Chapter 1Halfway through my Mating Ceremony, my sister Nancy dropped to her knees in front of me and started slamming her forehead against the sacred stone.
"Elaine, please—release Alpha Ramon back to me. I did what you asked. I submitted to those thirty rogues. Just let me go."
My chosen mate, Alpha Ramon Thorne, lost his mind.
He shut the ceremony down right there. Then he ordered his enforcers to drag me to Blood Moon Den—the worst punishment territory for disgraced wolves—to "atone for my sins."
For two full moon cycles, they worked me like a servant while the rogues came and went. Silver-laced whips. Day after day. Eventually I couldn't even shift anymore.
When it was over, Ramon finally remembered I existed.
I limped out of Blood Moon Den, and there he was. Waiting.
Gregory Dusk stood beside him, phone up, livestreaming my broken state to every pack in the territory.
They wanted me humiliated. But there was nothing left of my pride to break.
"Elaine, what took you so long?" Ramon's lip curled. "Looks like you wanted to stay. Need more time to atone?"
The moment I heard his voice, my body moved on its own. I dropped to my knees and started unbuttoning my shirt.
Inside Blood Moon Den, my cell was covered in his photos. Recordings of his dominant growls played on a loop, day and night. Different rogues took turns with me. Every single night.
I'd trained myself to start undressing the second I heard Ramon's voice.
By the third button, he smacked my hands away. His fingers dug into my chin, forcing my face up.
"Elaine, are you fucking insane?"
I flinched hard. My body remembered the silver lashings that came with disobedience. I dropped lower, a whimper escaping my throat.
"Please don't hit me. I'll be good. You can do whatever you want. I was wrong. I shouldn't have hurt anyone. I'm sorry."
Ramon stared at me, stunned. Then something clicked behind his eyes, and disgust took over.
"What the hell is this? You're faking. You spent two moon cycles in Blood Moon Den—no one would actually hurt an Alpha's chosen mate. Drop the act, Elaine."
Gregory doubled over laughing. He clamped a hand around the back of my neck in a dominance hold and shoved his phone in my face.
"Damn, Elaine. Taking your clothes off already? Go on—do it for the stream. Let every pack see their little Luna princess naked."
Before Blood Moon Den, I would've ripped his throat out for that.
Now? I just kept unbuttoning. Blank smile for the camera.
Ramon destroyed the old Elaine a long time ago.
That first night in Blood Moon Den, I smashed the camera filming me. They locked me in silver chains for three straight days. Then they dumped me in the outer territories with nothing.
When I got hungry, I fought scavenger wolves for scraps.
Once, I got lucky. A rogue passed out drunk and I stole his phone. I called Ramon. Begged him to come get me.
His voice was ice.
"You were disobedient, Elaine. After what you did to Nancy, this is nothing. You earned every bit of it."
I broke down howling. Then I heard it—a soft, sweet moan on the other end of the line.
"Ramon... just leave it. I'll be fine. My reputation's already ruined."
I found out later they'd sealed their mate bond while I was gone. Photos of them together were printed out and plastered all over my cell. Thrown in my face daily.
A constant reminder. Ramon never loved me. Not once.
I finished unbuttoning my clothes.
Gregory's laugh turned nasty, suggestive. He started reading the comments flooding in from other packs.
Ramon slapped me. Hard.
The sting snapped me out of it.
His face was ashen. Fury burned in his eyes.
"Elaine! What the hell are you doing? Where's your Sterling pride? Would you strip right now if I told you to?"
"Where's that fire you used to have? I was trying to teach you a lesson—you didn't have to pull this pathetic act! Where's the Alpha female I chose?"
Chapter 2
I said nothing.
Ramon's jaw tightened. My silence pissed him off. He grabbed my arm and threw me into his black Defender, hauling me back to the Sterling pack lands.
When we got there, my parents and Nancy were eating dinner. They greeted Ramon like he was already family.
Nobody looked at me.
"Elaine, you've lost weight." Nancy's voice dripped with fake sympathy. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If only I'd kept my mouth shut that night, maybe none of this would've happened."
She pulled me into a hug. Her arms squeezed tight against the silver burns layered across my back.
Then her lips brushed my ear, voice dropping to a venomous whisper.
"So? Those rogues I handpicked for you—did they make you scream?"
My face went white. I shoved her back before I could think.
Why would she do this? Frame me at the Mating Ceremony? She was my own blood.
But Nancy was already falling. She hit the stone floor hard—arm scraped, knee bleeding, pretty tears springing up right on cue.
"You still hate me, Elaine."
"Enough!" Ramon shoved past me and scooped her up. "I knew you were faking. Submissive around me, but the second you see her, you attack? You want more punishment? Fine. I'll send you back to Blood Moon Den. Look at her—how can you feel no remorse?"
I caught the gleam in Nancy's eyes. Victorious.
I felt nothing.
Ramon's raised voice was all it took. My knees hit the floor before I knew what I was doing.
My parents stared down at me, cold and disgusted. Strangers wearing the faces of my sire and dam.
"Elaine, you've disgraced this pack." My mother's voice was ice. "Stripping on a livestream? Every territory saw you. Is this how we raised you? And now you attack Nancy again?"
I looked up at them. My heart hollowed out completely.
My wolf had been crushed. Weeks of dominance holds. Humiliation after humiliation. All I knew now was simple: defiance meant silver chains and no food. I was too tired for more broken bones.
"Mother, Father, don't blame her." Nancy's voice turned soft, forgiving. "She's still adjusting. Maybe Blood Moon Den was too much. I shouldn't have said anything at all."
My father's face went red. He crossed the room and struck me.
Blood filled my mouth.
"You ungrateful pup! You destroyed your sister's reputation, and you still can't show remorse? Kneel. Right here. You're not moving until you apologize."
I started shaking. My skin went cold.
The rogues in Blood Moon Den had their preferences. Making me kneel was one of them. And now, kneeling here, the memories rushed in all at once.
I clenched my teeth. My whole body locked up. I fought the whimper clawing up my throat.
My father crouched down, thinking I was being stubborn. He opened his mouth to yell.
Then I started moving.
Hands trembling, eyes vacant, tears spilling down my cheeks. I reached for the buttons Ramon had just redone.
"I'm sorry. I'll be good. Please don't hurt me. I'll undress faster. You can do whatever you want. I'm begging you."
Chapter 3
The room went dead silent. My parents just stared.
Ramon snapped out of it first. His jaw set as he shrugged off his leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
"Elaine, what the hell is wrong with you? This is your own pack. Nobody's hurting you here. Stop pretending. You just attacked Nancy five minutes ago."
I didn't hear a word.
I fought the jacket off. Kept kneeling. Kept clawing at my buttons.
"Please, I'll take it off. Just no silver. I'm begging you. Please, no silver."
Back in Blood Moon Den, there was this one rogue. My worst day. He got angry and sewed my clothes straight onto my skin. Made me rip them off as fast as I could.
Too slow? Silver-tipped claws. Burning wolfsbane forced down my throat. Partial shifts that snapped my bones one by one.
I was starving. I hadn't slept in days. I had no strength left to pull the fabric free, so I used my teeth.
By the time it was over, my whole body was slick with blood.
The scars still split open. They never really heal.
I kept struggling against the jacket. My parents called for Dr. Zaire Crowley—the pack's guest healer.
He gave me something to calm my wolf. A sedative blend. I felt her go quiet inside me.
"Ms. Sterling is suffering from severe trauma," he said, eyes full of real concern. "Her wolf is in crisis. She needs to be admitted to a healing ward. Now."
My mother's expression flickered—worry, briefly. Then she glanced at Nancy's tear-streaked face and it hardened right back.
Ramon looked down at me, lip curling.
"Trauma? Elaine? Come on. Look at her. Does that look like a wolf who'd break? She attacked Nancy right in front of us. That's not trauma. That's guilt."
"When are you going to drop this act? Two moon cycles serving drinks, and suddenly you're crazy? You threw away all your dignity just to play the victim?"
"Is this your new angle? Playing broken to dodge what you did? We still haven't heard you apologize."
I stared at the ceiling. His words didn't reach me.
Then Nancy leaned in. Her eyes had that mean glint.
"Elaine, what's that on your neck?" She yanked my collar down, exposing the marks. Bite marks.
Her gasp filled the room.
"Wait. Did you let someone claim you? What about Ramon? You two were about to seal your bond. How could you do that to him?"
I curled into myself. Tears slid down my face.
Ramon stared at my neck. Something dark moved across his expression.
Then he swallowed it.
He grabbed me off the bed, hauled me down the stairs, and shoved me into his car.
The door slammed. Then he exploded.
"Who is he? Who gave you permission to let someone else claim you? I discipline you for two months, so you go out and spread your legs to get back at me? You're fucking heartless."
"Tell me his name. Are you faking this whole broken-wolf routine just to run off to him? What am I to you? A joke?"
I couldn't anymore.
I clamped my hands over my ears and curled in on myself, trying to get smaller. Sobs tore out of me. My knees hit the floorboard. My forehead slammed against the car mat—over and over, frantic, mindless.
"Please. Please, just let me go. It hurts. I'll be good. I'll do anything. You can film whatever you want. Just no silver. Please. No more silver."
