Twenty-Eight Days

The blood wouldn't stop.

I pressed another cloth against the gash on Renna's shoulder, feeling the heat of it seep through the fabric onto my palm. The young warrior gritted her teeth but didn't make a sound, trained well. Even at seventeen.

"Border patrol?" I asked, keeping my voice steady. Healer's voice. The one that said nothing is wrong even when everything was.

"Thornwood scouts." She spat the name like poison. "Four of them. Testing our lines again."

My hands worked automatically, clean. Stitch. Heal. The gift in my blood responded to her wound, the faint warmth of omega healing magic flowing from my fingertips into torn flesh. Not enough to close it instantly. That would leave me drained for days. But enough to speed what her body was already doing.

"They're getting bolder," Renna said.

I didn't answer. Thornwood Pack had been pressing at our borders for months. Everyone knew why. Alpha Marcus Thorne wanted something, and he wasn't the type to give up.

The Healer's Hall door swung open behind me.

"Elara."

My father's voice. Alpha's voice. The voice that meant this isn't a request.

I tied off the last stitch, keeping my eyes on my work. "Give me five minutes."

"Now."

I looked up then. My father stood in the doorway, framed by afternoon light, his face carved from something harder than stone. Beta Hendricks waited behind him, which meant official pack business. Which meant the thing I'd been dreading for two years had finally arrived.

"Renna, keep pressure on that. Sera will be back to check on you." I wiped my hands on a clean cloth, not looking at my father. "Let me wash up."

"Now, Elara."

I went.

The walk to the pack house took three minutes. Three minutes of silence, my father ahead of me, Hendricks behind. Witnesses to whatever was coming. Or guards.

The council chamber was empty except for one man.

He stood by the window, sunlight catching the silver at his temples, his tailored coat the kind of thing no one in Silverpine could afford. When he turned, his smile was perfect. White teeth, blue eyes, a face that belonged on magazine covers.

My gut twisted sideways.

"Elara." Marcus Thorne inclined his head. "You've grown since I last saw you."

You saw me three months ago at the winter summit. You looked at me like I was livestock being appraised.

"Alpha Thorne." I made myself nod. "This is unexpected."

"Is it?" His smile didn't falter. "Your father and I have been in negotiations for some time. I'm glad we've finally reached an agreement."

I looked at my father. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"The alliance between Silverpine and Thornwood has been discussed for years," my father said, formal as a treaty reading. "Alpha Thorne has offered terms that will secure peace for both our packs. Border disputes resolved. Trading routes opened. Mutual defense agreements."

"In exchange for what?" But I already knew. I'd known since the moment I walked in and saw Marcus watching me like a cat watches prey.

My father finally looked at me. Nothing in his expression. "Your mating contract has been agreed upon."

The words didn't land at first. They floated somewhere above my head, refusing to settle into meaning. My mating contract. Like I was a piece of land to be parceled out. Like I was nothing.

"Twenty-eight days," Marcus said. His voice was silk and rot beneath silk. "The ceremony will take place on the full moon. Traditional. Proper." He stepped closer, close enough that I caught his scent, synthetic bergamot layered too thick, as if covering something rotting. "I've been patient, Elara. I've waited until you were ready. I think you'll find I can be very... accommodating."

His first mate died three months into their bond. Fell down stairs. That's what they said. Fell.

"I wasn't aware I was being offered." My voice came out even. A miracle. "Custom requires the omega's consent for mating contracts."

"Custom requires the Alpha's approval," my father corrected. "I've given it."

"With certain considerations," Marcus added. "I understand you have... hesitations. These next four weeks are meant for courtship. We'll take things slowly. Let you become comfortable with the arrangement." His hand rose toward my face.

I stepped back.

His smile didn't change, but his smile thinned at the edges, baring something predatory beneath. My wolf whimpered and tried to hide.

"Twenty-eight days," he repeated. "That's all I ask. If by the full moon you still have objections..." He spread his hands, a gesture of false reasonableness. "Well. We'll discuss it then."

He knew I wouldn't have objections then. Not ones I could voice. Not ones anyone would listen to.

My father was already walking toward the door. "Dinner tonight will be in the Alpha's honor. Formal dress. Eight o'clock."

Then I was alone with Marcus Thorne.

He moved closer, too fast for me to retreat again, his hand catching my chin before I could jerk away. His grip was gentle. That was the worst part. Gentle like a warning.

"I always get what I want, Elara." His voice dropped, meant only for me. "Your father learned that. So did my last mate, eventually. You seem like a clever girl. I expect you'll learn faster."

He released me and walked out.

I stood in the empty council chamber, my pulse roaring in my ears, my hands shaking at my sides. Twenty-eight days. Four weeks until I belonged to a monster wearing a charming mask.

Twenty-eight days to find a way out.

Or twenty-eight days to accept my fate.

I made myself breathe. Made myself think. There had to be something. A loophole. An escape. Someone who could help.

Movement at the doorway. I turned, expecting my father, expecting Marcus, expecting anyone but him.

Kael Ashford leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, face giving nothing away. The pack's Beta. My brother's best friend. The man I'd spent five years trying not to want.

"You heard," I said. Not a question.

"Everyone heard." His voice was low, rough. "Your father wasn't exactly subtle."

"And?"

He watched me for a long moment. Gray eyes with silver bleeding at the edges. Dark hair falling past where regulation allowed. He stood perfectly still, the way only dangerous things could.

"I need to ask you something," I heard myself say. "Not tonight. Tomorrow. Will you meet me?"

A muscle jumped near his temple. His gaze dropped to my throat, where a mating mark would go, then back to my eyes.

"Kael..."

"Tomorrow. My cabin. Sunrise." He pushed off from the doorframe and was gone before I could respond.

I stared at the empty doorway, a different kind of urgency humming through me now.

Tomorrow.

One day down. Twenty-seven left to save myself.