The Guardian Clan’s Alpha Lord was choosing a mate for his heir — and he did it the old way. Two vials of essence were placed on the ceremonial stone table. One was clear and cool as moonlight, crisp, clean, carrying the faint trace of winter herbs. The other was warm and honeyed, thick with sweetness that clung to the air like nectar. I stood behind the woven partition with my half-sister, watching through the latticed screen as Kael Dawnfang hesitated. His nostrils flared. His jaw tightened. Then, after a long, agonizing moment, he reached out and lifted the moonlit vial. My half-sister, Flora, let out a soft, triumphant laugh beside my ear. “Sister,” she whispered, “you’ve lost. Kael chose me.” Kael had known all along. He knew I was the one who had distilled the cool, silver essence — the moonlit vial was mine. Flora’s was the honeyed one. And yet he hadn’t chosen it. “If I don’t choose Flora,” Kael murmured quietly to himself, just loud enough for me to catch through the partition, “she’ll reach the age of the Moon Decree. She’ll be force-bonded to whoever the Lunar Tribunal assigns. She’s lowborn — half-blooded. Who in the high clans would ever be paired with her?” “Once she passes the decree deadline, I’ll dissolve the promise and come for you properly.” But he had forgotten. I was Flora’s elder sister. I was older than her. If I had no bond-promise in place, in three days’ time, I would be sent to the Crown Wolf’s palace — to serve as the mate of the Wolf Prince, who lay dying of the Moon Sickness. To be his anchor. His cure. His sacrifice. … I watched Kael’s fingers trail across the edge of the honeyed vial before lifting the moonlit one. Something inside me went quiet — the way a fire goes quiet when there is nothing left to burn. Flora pressed close to my ear, victorious and shameless. “Sister, the heir chose me.” “Don’t be sad, Sister. He must only pity me. His heart has always belonged to you.” At the front of the hall, my father — Alpha Lord Wren Silverstone, head of the Guardian Clan — watched Kael’s choice with a face that went pale as ash. He turned to look at me. He had been so certain this was settled. How had it gone wrong? The hall was full of clan nobility who had all understood why today’s gathering had been called: the Guardian Clan’s firstborn daughter was choosing her mate. Now they surged forward to offer congratulations, voices bright with false warmth. “Alpha Lord Silverstone, what a blessing — Heir Dawnfang is a fine choice indeed!” “The Dawnfang Heir with the Guardian Clan’s pure-blooded daughter — a perfect bond!” My father’s expression hardened. He looked at Kael directly. “You have chosen Flora — the half-blooded daughter of my household. Are you certain of this, Heir Dawnfang?” The gazes around me shifted. Pity replaced admiration. Everyone had assumed Kael had chosen me. No one had expected him to choose Flora. “Lyra Silverstone — how pitiful. Her own half-sister stole her bond-match.” “Surely not. She has waited for the heir so long. If her promise falls through, won’t she fall under the Moon Decree?” Kael crossed the room toward Flora, took her hand, and stepped forward. “Alpha Lord Silverstone,” he said, his voice warm and steady. “I am drawn to Flora. I wish to bond with her as my mate.” The whispers swarmed around me like insects. Flora was immediately surrounded by a flock of highborn girls offering congratulations. She was the future mate of a Clan Heir — of course they would fawn over her now. Kael slipped away from the crowd and found me in the corner. His voice dropped low, coaxing, like he was soothing something he had already broken. “All right, Lyra. Don’t be angry. It’s just a performance. A delay.” “Flora was crying all last night. If I don’t choose her, she’ll be swept up by the Decree. She’s low-ranked — who would the Tribunal pair her with? Someone unworthy.” “Trust me. Once she’s past the Decree window, I’ll find a way to dissolve the bond with her and bring you into my home properly. I swear it.” I tightened my fist at my side. I looked at him steadily. “Heir Dawnfang,” I said, very quietly. “I am Flora’s elder sister. Did you think, even once — if our bond-promise falls through today, I will reach the Decree before Flora does. I am older.” “Are you not concerned that I will be force-bonded?” Kael blinked. He had forgotten entirely. I was the elder. I would trigger the Moon Decree before Flora. Flora drifted over then, her lashes low, her voice a trembling thread. “Sister, please don’t be angry with the heir. Flora was just so frightened. I only wanted him to help me this once.” “You’re pure-blooded. You’ll never understand how invisible a half-blood feels. No high clan would ever look at me. I have lived my whole life in your shadow, Sister.” “You’ve always been the jewel of Ashfen — and you have the Moonguard Clan behind you through our grandfather. You shine in everything. How could the Decree ever touch you?” “Father and Grandfather will find a way around it for you. You’ll be fine.” “Please, Sister. Give me the heir. Just this once. Let him help me.”
Flora’s words made the ache in Kael’s expression deepen. He drew Flora against his side protectively and looked at me over her head. “Lyra,” he said. “Flora has asked you herself. Is that not enough?” “She’s right — you’re pure-blooded, and you’re the granddaughter of the Moonguard Alpha. You won’t be taken by the Decree. Your father and grandfather will arrange something. Wait half a year. Once Flora is past her deadline, I’ll come for you and bond with you properly.” “It’s only a little time. Can you really not wait?” My eyes stung. The truth was — I couldn’t. It didn’t matter that my father was the Guardian Clan’s Alpha Lord. It didn’t matter that my grandfather led the Moonguard. The Moon Decree was issued by the Great Wolf King himself. Who dared defy it? My father and grandfather might be powerful. But no power was greater than the Crown. And then there was the divine mandate that sat in our clan’s sacred chamber — the one I had been trying not to think about. If I reached my eighteenth moon-year without a bond-promise secured, I would be sent to the Crown Wolf’s palace as the mate of the Wolf Prince. The Prince was gravely ill — consumed by the Moon Sickness, a curse that devoured its host from the inside out. Going to the palace would be no honor. It would be a slow walk toward becoming a widow before I had truly been a wife. When the mandate had first arrived at our gates, I had not been afraid. Because I had known Kael would bond with me. I had never imagined this. I kept my expression still, my voice soft as I looked at Kael. I let the smallest crack show in my eyes. “Will you truly not reconsider? You’ve chosen Flora — and every promise we made to each other means nothing now?” Kael smiled — gentle, certain of himself. “It means everything. I told you. Half a year. Once Flora is past this, we’ll formalize our bond-promise again. The mate of the Dawnfang Heir will only ever be you, Lyra.” I closed my eyes. It was done. Whatever had lived in my chest — it was gone now. Flora tucked herself against Kael’s arm and looked up at the lunar silver ornament pinned in my hair, her eyes soft with deliberate longing. “Sister, the Heir said he’ll come to present bonding gifts in three days. Could you lend me that moonsilver ornament? The one you’re wearing?” “You know I don’t have anything grand enough to mark the occasion properly. If I look unworthy, it reflects on the whole Silverstone household.” “And we wouldn’t want anyone saying Sister couldn’t be gracious to her half-sister, would we?” That ornament had been left to me by my mother. It was part of my bonding inheritance. Flora knew exactly what it was. She was asking anyway. I had no patience left for pretending. “Flora,” I said evenly. “I cannot give you this piece. I will ask Father to send to the Moonstone Vault to have something new chosen for you.” Flora’s eyes reddened. “But this one matches my ceremony gown so perfectly. I’d only borrow it for the day — I’d return it after. Is that truly not allowed?” “Sister, I know you’re unhappy that the heir chose me. But I really do love this piece. Won’t you let me?” Kael’s expression shifted toward displeasure as he looked at me. “Lyra, you’re being small-hearted. It’s an ornament. If she likes it, give it to her. I’ll have the Moonstone Vault send you two pieces as a replacement.” Three days from now was the day they would formalize their bond. Three days from now was also the day I would be leaving for the Crown Wolf’s palace. That ornament was coming with me. My mother had made me promise she would see it on me at my bonding ceremony. I would not let anyone take that. “Flora,” I said quietly, “if you know something doesn’t belong to you, you should not want it.” Kael’s brow furrowed and his voice sharpened. “Enough, Lyra. Choosing Flora was my decision. Blame me if you must. Why are you making this about the sisters?” I stepped back. My voice went cold and clear. “Heir Dawnfang — since you have chosen Flora, you are now my sister’s future mate. Please conduct yourself accordingly. You should not be speaking to your mate’s elder sister in that tone.” “If you want to shower her with gifts from the Moonstone Vault, that is entirely your affair. But as for my possessions — Flora, hear me clearly — not a single one of them is yours to touch.”
Flora’s tears slid down her cheeks. “Sister, I only love that ornament because Mother always said she hoped I would wear red and silver at my bonding ceremony.” “I only wanted to honor her wishes. I’m just a half-blood. I don’t dare dream of much. Is even this small thing not allowed?” Kael caught my wrist as I turned to leave. His grip was hard — hard enough to bruise. “Lyra.” His voice was low and taut. “Name a price for the moonsilver ornament. I’ll buy it from you outright.” Before I could pull away, his other hand reached up and unpinned the ornament from my hair. I hadn’t moved fast enough. My hair tumbled loose over my shoulders. For a highborn pure-blood daughter, to have her hair unbound before a crowd was one of the deepest humiliations a woman could suffer. It was an exposure — an unmaking. Kael knew this. He did it anyway. He passed the ornament to Flora. “Stop crying. I’ll pay your sister for it. Consider it a bonding gift from me.” The fury that rose in me was clean and absolute. I struck him across the face. The crack of it rang through the room. Five marks bloomed red against his cheek. “Flora,” I said sharply, reaching out. “Give it back.” Flora stumbled backward. The ornament slipped from her fingers and hit the stone floor. Then, deliberately — so deliberately — she stepped on it. “Oh no,” she breathed. “It broke.” The moonsilver shattered into fragments beneath her heel. The chain snapped. The carefully wrought links scattered across the floor like fallen stars. She pressed her hand over her mouth. “Sister, if you didn’t want to give it, you only had to say. I would have handed it back. You didn’t have to grab — I didn’t mean to drop it, I was startled—” “Please don’t be angry. I’ll give you all my moon-allowance to buy a new one. All right?” I lowered myself to the floor. I stopped thinking about my hair, about how I looked, about anything except gathering every piece. One by one I picked them up, my hands steady even as my eyes burned. Tears fell on the backs of my hands and did not stop. Kael crouched beside me, reaching to help, his voice awkward. “It’s only an ornament, Lyra. Don’t make this uglier than it has to be.” “Stop crying. I’ll replace it — five pieces, ten if you want.” I shoved him away. I did not let him touch a single fragment. I folded them all into my handkerchief and held it tight. I looked up at him, and my voice was flat. “Kael Dawnfang. You could not afford to replace this.” Flora opened her mouth again. I turned and struck her across the face before she could speak. “Flora.” My voice did not shake. “You knew this was the bonding inheritance my mother left me. She asked me, at the end, to wear it at my ceremony. You knew. And you destroyed it deliberately.” “Remember this. I will not forgive you. I will collect what is owed.” Kael stared at me. “What — Lyra — this was your mother’s inheritance? Why didn’t you say?” I looked at him the way you look at something you once valued and no longer do. “Saying anything further to someone like you makes me sick.” “Heir Dawnfang. You have made your choice. Live with it well. From this day, you are a stranger to me. Do not call me Lyra again. We are nothing to each other.” That night, I stood in the clan’s sacred chamber before the royal mandate. My father stood beside me, his eyes wet. “Father,” I said quietly. “I am willing to go to the Crown Wolf’s palace.” He shook his head, his voice rough. “The Prince is gravely ill, Lyra. Going to him — it’s not a bonding. It’s a sacrifice. Please, if you are unwilling, let your grandfather find a young warrior in the Moonguard for you. Anything would be better than this.” I shook my head. “The mandate stands. Had it been Kael Dawnfang, there might have been room to maneuver — the Queen knows our clans once had an informal promise. Anyone else would be defying the Crown.”
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