The anniversary dinner was supposed to be a celebration of three years of marriage. Instead, it felt like a funeral.
I sat at the long mahogany table of the Blackwood Packhouse, the scent of roasted lamb and expensive wine making my stomach churn. Across from me sat Kaelen, my mate and the Alpha of the Blackwood Pack. He didn't look at me. He hadn't looked at me in months. His golden eyes were fixed on the door, waiting for her to arrive.
"Kaelen," I whispered, my voice trembling. "It’s our anniversary. Can we just… for one night, can we be us again?"
Kaelen finally looked at me, but there was no warmth in his gaze. Only a cold, clinical disgust. "There is no 'us' anymore, Elara. You’re a defective wolf. A healer who can’t even heal her own barren womb. The pack needs an heir, and you’ve failed to provide one."
The words hit me harder than a physical blow. Failed. I had spent three years draining my own life force to heal his warriors, to keep his borders safe. I was "defective" because I had given everything I had to him.
The doors swung open, and Sienna walked in. She was wearing a silk dress the color of crushed rubies—the same color Kaelen used to say looked best on me. She didn't sit at the guest table. She walked straight to Kaelen and sat on his lap.
"Tell her, Kaelen," Sienna purred, her fingers tracing the Alpha mark on his neck.
Kaelen cleared his throat, his voice devoid of emotion. "Elara, I am invoking the Right of Replacement. Sienna is pregnant with my son. A true Alpha heir. To ensure the child’s strength, the Pack Shaman says he needs a 'Vessel of Life' during the third trimester."
My blood ran cold. I knew what a Vessel of Life was. It was a forbidden ritual where a healer linked their soul to a pregnant woman, feeding the fetus their own vitality until the birth. Most healers didn't survive the process.
"You want me to die for your mistress’s child?" I gasped, the chair screeching against the floor as I stood up.
"I want you to serve your pack," Kaelen snapped, his Alpha command slamming into me like a wall of lead. I collapsed back into the chair, my lungs seizing. "You will move into the servant's quarters tonight. You will prepare the link. If you refuse, I will strip you of your title and throw you to the rogues."
This is the man I loved, I thought, a bitter laugh bubbling up in my throat. This is the man the Moon Goddess chose for me.
"I reject you, Kaelen," I rasped, the words tearing at my throat.
The room went silent. Sienna smirked. Kaelen’s eyes flashed with rage. "You can't reject me, runt. I am the Alpha. You are nothing."
He stood up, walking toward me until he stood over my chair. He pulled a silver-tipped dagger from his belt—the ceremonial blade of the Blackwood Pack. "If you won't serve as a vessel, then your life force belongs to the pack anyway."
He didn't hesitate. He drove the blade into my shoulder, right over my heart.
Pain, white and blinding, exploded behind my eyes. I felt my soul tearing, the gold light of my healing magic bleeding out onto the floor. I looked up at him, my vision blurring. "I hope… she was worth it," I whispered.
As the darkness took me, I didn't pray for heaven. I prayed for a second chance. I prayed for the power to watch him burn.
TIME REWIND – 3 YEARS EARLIER
I woke up with a gasp, my lungs burning as if I had just been underwater. I wasn't in the mud. I wasn't in the packhouse. I was in my childhood bedroom, the sun streaming through the window in warm, honeyed slats.
I looked at my shoulder. There was no scar. No silver burn.
I checked the calendar on the wall. June 15th.
My heart nearly stopped. Today was the day of the Great Mate Ceremony. The day I was supposed to meet Kaelen for the first time. The day my nightmare began.
But as I stood up, I felt a strange weight in my chest. It wasn't the warm, gentle light of a Healer. It was something cold. Something dark. Something that felt like a predator waiting in the tall grass.
Not this time, I whispered, a slow, lethal smile spreading across my face. This time, I’m not the sacrifice. I’m the knife.