THE HAUNT THAT BOUND US

Chapter One The speakers around the park played music that was soft enough to sound holy, the kind that calms the heart and numbs the mind. Voices that sounded like angels floated through the air, wrapping the pack in a lie we had been telling ourselves for years. The moon was full and bright in the middle of the sky, watching over everything. The streets were lined with torches, and the flames were steady and controlled. It was as if even the fire knew better than to act up tonight. The blood moon started to take shape above everything else. Its edges got darker and bled slowly into red. The horn would sound when it was fully merged. And the Chase of the Alpha would start. As clouds moved across the sky, a shadow crossed the garden wall. For a moment, the world seemed to be holding its breath. Rossi, my little sister, stood in front of me and nervously twisted her fingers in the hem of her cardigan. Her big, brown eyes looked for something in my face that wasn't there. "Are you scared?" she asked in a soft voice. I smiled and tilted my head. "Don't worry." Sweetheart, Elena Moretti isn't scared. The words tasted bad. "This is a great honor," I said again, repeating the lie that the pack loved the most. "One you might get one day, too, if you're lucky." I moved to the edge of the bed and tried to keep my voice light as I swallowed the anger that was rising in my throat. I didn't look at my mother, but I could feel her behind me like a heavy weight on my shoulders. I reached for Rossi and put my hands around her small chin. Her skin was warm. Living. Not affected by the rules that are waiting outside. "I hope you never do," I said quietly. When I looked up, I saw my mother's eyes in the mirror. She jumped. Okay. If a woman didn't have a partner by the time she turned 18, her name went into the Alpha's Chase. They said they were volunteering. That was the truth. There was no refusal. There was only compliance that looked like tradition. Over hundreds of years, the packs had gotten it just right: they turned fear into pride, theft into honor, and girls into offerings who willingly walked to their deaths. If we weren't married, the ringleader himself would put our names in the Chalice of Fate, a polished silver bowl. I always thought the name was funny in a hollow way. Fate meant having a choice. Fate. We didn't have either. When their daughters' names were drawn, parents were overjoyed. They smiled like they were at a wedding instead of a funeral. They thought that not being there meant success, so they watched as their girls were blindfolded, tied up, and loaded into trucks like animals. The girls who left were hardly ever seen again. And for some reason, that was seen as a good sign. My mother gently said, "You're all done, dear," and ran her hands down my shoulders as if she could iron out the fear. She walked across the room and picked up the dress from the chair. White. Thin. Almost there. It wasn't really a dress; it was more like a suggestion of one. The fabric stuck to places it shouldn't have and dipped where it shouldn't have. The straps dug into my shoulders, making my skin red, and my chest was too tight because of the wrong size. You couldn't wear shoes or socks. We had to have bare legs. Seeable. Weak. We had to be as close to naked as we could get. Embarrassed. Small. Less hard to break. I had seen the Chalice ceremony more times than I could count, and the rules never changed, no matter the year or the girl. We stood next to each other, hands behind our backs, and our bodies were on display for judgment. Braided hair that was always neat and never loose enough to hide anything important. Scrubbed faces raw. Lips pale and still. She stepped forward when someone called her name. She didn't say anything. She didn't cry. Her breathing was the only sound that was allowed. Lady Valeria circled like a vulture, her sharp eyes taking in the shape of bones, the tone of muscles, and the smell. She gave each girl a number from one to ten, which told her how valuable they were in seconds. Getting less than a three was uncommon. It meant you were an omega so weak that you were seen as a burden, or worse, wolfless. One girl hadn't moved yet tonight. The first one in more than a hundred years. My stomach turned. Girls who got three points or less were not allowed to play in the Chase. Shunned. Not taken with. They were often left behind by their families because they were ashamed. I really mean it when I say they were the lucky ones. The rest—four or more—were blindfolded, had their wrists tied, and were led to the trucks that were waiting beyond the torches. That was the end of the ceremony. That's when the real nightmare started. No one talked about what happened at the house. You couldn't do it, not if you wanted to stay alive. But everyone knew enough. Nothing else mattered to the Alphas once they caught their first scent. Learning. Rules. Promises. Gone. The girls who left never came back. "Come on," my mom said, holding out her hand. I didn't pay attention to it. I stood up, turned one last time to look in the mirror, and took in my reflection. My hands shook at my sides. My toes curled up against the cold floor, which helped me stay grounded. It was normal to be afraid. It was clear that it was dangerous. I said, "Of course," and then I left by myself. The stairs from the garden looked down on the path to the cliff, and I stopped there to watch the people below. In the light of the torches, rows of girls in white moved forward quietly, their bare feet flashing. Skin that is pale. Throats that are open. They looked like ghosts who were halfway gone. And they were happy. That scared me more than anything else. I knew that what was coming next wasn't a fairy tale or a powerful partner chosen by the moon. It was hell, but the rules were made by men who didn't have to follow them. After the Chase, there were no laws, just following orders. I stepped down onto the first step when little fingers wrapped around my arm. I turned around and saw Rossi looking up at me with glossy eyes and a shaking mouth. I knelt down, fixed her cardigan, and pulled her close to me. She whispered, "I don't want you to go." People would think it was rude if they heard her. She was supposed to be happy. I whispered, "I know, baby." "But I have to." A tear fell from her eye and ran down her cheek. "Will you come back to me?" My chest hurt. I swallowed hard to make the truth into words she could understand. "Do you remember when I said I would never lie to you?" She nodded her head. With my thumb, I wiped away her tears. "I don't know if I can come back." But I promise I’ll think of you every day. And I’ll do everything I can to see you again.” It wasn’t hope. It was honesty. “Yes,” she whimpered, trying to smile. It shattered me. “Let’s go,” Trissi said sharply, stepping between us. The ritual site loomed ahead—the edge of the mountain overlooking the pack, surrounded by dense forest. The stone path beneath our feet was jagged and cruel, slick from last night’s rain. They said the stones drew out sin. I felt every cut. Blood pooled beneath my steps, and I clenched my jaw, refusing to make a sound. The more you bled, the more you had to cleanse. By that measure, I must have been damned beyond saving. The wind sliced through my thin dress, biting into skin that should have been stronger. I hadn’t eaten in two days. They claimed it made us look desirable. I knew better. Weak wolves didn’t fight back. “Can you believe it’s our turn?” Liana sang, fingers dancing through her braid. I didn’t answer right away. I was counting breaths. Pain could be managed. Fear could be controlled. “No,” I said finally. “I really can’t.” Around us, the forest stirred. Somewhere in the distance, a horn waited to be blown. I lifted my chin, ignoring the blood on my feet, the ache in my bones, the dread coiled tight in my chest. They thought tonight would break me. They were wrong. I wouldn’t be reckless. I wouldn’t be loud. But I would remember everything. And when the hunt began, I would not make it easy.