My knees nearly buckled. I gripped the couch to steady myself. “The Lion-wolf of the Northern Territories? You can’t be serious.”
The same Alpha they’d once planned to bond me with. The reason I ran. The reason I found Axton. The reason I thought I could break free. I used to think being handed over like a bargaining chip made me shiver.
“He remains unpaired,” Father said. “And so his influence has grown more.”
My nails dug into my palms. The irony of it all stung—running from an arranged mate only to circle right back to him.
I walked to the window, pressing my forehead to the cool glass.
Five years ago, I wanted love. I believed in it.
Now?
My heart ached with the fresh wound of betrayal. Love had only destroyed me.
“Isolde, if you don’t want it, you don’t have to,” Mother whispered. “We’ll find another path.”
But how?
The merged Wintermoon-Rageclaw force was tightening around us.
Our land, our allies, our future—everything on the verge of collapse.
What did I have left to lose?
My dreams? Already shattered. My heart? Already broken.
But my pack? They were worth any sacrifice.
“I’ll do it.” The words tasted like iron.
“Isolde—” Mother started.