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If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my twenty-three years alive, it’s this:
Women in pain give men confidence.
I went to thank him, and the moment our eyes met, I knew I would be his. It takes a special man to tame a wild thing.
And we all know who the Nabbers actually are. Siphons, our ancient, monstrous enemy from the neighboring country of Astreona.
We don’t use knives during the hand-to-hand combat we do in the pits, but Igor’s been training me to throw them anyway. He said you never know when you might need to make someone shit their pants by tossing a dagger at their head.
I’m still goading men twice my size into fighting me. But now I get paid.
In a world full of dead ends, I’m going to make sure she has options.
The Bonded are the king’s most elite forces, soldiers who have mental bonds with massive, fearsome direwolves. They ride the wolves into battle and, rumor has it, the riders can even tap into the magic that the direwolves wield.
My pulse speeds up as I clock the tattoos completely covering his neck, his hands. Not much makes me afraid, but this? Run, a self-preserving, animalistic part of me cries. Danger.
Even us commoners know what those are. Kill tattoos.
“Nocturn is trapped,” she hisses, and the venom in her
voice makes my skin prickle. “He’s trapped, and when he escapes, he’s going to tear the world apart.” Mother lunges at Lee, yanking on his tunic. He’s seen her delusional before but never aimed at him. A violent shadow passes over her face.
Everything was perfect, so of course it couldn’t last. These moments shouldn’t surprise me anymore, but still—I’d let myse...
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“Mother,” I say, trying to draw her attention back to me, to calm her down. Goddess, what must Lee ...
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off more. “And you,” she says, turning on me, wild-eyed. “You are not wher...
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We’ll figure it out, kitten. But I’m going to protect you, and I’m going to protect your sister. Let me.”
Where did this man come from, who has the power to melt my heart so thoroughly? I’d trade sun and sky and light itself to know I’d never have to lose him.
Either Saela sneaked out into the snow in her nightgown in the middle of the night… or someone took her. While I was out in the snow, making plans for a better future with Lee, my sister was stolen in the night.
I was supposed to protect Saela. I promised her.
“I enlisted so that I can go to the front and find Saela.”
“If I could, I would go in your place to find her,” he says finally. Quietly.
“I would do anything for you, Meryn. But this…”
“The timing is just… fucking awful.”
“There are about to be Bonding Trials.”
“If anyone can survive it, it will be you,” he tells me firmly. Courage catches like a bonfire in my chest. “Fight, Meryn. Win. Find Saela and come back to me.” “I will. I—I love you, Lee.” “I love you, too,”
Find Saela, return to Lee.
“You don’t have to go, you know. You could stay. Here. Like this.”
“I can’t do nothing, Lee.” “I know,” he says, then sits up and offers me his hand. “Come on. We should go.”
“I do, though. I’ve been saving some coin. For… a bracelet. Won’t do me any good if my intended gets herself killed scaling a mountain because she doesn’t have the right gear.” Oh. Oh. He’s been saving for an engagement bracelet.
“You know,” Igor starts, “I’ve met a lot of strong people in my day, between the fighting circuits and the army. But I’ve never known a stronger-willed brat than you.”
“But if anyone’s fool enough to take the fight to the Nabbers, and strong enough to stop them and bring home our kids, well, it’s you.”
The direwolves have lived in this range since before our history started. They’ve always been our allies, but before they choose to bond, they need
proof that the human they’ve chosen is… worthy.”
“Remember! The direwolves are not dumb beasts. They are dangerous, sentient beings and they deserve your utmost respect.”
“It’s Anassa,” whispers one of the men near me, his gaze as focused on the massive silver wolf as everyone else’s. “She never bonds. They say she’s been here for hundreds of years…”
Anassa, running in the moonlight, racing down the mountainside, faster than wind. A sun rising, rays blinding and beautiful. A crown, its metal glinting, then drenched in blood.
Silver. All my dark hair has turned a luminous silver-white, the same color as Anassa.
I know what the changed hair color means. Bonded.
All of them have only a streak in their hair to mark their packs. I yank my hair out of my tie and pull it in front of me to confirm—and yes, it’s all changed, every fucking strand. I’m an anomaly.
But that’s life. It’s always been my life. Pain and persistence.
I’ve always used pain to fuel my anger, to keep myself going. It washes over me, burning and biting, and I swallow it down. It ignites something in me. Something merciless. Determined. Unstoppable.
But then a growl rumbles from behind me. I tense and whirl around, eyes wide. She’s there. She’s just right
there. The fucking bitch.
Anassa stalks toward me, heavy paws crunching on snow, puffs of vapor huffing from her nose. She walks with her head low beneath her shoulders, her ears forward, her gaze steady on me. Coat silvery white against the snow… a ghost. She was follow...
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“Welcome to training, Strategos Rawbond.”
We’re both in the Strategos pack,”
“The leaders.”
The wolves prefer to be outdoors. While in training, the wolves stay in pack terraces carved into the mountainside across from the outdoor training grounds. You will get a full tour of the facility tomorrow.”
“Fattening myself up for when Anassa decides to eat me. Want to make the experience nice for her.”
If you want any chance of finding your sister, you need to keep your head down and fight for it.”
