My name is Roxana. Since I was a child, I have been able to see the departing spirits of dying werewolves. But in the Moonstone Pack, no one ever treated this as a gift. My father called it a curse. My mother said I was a she-wolf forgotten by the Moon Goddess. The best food, the finest room, and the most beautiful dresses in our home all went to my adopted sister, Brittany. Later, Brittany became the promised mate of Alexander, the Alpha heir of the Blackstone Pack. But on the night before the bonding ceremony, Alexander was gravely wounded by a silver-dust trap. His body fell into a coma, while his spirit wandered nearby.
The Blackstone Pack demanded that Brittany honor her commitment—stay by Alexander's side and call his spirit back. But in front of everyone, she scorned him as a half-dead, worthless wolf and chose to break the pact rather than waste her life on him. Only I saw the spirit of Alexander standing behind her—and heard his cold promise: whoever would tend to his body, should he wake, would be granted the border herb estate, six hundred thousand gold coins, and the lifelong protection of the Blackstone Pack.
So I took Brittany's place and went to the Blackstone Pack.…
