Chapter 1: sold
EMBER
The mud in the forest stuck to my skin like glue as I ran.
My feet were caked in dirt from the potholes and wet ground, and my chest was heaving so hard it felt like my ribs were about to snap from the inside. Behind me, the dogs howled—wild and hungry. But the dogs weren't the ones I feared. The men were.
"There she is! Don't let the little rat reach the tree line!"
That was Silas, he had lived in the barracks of my father's manor for ten years. He'd eaten the bread I baked, and watched me scrub floors until my knuckles bled. And now he sounded like he was hunting out a dangerous animal.
"You can't run away! Turn yourself in!" he kept yelling, his voice cracking through the trees. Dogs were on my scent, and armed men—wolves—were scattered across the forest chasing me down.
"I can't let them catch me," I kept whispering to myself as I pushed forward, refusing to slow down not even for a second.
I tried scrambling over a mossy stone, but my foot slipped and I fell hard. Before I could breathe again, a hand grabbed the back of my tunic and yanked me up. My feet didn't even touch the ground. I was just hanging there.
"Please, Silas," I choked, the words thick with the blood filling my mouth. "I didn't do anything. I've been quiet. I've done everything Father asked—"
CRACK.
His fist slammed into my jaw. My whole world went white, I didn't feel the pain at first—just a hollow ringing in my ears and the warm slide of blood down my lip. He dropped me into the dirt like trash.
"You're a ledger, Ember," Silas said, wiping my blood off his knuckles and onto his pants. "The Alpha's books are messy, and you're the only thing that balances them. Now get up before I drag you by your hair."
"Let me go!" I screamed, my voice breaking apart, shaking with fear.
He grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the clearing. Every step was torture. The sharp stones in the soil tore at my knees, but I didn't cry out. I didn't make a sound. I learned a long time ago—girls who cried in the Silver Moon pack got hit harder.
We reached the edge of the woods where a black iron carriage waited. My father stood beside it in his finest silver-threaded wool, looking bored, like he was waiting for the rain to stop. Ronan, my brother, stood behind him with a bruised hand and a smug smirk.
"She's damaged," my father said, his voice cold as a frozen grave. He didn't look at my face—just at the chains on the carriage.
"She ran, Alpha," Silas muttered.
"It doesn't matter," my father said, finally meeting my eyes. There was no love, not even anger—just a deep resentment. "You were always a mistake, Ember. A stain on my name. Today, you finally become useful. You're going to the Shadow King to pay for your brother's failure."
"Father, no," I whispered. "He'll kill me. People say he eats hearts—"
"Then die quietly," he snapped, turning away from me. "At least do one thing right for this family."
"Why are you doing this to me? Ronan was the one who lost to the Alpha. Why sell me?" I cried, desperate for answers.
"He's my son. And you're just proof that your mother ever existed," my father said. His voice didn't even waver. He stepped closer, looked straight into my eyes, and added, "I hope you die there, so I won't have to explain your death."
I stared at him—not my father, not anymore. Just a man who hated me enough to sell me off. I'd waited twenty-three years to stand this close to him, hoping for anything—approval, recognition, something. And today he finally looked at me… just to hand me over like an unwanted property.
I couldn't speak, I just lowered my head.
The guards shoved me into the cage. The iron was freezing against my skin. As the lock clicked shut, I watched my father walk back toward the manor. He didn't look back, n once.
I leaned my forehead against the bars and waited for whatever came next.
##EVANDER
The madness wasn't just a whisper anymore. It felt like a weight pressing against the back of my skull.
I gripped my horse's reins so hard the leather creaked. My knuckles were white and shaking. Every breath tasted like ash. The Blood Madness was a rot that started in the soul and worked outward, trying to turn the world into a red haze of slaughter.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A heartbeat pulsed at the base of my throat, but it wasn't mine. Mine was frantic and failing. This one was slower—broken, scared.
I turned my head, trying to see where it was coming from, but there was nothing around me except my horse.
"She's the one. Our healer," my wolf whispered.
I scanned the area, searching for whatever he meant, but saw no one. Still, a scent hit the wind—faint but strong enough to pull something in me taut.
"Don't joke with me, little wolf," I warned him, my voice sharp.
He shrank back, but kept repeating the same thing.
"She's the one."