Silver in My Veins, Ashes in His Heart

Strapped to the cold metal table in the hospital basement, I begged my Fated Mate, Alpha Marcus, for mercy.

He ignored my tears. With a voice devoid of warmth, he ordered the doctor to inject liquid silver into my veins-a poison designed to sever a werewolf's connection to their inner wolf.

"Do it," he commanded. "If she retains her wolf, she is a liability. Rendered wolfless, she will be as vulnerable as a human, allowing her to stay as an Omega."

I screamed as the silver acid ate through my soul, ripping away the connection to my wolf nature.

Marcus didn't flinch. He wasn't saving me from my burn injuries; he was clearing the path for his mistress, Rachel, and their secret illegitimate son.

Broken and wolfless, I was forced to watch him publicly claim his bastard child as the new heir.

He thought I was submissive. He thought I would quietly fade into the servant's quarters to be his charity case.

He didn't know I had cracked his safe and found the DNA tests proving his three-year betrayal.

On the morning of his wedding to Rachel, I smiled as I climbed into the car that would take me to my "exile."

Ten minutes later, my scheduled email exposing every lie hit the Council of Elders.

And while Marcus fell to his knees screaming at the sight of my burning vehicle, realizing he had destroyed his True Mate for a fraud, I was already gone.

Chapter 1

Sarah POV:

Rust and antiseptic choked the air in the basement of the pack hospital. It was the scent of a slaughterhouse scrubbed clean with bleach.

I lay strapped to the metal table. The leather restraints dug into my wrists and ankles, chafing skin that was already raw and blistering from the burns I had sustained in the fire three days ago.

"Alpha Marcus, please," the Pack Doctor whispered. The glass vial in her hand chattered against the metal tray like teeth in a skull. "She is still recovering from the smoke inhalation. Her body is too weak. The silver... it could kill her, not just the wolf."

I turned my head, my neck stiff. Marcus stood in the shadows. He was wearing a pristine charcoal suit, looking every bit the powerful Alpha of the Darkmoon Pack. His jaw was set, his eyes devoid of the warmth that used to be there when we were children.

"Do it," Marcus said. His voice was low, but it carried the crushing weight of Alpha Command.

The doctor flinched. The Command was not something a lower-ranking wolf could ignore. It was a physical force, a compulsion woven into our biology that forced submission.

"But Alpha," she pleaded, tears welling in her eyes. "She is your intended. The Mate Bond..."

"The bond is a liability," Marcus cut her off, stepping into the harsh fluorescent light. "Look at her. She is weak. The fire nearly killed her. If she remains a full werewolf, she will be challenged. She will be hurt. This is for her protection. As a wolfless Omega, she can be safe under my care."