Wolfsbane in My Bones: I'll Never Look Back

He is the unchallenged Alpha of the Shadow pack. He crushes my hand, lets his true love drive me to the brink, and forces me to lick wolfsbane from my wounds in the punishment chamber, turning me into the pack's laughingstock.

I am the Lunar pack's pawn in a political bonding. After enduring three years of humiliation and clutching enemy intelligence, I overturn his throne during the Moon Ceremony, making him watch helplessly as his beloved betrays him and his pack descends into chaos.

Later, he backs down. He abdicates as Alpha and gets down on his knees at the pack's border every day, his voice hoarse from shouting, "I was wrong."

I hold a blood-stained dagger, my gaze icy as I say, "Your regret is deadlier than wolfsbane and worth even less than my life."

Our bonding is a calculated trap, and revenge is the move I am determined to play.

Winning him back no longer matters. This time, I am not turning back. I want nothing but his endless remorse and the chance to break my chains and begin a new life.

At the Shadow pack's Moon Ceremony, the wolfsbane smoke mingled with a metallic stench in the air. The fumes burned my throat until I tasted blood.

My wolf, Nina, thrashed inside me, her pale gray form straining so violently it felt ready to rip through my skin.

By alliance law, I was supposed to stand beside Cyrus Miller as his appointed mate. Instead, two warriors held me down in the corner, their grips crushing my shoulders.

Meanwhile, Cyrus stood rigid. His wolf, Blaze, unleashed an aura so heavy that my knees nearly gave out. Yet, that same aura became a shield for Sophia Grant, who leaned coyly into his arms.

Cyrus raised a hand over her head, letting the wolfsbane-laden droplets fall onto his left shoulder instead. The skin there blanched and blistered instantly, but he didn't even flinch.

"An outsider stays an outsider. Sophia's the one who belongs at Alpha Cyrus' side," one snarled.

The other added with a sneer, "She's just a lowborn from the Lunar pack. She isn't fit to even stand near Alpha Cyrus!"

The insults hit me hard. I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms. Blood dripped to the ground, swirling with the purple wolfsbane haze.

I tried to step forward, but the warriors holding me clamped their hands around my waist.

"An appointed mate like you isn't allowed near Alpha Cyrus!" one hissed.

Nina let out a low growl within me. Dizziness washed over me, but I gritted my teeth, refusing to fall. "I'm Cyrus' mate. By alliance law—"

"Law?" One of them spat in my face. "Alpha Cyrus hasn't claimed you as his own, so you're nothing but a mutt!"

Spit slid down my cheek into my mouth, tasting both salty and metallic.

Cyrus finally looked my way. His eyes swept over the grime on my face before he tilted his chin at the warriors