The floor split with blue fire.
Heat licked my boots. Stone cracked and groaned like it was screaming. My father stood on one side with fifty wolves and a sword. Damien stood on the other side with me behind him and no weapon drawn.
He didn’t need one.
“Step back, Selena,” Damien said. Voice quiet. Calm. Like he was talking about the weather.
I didn’t move. My hand stayed in his. The crown mark on my neck burned. The broken-chain wolf mark on my collarbone answered it.
My father’s eyes were red. Not wolf red. Rage red. “You took what’s mine. My blood. My heir.”
“She was never yours,” Damien said. “You just owned the cage.”
Fifty wolves howled. The castle shook again. More stones fell.
My father lunged. The sword came down, fast, aimed at Damien’s neck.
Damien moved. Not fast. Inev
