The sacred grove looms before me, ancient trees stretching toward a full moon that seems too bright, too close, like it is watching with predatory interest. My bare feet press against earth that hums with old magic, sending shivers up my spine with each step.

They’ve dressed me in white—a cruel mockery of the mating ceremony I should’ve had with Jackson. The silk drapes around me like a shroud, leaving my shoulders bare for the marking to come. At least they’ve let me keep my hair loose, the dark red waves providing some illusion of protection against the night’s chill.

Or perhaps against the three pairs of sapphire eyes that track my every movement.

The Alpha Kings wait in the center of the grove, power rolling off them in waves that make the air thick and heavy. They’ve shed their usual refined appearance for something more primal—bare-chested, marked with ritual paint that gleams silver in the moonlight. The sight stirs something in the hollow place where my wolf should be, an echo of hunger that isn’t entirely my own. The knowledge makes me go cold.

If I weren’t wolfless, if I had the strength to fight back, maybe this could be an alliance, a bargain for territory and allegiances I’ve long sought after. But without my pack or my wolf, my position is weak. Even the gods who once whispered through the sacred oak’s branches fall silent at my approach with the guards on my heels.

“Kneel,” Alaric commands as I reach them. His voice carries the weight of centuries of Alpha power.

I remain standing. My last act of defiance. His wolf glitters dangerously in his sapphire eyes, but his voice remains calm.

“It will go easier if you don’t resist.”

I want to laugh. So many years fighting for my right to be Alpha, only to have my last attempt crushed in a single night. Of course it would go easier. The question isn’t how hard the gods will make this—the true test lies in how hard I can make it for them. How far I can push their control before they force me to my knees.

I never intended to make this easy for them.

I stare Alaric down, hoping the answer to my unspoken question will be clearer in his eyes. Do they mean to harm me, or protect me? Is this the way to save my pack or just a shortcut to the execution Jackson had planned?

A low growl rumbles from Kian’s chest, but Lucas’s quiet laugh cuts through the tension. “Still fighting, little Alpha? Even now?”

“Always.” I lift my chin, my eyes still on Alaric’s cold gaze. “If you want my submission, you’ll have to earn it.”

The other two wolves tense at my challenge, a low growl coming from Kian’s throat, but Alaric remains silent. Analyzing. Thinking. For just a moment, I see a flash of admiration in his eyes. Then the moment passes, and his expression hardens again.

“We already have.” Alaric’s smile holds no warmth. “Or have you forgotten the terms of our arrangement?”

How can I forget? The choice they’d given me two days ago: submit to the claiming or they’d withdraw their protection, leaving me vulnerable to Jackson’s hunters. My sister’s safety for my freedom. No choice at all, really.

“I remember.” The words taste like ash. “Get on with it.”

Kian steps forward, his massive frame blocking the moonlight. “You should show more respect to your future mates.”

“Such fire,” Lucas murmurs, circling to stand behind me. His breath ghosts across my neck, making me suppress a shiver. “Even without your wolf. Imagine what you’ll be like once we wake her.”

I stiffen. “What did you say?”

“You didn’t think we’d let our Luna remain wolfless, did you?” Alaric’s voice holds a hint of mockery. “There’s an ancient power in you. We can all sense it. The ritual will restore what was taken from you. For a price.”

“What price?” My heart is racing, my body going cold despite the forced heat of the clearing.

“Complete submission,” he says simply. “Your wolf, your power, your very essence bound to us. Forever.”

The word echoes through the grove like a death knell. I’d known the claiming would create mate bonds, but this... “You’re talking about slavery.”

“Prisoner, slave... what’s the difference?” Lucas mocks. “Whatever you choose to call it, it changes nothing. Your very existence is ours. Your strength will be added to ours.”

“And if I refuse?” I manage.

His eyes flick down to my scars. “There are worse things than death.”

I can’t speak, fury clogging my throat. Our very essence bound forever to the Kings. If I had my wolf with me, I’d refuse them on the spot, but without her, I feel alone and vulnerable. The two sensations are what just might be worse than death.

As if sensing my thoughts, Kian’s laugh is dark. “Look inside yourself, little Alpha. Feel the emptiness where your wolf should be. How long before that hollow feeling drives you mad? How long before you start forgetting what it felt like to run free under the moon?”

His words strike too close to home. Already the memories of my wolf are fading—her warmth, her strength, the complete harmony we shared. The thought of losing those memories entirely...

“Kneel,” Alaric commands again. “Accept our marking, and reclaim your true nature.”

This time, my legs fold beneath me. Not in submission, I tell myself. In survival. In strategy. In sacrifice for those I need to protect.

The lies taste bitter on my tongue.

Alaric moves first, ancient words rolling off his tongue as he presses his hand to my forehead. Power surges through the contact, hot enough to burn. “By the authority of the First Pack, I bind this wolf to our line.”

His fangs sink into my right shoulder, and the world explodes into silver fire. Every nerve ending blazes as his power pours into me, seeking the dormant fragments of my wolf. I bite back a scream as memories flood through the connection—centuries of Alpha bloodlines, wars and alliances, victories and betrayals, all searing themselves into my mind.

Before I can recover, Kian’s massive hands grip my shoulders. “By the strength of our ancestors, I bind this wolf to our power.” His bite on my left shoulder sends another wave of fire through my veins, filling them with the raw force of a born warrior. Battles dance behind my eyes, the taste of blood and triumph lingering on my tongue.

Lucas is last, his touch almost tender as he tilts my head back. “By the unity of our blood, I bind this wolf to our hearts.” His fangs find my throat, and the final surge of power shatters the last of my defenses. Love and loss, joy and sorrow, the complete emotional history of their line crashes through me like a tidal wave.

Deep inside, something stirs. Something familiar and strange all at once. My wolf, but changed, transformed by the foreign power now coursing through my body. Her presence fills the hollow spaces in my soul, but her once-warm gold is now shot through with threads of silver.

When she howls, the sound echoes with three distinct harmonies. I dig my nails into my palms, fighting the wave of fear and rage and shame and terror churning in my stomach.

The bonds snap into place like chains forged in moonlight, binding my newly awakened wolf to theirs. I can feel them now—Alaric’s calculating focus, Kian’s primal hunger, Lucas’s boundless curiosity. Their power thrums through my veins, forever marking me as theirs.

My wolf snarls in recognition of her new mates, even as my human side recoils from the invasion. The two warring sensations send me to my hands and knees, my body shaking as it adjusts to the foreign magic now twisted through my own.

“Easy,” Lucas murmurs, hands steady on my shoulders. “Let it settle.”

“Fight it and you’ll only hurt yourself,” Alaric adds, his usual cold tone softened slightly.

I close my eyes, forcing myself to breathe. They’re not helping.

Kian says nothing, but I feel his satisfaction through the bond. His wolf preens at the sight of me marked by all three of them, finally claimed as theirs. I can’t help a low growl.

Slowly, the sensation fades, their power settling like dust through my blood. With tremendous effort, I push myself back to my knees, force my breathing to steady. The power still burns, but now I can think through it. Can feel the way it has changed me, strengthened me, even as it binds me.

“How do you feel?” Lucas asks quietly.

I look up at them, these three kings who have just remade me in their image. My wolf yearns toward them, recognizing her mates, while my mind catalogs every nuance of our new connection. Looking for weaknesses. Looking for escape.

“Strong,” I answer honestly. No point lying when they can feel my emotions through the bond.

Alaric’s eyes narrow slightly, likely sensing my continued resistance. “The marking is complete. You are now Luna of the Kings Pack, mate to the Alpha Kings themselves.”

“And prisoner to none?” I can’t keep the bitterness from my voice.

“That depends entirely on you.” His smile is razor-sharp. “Prove your loyalty, and you’ll find we can be very generous mates.”

“And if I don’t?”

Kian growls. “Then you’ll learn why challenging us is unwise.”

I say nothing, letting them feel my contempt through the bond. They might own my wolf now, might even own my body, but they will never own my spirit. Let them think they’ve won. Let them believe their marking has broken me.

They’ll learn soon enough that some wolves are most dangerous when they appear tamed.

As we leave the grove, my new wolf presses against my consciousness, eager to run, to hunt, to submit to our mates. I force her back, focusing instead on memorizing the patrol patterns of the guards, the layout of the grounds, the way the bonds feel when I try to mask my emotions.

Soon, I promise her. Soon we will be free.

But first, I have to learn to use these silver chains they’ve bound me with.