroyed everything I had."
"Sage—"
"Get out."
"Let me explain—"
"GET OUT!"
He leaves.
I sink onto the bed, book still in my hands, and try to process what I just learned.
The King killed my pack.
I'm bonded to his sons.
And I have six months to choose which one becomes King.
Which means I have six months to figure out what the hell I'm going to do about this.