Chapter 6

• Ronan POV
• The night wouldn’t end.
• The fire still burned in the clearing, and every time I looked at it, I saw his face in the flames—Darius Fenwick, standing there calm as ever while the Elders talked about “fate.”
• Fate.
• They could shove that word straight down the Goddess’s throat.
• I shoved through the tents until I found the Elders’ circle. Marris was there, of course—old, cold, and watching me like she already knew what I’d say.
• “You’re going to fix this,” I said. My voice came out rough, louder than I meant. “You’re not binding my sister to him.”
• “You can’t fight the moon, Alpha Silverstrike,” Marris said calmly. “If the bond formed, it was meant.”
• “Meant?” I laughed, sharp. “You call it ‘meant’ when it ties her to the man who murdered our father?”
• “Be careful what you accuse, boy.”
• “Don’t call me boy.”
• My claws burned under my skin, close to breaking through. “You’ve all seen what the bonds do. If she fights it, it’ll kill her.”
• Marris’s voice didn’t rise. “Then teach her not to fight it.”
• I stared at her. “You’d really say that to me? You’d have me hand her over to that bastard and tell her to smile about it?”
• “The Goddess chose. We are not wiser than Her.”
• I slammed my fist against the table hard enough to crack the edge. The other Elders flinched. “You ever had a sister? Then don’t tell me to sit back while she’s marked by the same hands that spilled our father’s blood.”
• “She’s safer bound than at war between packs,” Marris said. “Nightfang won’t move against you while the girl’s under his claim.”
• “So she’s a shield now? A peace treaty?” I spat on the ground. “You think I’ll let her be used like that?”
• The younger Elder, Jerr, spoke up, voice thin. “You could seek a Severer. It’s… been done before.”
• Marris shot him a glare that could kill. “And half who try die in the process. The bond breaks bone and heart both.”
• I looked between them. “There’s nothing else?”
• Marris folded her arms. “Nothing that doesn’t risk her life.”
• I stepped back, breathing hard, the world tilting. “Then I’ll find another way.”
• “What way?” she asked. “You’d wage war against the Goddess herself?”
• “If that’s what it takes.”
• I turned on my heel and stormed out before I said something that would get me dragged into the Elders’ cages. The air outside was cold and sharp. It didn’t help.
• Myra was waiting by the fire pits. She took one look at my face and didn’t bother with a joke. “They told you the same thing I did, huh?”
• “There’s nothing we can do,” I said, pacing. “She’s stuck. Bound. And if she resists—”
• “She dies,” Myra finished quietly.
• “Yeah.” I kicked a rock hard enough to send it skidding into the trees. “So tell me what I’m supposed to do with that. Just stand by while he puts his mark on her? Pretend it’s fine because a bunch of old wolves say the Goddess wanted it?”
• She didn’t answer right away. “You can’t protect her from everything, Ronan.”
• “The hell I can’t.”
• “You can’t fight a bond,” she said softly. “And you can’t keep her from feeling it. But you can make sure no one uses her for it.”
• I stopped pacing, jaw tight. “If he hurts her, I’ll kill him.”
• “That’s the problem,” she said. “He won’t have to. The bond means he’ll feel it too.”
• I didn’t want to think about that. I didn’t want to picture my sister tied to that monster by something invisible and unbreakable.
• The camp was quiet except for the crackle of the last fires. Somewhere out there, Nysa was probably crying or cursing fate or both, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to fix it.
• “I’ll find a way,” I said again, more to myself than to Myra. “I don’t care what it takes.”
• She sighed, rubbing her face. “Just… don’t start a war tonight.”
• “Not tonight.” I looked toward the dark line of Nightfang’s camp across the field. “But one day.”