AMARA'S POV

A groan escaped my lips as my eyelids fluttered open. The harsh light above me made me slam them shut again. Sharp pain lanced through my skull, forcing a whimper from my throat.

My whole body ached like I'd been stabbed by a thousand needles.

"My daughter," I whispered the first thing that came to mind, my voice hoarse and cracking. "Where is my daughter?"

I forced my eyes open again, blinking against the brightness until the room came into focus.

Unfamiliar white walls. Medical equipment. The scent of antiseptic mixed with something darker and more unsettling.

Black Fires.

My blood turned to ice.

A woman in a white coat stood beside the bed, checking monitors with pale blue eyes that held something that looked like pity. But she wasn't alone.

Leaning against the far wall, arms crossed over his broad chest, was the man I'd been trained to despise my entire life.

Caelan Black.

The Monster of the North. Alpha of the Black Fires pack.

The air grew heavy as his sharp gray eyes locked onto mine. His jawline was carved from stone, his cheekbones high and defined.

A ruthless scar ran down his left cheek, making him look even more dangerous than the stories claimed.

But it was his expression that sent a shiver crawling up my spine.

Completely stoic. Completely cold. Like I was nothing more than an insect he was deciding whether or not to crush.

His presence alone was more intimidating than any warrior I'd ever faced. How the hell did I get here?

Memories slammed into me all at once, making my head spin.

Elian and Odessa's betrayal. My son calling me ugly and running into her arms. Jules reaching for me as Odessa whispered poison in his ear.

The execution platform. The arrows. The escape through the forest, blood pouring from my wounds as I ran.

And the maid.

The maid who'd whispered that my daughter had been taken to the northern territory. That Lady Odessa wasn't what she seemed.

That if I didn't save them, the entire wolf realm was doomed.

Caelan's territory.

Panic surged through me and I tried to sit up, but my body protested violently.

My legs shook as I forced myself upright, my eyes never leaving the monster across the room.

"Where is my daughter?!" I demanded, my voice stronger than I felt.

Caelan's eyebrow lifted slowly, the only sign he'd even heard me.

"Is that the thanks I get for saving your filthy life?" His voice was cool and smooth, flowing out effortlessly. Clear. Sharp. The kind of voice that demanded attention whether you wanted to give it or not.

I ignored his question completely.

"My daughter. She was abandoned in your territory. Did you find her? Is she alive?"

His expression didn't change. No emotion flickered across his face. No reaction at all.

He just stared at me like he was deciding how much to tell me, or whether to tell me anything at all. The silence stretched between us, each second feeling like an eternity.

Why was he making me wait? It was a simple yes or no question.

Finally, he spoke.

"Two months ago, my men found a vehicle from your pack at the border." His voice remained detached, clinical. "It had been torn apart by rogues. There was nothing left but blood and bones."

My heart stopped.

The woman in the white coat stepped forward, her expression professional but sympathetic.

"If there had been a child in that wreckage, there's no way the child could have survived the rogue attack." She paused, her pale eyes meeting mine. "I'm sorry."

No.

No, no, no.

Caelan pushed off the wall and moved closer, his towering figure forcing me to crane my neck up just to meet his eyes. I stumbled backward, my legs barely holding me upright.

Was it fear making me retreat? Or just the lingering effects of the wolfsbane? I didn't know anymore.

Not many men had ever made me feel truly afraid. But this beast standing before me wasn't like other men.

Everything about him screamed pure wickedness and cruelty. Even his gray eyes showed no trace of human emotion or compassion. He truly was nothing more than a monster.

His voice was empty as he continued.

"Even if I had found such a child, why the hell would I tell you? What if I enjoy watching you suffer exactly as you are now?"

That's when I broke.

The tears came whether I wanted them to or not. My heart trembled with a thousand different emotions, all of them threatening to tear me apart from the inside.

Jules. My baby boy, sobbing in Odessa's arms while she made him watch them try to execute me. And my daughter—my little girl I'd never even gotten to hold.

I wanted to go back for Jules. Needed to go back for him. But they'd kill me on sight. Elian had given the order himself. I couldn't save my son if I was dead.

I needed a plan. I needed power. I needed something.

The maid's words echoed in my mind. You have to stop her. If you don't save us from her, the entire wolf realm is doomed.

What had she meant? What was Odessa planning?

I wanted to scream. I wanted to fight. I wanted to do something other than stand here and fall apart in front of my enemy.

I hated this feeling of powerlessness. Hated the weakness consuming me. Hated that I was crying in front of him.

My father would have driven a blade through my heart himself rather than see me reduced to this pathetic shell of what I used to be.

But what choice did I have?

I'd lost everything.

"Please," I choked out, my voice cracking with every word. "I just need to know if my little girl is alive or not. Please."

The monster watched me coldly, and I was certain he was enjoying this. Enjoying watching me suffer and beg like some common peasant instead of the warrior I'd been trained to be.

Every possible bad thing that could happen to me had happened.

My chosen mate had betrayed me. I'd lost my pack. Lost my son. Been hunted by my own people, only to be rescued and now humiliated by my family's sworn enemy.

All I needed was one piece of good news. Just one. But I wasn't going to get it.

Caelan chose that exact moment to let out a bored yawn, like my breakdown was nothing more than mildly tedious entertainment.

When I lifted my tear stained face to look at him, there was nothing but disinterest written across his features.

"Yeah, well, that's unfortunate," he said casually, like we were discussing the weather instead of my dead child. "The reason I saved you was because I thought you might be valuable. An asset I could use against your pack." He tilted his head slightly. "But I've just been informed that you lost your title and were banished like common trash."

Each word was salt poured into an open wound.

"I had hoped to exact revenge on your family by using you as leverage," he continued, his tone still maddeningly calm. "But you're worthless now. Your pack wouldn't trade a loaf of bread for you, let alone information or territory." His gray eyes swept over me with cold disgust. "You're useless to me."

Something ignited inside my chest. Now I wasn't even useful to my lifelong enemy?

I'd been tossed around like garbage. But I was still royalty. I was a warrior. I was the daughter of an Alpha who'd built an empire with his bare hands.

And I would be treated as such.

Everyone who had betrayed me was going to regret the day they even conceived such a thought. Elian. Odessa. My pack. Every single one of them would pay for what they'd done.

My revenge was going to be written about for centuries.

And then I'd get my son back. I'd tear down everything Odessa had built and reclaim what was mine.

But I couldn't do it alone.

Caelan turned his back on me and headed toward the door, clearly done with this conversation.

"Wait."

His footsteps paused, but he didn't turn around.

I forced strength into my voice that I didn't quite feel yet.

"You're really going to throw away your only invaluable asset?"

Only then did he face me, those cold gray eyes meeting mine with the same detached cruelty.

"You don't appear invaluable to me."

"Luna or not, Silver Lake was my home," I said, straightening my spine despite how much my body protested. "I know every secret. Every hidden passage. Every tunnel and route you could never discover even with years of spies embedded in the pack. I know their defenses, their weaknesses, their schedules." I took a shaky step toward him. "If you truly want to exact your revenge on my pack, then you need me."

I held his gaze, refusing to look away even though everything in me screamed to run from this predator.

"Let me help you burn Silver Lake to the ground."

Silence stretched between us.

Caelan stared at me for a long moment, his expression purely unreadable. The woman in the white coat looked between us nervously, like she could feel the shift in the air.

Then slowly, deliberately, a cold smile curved Caelan's lips. It wasn't a kind smile. It wasn't reassuring either.

It was the smile of a predator who'd just spotted prey walking willingly into his trap.

"Interesting," he said softly.