Chapter 1 The Tribute

Amber's POV "All tributes report to the east wing at seven sharp." The heavy bass voice echoed into my room, and I shivered where I stood. My eyes shot to the wall clock and I released a gasp. It was exactly 6:53pm. With shaking hands, I scrolled through my contacts to Kieran Ashford's number and pressed call, raising the phone to my ear like it was the last hope I had left in this world. "The number you've dialed is unavailable," came a flat voicemail voice instead. "Please leave a message." My teary eyes widened at the screen, my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my own ears. "Kieran," I muttered, hot tears spilling down my cheeks. "I've got five minutes before they take me! You said we'd run! Where the hell are you?" I hurled the phone to the floor in fury, watching it skid under the bed. The Alpha Prince had been in a coma for months now, and the Luna Queen - desperate, ruthless, unwilling to let the throne sit empty, had demanded that every pack across the five clans surrender one virgin daughter as tribute for a poisoner and an heir. None of the girls sent before me had survived the ritual. Not one. And now the wheel had turned to me, Amber, daughter of Elder Walter Holloway of the Korvathen Pack, wolfless, unwanted, and terrified out of my mind. Outside the door to my room, were two guards positioned to keep watch on me. My only hope now for escape, was Kieran – son of the lead Elder-in-Council of the Korvathen Pack, my fated mate. Both of us had been together for the past three years, and when the news of this tribute to the Drakharis reached us, Kieran had promised to protect me. I turned to the window, chest heaving, and pressed my palms together like a child saying bedtime prayers. "Moon Goddess, please." My voice cracked on the whisper. "Send Kieran. Get me out of here. I can't be the Alpha Prince's tribute." The moment the words left my lips, something happened that made me stumble backward in fright. The window flew open on both sides, and a gust of wind rushed in as though the moon goddess herself had heard me and answered. I swallowed hard, still panting, staring at the open window like it held an omen. "Fine," I said at last, holding my chest to steady my own heartbeat. "I'll run myself, then." I walked slowly toward the window, climbed onto the ledge, and looked down. The height alone was enough to make a sane person turn back. I closed my eyes, released one long breath, and jumped without giving myself the chance to think twice. I landed hard on the ground below, wounded but whole; no bone broken, no scream escaping my throat. It was nothing short of a miracle, and I barely had time to register it before something else stole my attention. A few steps away, tucked inside the garden and hidden by a wall of luxurious blooming flowers, a sound drifted toward me that made my blood run cold. "Yes, Kieran!" a female voice cried out. "Oh my god - yes - yes - give it to me!" My whole body went rigid. I turned toward the voice with my heart hammering somewhere near my throat. The sound continued, unmistakable, unbearable. "That's... Serena?" I whispered, brows knotting together. I knew that voice too well. It belonged to Serena - my younger stepsister. My stomach turned, praying silently that my ears were playing tricks on me, that this wasn't what it sounded like. I crept forward and gently parted the flowers, and what I saw stopped my heart cold. There, in the middle of the garden, was my fated mate, Alpha Kieran Ashford - the very man who had sworn to me, again and again, that he would make me his Luna. And there in front of him, on her knees, was Serena. Her back turned to him, her buttocks clung deep into his cock as he knelt down. The sight was nothing short of two dogs in copulation. "Did I tell you how much I love hearing you scream?" Kieran said, low and satisfied. "Not like your sister. She'd just lies there like a cold fish." He gave her a hard swat that made her gasp, then laugh, glancing back at him with a wicked little smile. "Poor Amber's probably upstairs," she said, "counting the seconds till you rescue her." She turned slightly to him. "And our plan." She said with seriousness, keeping her voice low like a whisper. "Whatever happened, remember you promised we must see its end. We've waited so long for this opportunity." "Of course, baby." Kieran said casually. "Isn't that why we're giving her away as that fucking tribute?" I stood frozen behind the flowers, every word landing on me like a blow. My lips curled into something sharp, something furious. My heart wasn't just pounding now; it was breaking, loud enough that I was sure they'd hear it. "My fated mate," I whispered, my eyes burning red. "With my stepsister." "You think a man like me ties himself to a wolfless girl?" Kieran went on, arrogant, unbothered. "She's a joke. I'll pass her around to entertain my men." Three years. Three solid years I had given him my nights, my hope, my whole foolish heart, believing every promise he'd whispered into my ear about making me his Luna one day. All that time, he'd been in another woman's bed. My own stepsister's bed. Less than six months after my mom's funeral, my father married and took in his mistress as wife. Then, I was just seven. Ever since, Serena had always wanted everything that I had as mine. And when she found out about Kieran, she seduced him and painted me worthless. Kierian wasn't surprised. Because he knew one day he was going to replace me because I was wofless. However, my secret became his drive. "Three years I've been with you," Serena said, breathless, smug. "And she still has no idea. Stupid little fool." Something inside me snapped clean in half. My fists curled so tight my nails bit into my palms, and before I could stop myself, I was marching forward, straight through the flowers, straight into the garden. The sound of my feet hitting the ground caught Kieran's attention and he saw me first. He froze, then scrambled up in a panic, yanking at his clothes. Serena screamed and grabbed for something to cover herself with, her face draining of color. "Amber... what are you doing here?" Kieran stammered, fumbling with his shirt buttons, his hands shaking worse than mine had been minutes ago. I closed the distance between us in three strides, my right hand raised instantly and connected with Kieran's cheek in a desperate slap. His head snapped sideways with the force of it. "How could you be fucking my sister?!" My voice tore through the garden, raw and furious. "I'm your fated mate!"