Cheated on by My Fiancé, Claimed by the Crown Prince

The Dark Moon pulled at my wolf like a tide.

Astra paced under my skin while I worked the stolen pin inside my ankle cuff. Finn crouched by his cell door, watching the corridor. We had spent the day pretending exhaustion, whispering only when the guards passed above us.

The lock clicked.

I caught the chain before it struck stone.

Finn exhaled. "Remind me never to underestimate an alpha's daughter."

I froze. "What?"

"You give orders when you're feverish. Very royal orders."

"Rogues can be bossy."

"And your wolf nearly answered Cassian's command instead of submitting to it. I felt her." He slid his arm through the bars. "I don't know who you are, Nell, but you are not what you pretend to be."

Neither are you, I thought.

I picked the lock on my door, then his. "Questions later."

We moved barefoot through the corridor. I had mapped the guard changes by sound. At the first corner, I waited until a guard passed, then wrapped my chain around his throat and pulled. Finn caught the keys from his belt before he fell.

We locked him in my empty cell.

At the stairwell, another guard appeared.

Finn shifted first. His wolf was lean and black, the white streak becoming a pale slash over one ear. He struck the guard low. I shifted despite the risk, agony tearing through me as the disguise spell fought to hold my altered shape. Astra emerged smaller and brown instead of her true silver, but she was still fast.

We brought the guard down without killing him.

Then the bells rang.

"Run," I told Finn.

We raced through a storage room and into the night. Rain had turned the courtyard to mud. Wolves poured from the barracks, their eyes glowing. The western wall stood fifty yards away. Beyond it lay the forest and, if Finn's directions were right, a stream that crossed into neutral land.

An arrow flew.

I knocked Finn aside. The iron tip sliced my shoulder.

We reached the wall, but the gate was closing. Two guards blocked it. Finn attacked one while I took the other. My shoulder burned. The scent spell flickered, silver flashing through Astra's false brown coat.

Too many wolves surrounded us.

I shifted back to Finn, seized his face, and forced him to look at me. "Your need to go and find your brother."

"I'm not leaving you."

"That is an order, Prince Finnegan."

His eyes widened.

I snatched a fallen sword and slashed the gate rope. The heavy timber dropped behind Finn, separating us. On his side, open forest waited. On mine, Ashfang wolves closed in.

"Go!" I screamed.

Finn pressed one hand to the bars. "I will come back."

"Then come back with an army."

He ran.

A wolf crashed into me. I drove the sword into its shoulder, but another struck my knees. A silver chain wrapped around my neck. The metal burned through skin. I fell in the mud beneath Cassian's boots.

He looked from the gate to me. "The hostage escaped because of a rogue servant."

Seraphine arrived in a red cloak. "Kill her before she tells anyone."

Cassian's face hardened. "At dawn. In front of the pack."

They chained me to a post in the central square.

Rain washed blood down my arms. Pack members gathered at first light, whispering about the stranger who had freed their enemy prince. Some threw rotten fruit.

Cassian climbed the platform in ceremonial black. Seraphine stood at his right hand as if she were already Luna.

"This rogue entered our home under false pretenses," he announced. "She attacked our warriors and released a dangerous prisoner. The sentence is death."

The executioner placed a silver blade against my throat.

I laughed.

Cassian frowned. "What is amusing?"

"You are about to murder the alliance you planned to steal."

I tore Mara's disguise from my skin.

Pain rippled over my face. My dark hair bled back to silver-blond. My bones shifted beneath my cheeks. The scent of smoke vanished, and Silverpine wildflowers swept across the square.

Every wolf went silent.

Cassian staggered one step. "Elara?"

"Lady Elara Vale," I corrected. "Daughter of Alpha Rowan Vale and Luna Celeste. Your future bride, according to the contract you signed."

Seraphine went white.

Cassian ordered the blade removed so quickly the executioner cut his own hand.

I lifted my chin. "The marriage treaty promises Silverpine three seats on Ashfang's trade council. But your adopted sister crawls into your sheets every single night."

Murmurs swept the crowd.

Seraphine's fear sharpened into hatred.

Cassian came close enough that only I could hear him. "Why were you here?"

"To learn what kind of husband you would be. I learned enough."

His gaze flicked toward Seraphine. "You misunderstand our relationship."

"I heard every sound of it."

His face tightened.

I could denounce him. I could call for my father and end the engagement. But Finn had not had time to reach Nightcrest. If Cassian believed his secret was already lost, he might send hunters after him and kill me before Silverpine arrived.

So I offered the bait Cassian could never resist.

"I am willing to be practical," I said loudly. "Our packs need the alliance. I know you love Seraphine. I will tolerate her place in your bed, provided you respect my title and allow Silverpine to support Ashfang openly."

Seraphine stared at me.

Cassian stared harder.

I made myself look humiliated. "You cannot make her Luna. The elders would never accept an adopted dependent with no alpha blood. But I can give you legitimacy. My family can give you soldiers. In return, you keep your affair discreet."

The desire on Cassian's face was ugly and immediate. He wanted everything: my father's army, my bloodline, Seraphine's body, and the admiration of a pack that did not know its alpha had kidnapped a prince.

"Take her inside," he ordered. "No chains. Give her the east guest suite."

Seraphine caught his arm. "Cassian—"

"We will discuss this privately."

The east suite had velvet curtains, a feather bed, hot water, and bars hidden behind carved window screens. Luxury did not make it less of a prison.

A healer stitched my shoulder. Servants brought roasted meat and wine. Two guards remained outside the door.

By sunset, Cassian visited wearing the smile he used in treaty meetings.

"You have been treated badly," he said. "I regret the misunderstanding."

"Your maid hung me from a hook."

"Veda acted without full knowledge."

"She acted on Seraphine's orders."

His alpha scent thickened. "You agreed to tolerate Seraphine."

"I agreed not to expose you. That is not forgiveness."

He studied me, perhaps seeing for the first time that the bride he had dismissed had teeth.

"When your father arrives," he said, "we will tell him you came early to surprise me and were injured by border rogues."

"And Prince Finn?"

His expression went cold. "You will never speak that name again."

After he left, I hid a dinner knife beneath the mattress.

Midnight brought soft footsteps.

The door opened. Seraphine entered carrying a silver tray.

Three broad-shouldered men followed her.

She closed the door behind them.

"You should have let the executioner finish," she said.

Then she set a bowl of sweet-smelling broth in front of me and smiled.