Chapter 1

Corinna POV:

"Filthy wolfless! Are you going to sign the annulment contract or not?"

A barbed leather whip cracked against the stone wall an inch from my bare toes. Sharp rock fragments flew up and sliced my calf. I gasped and forced my eyes open. The sun burned my eyes, and coarse hemp ropes bit into my bleeding wrists as I hung outside the high stone walls of Solis Castle. My wrists were bound in front of me, leaving my fingers free enough.

Broken memories surged through my mind along with my rebirth, throbbing at my temples. I swallowed the metallic taste of blood and locked my eyes on the man below me.

In this world, pure silver was poison to werewolves with an inner wolf. It burned their flesh and blocked their healing. But I was wolfless. Silver did not burn me. That was why I could hide a silver needle in my sleeve and handle it with bare fingers.

Those years spent doing medical research taught me to endure agony and bide my time for the moment to strike.

Felix Solis, the young Alpha heir of Solis Castle and my betrothed by family pact, stood there in a gold-threaded robe. He twirled the bloodstained whip in his fingers, his lips curled into a sneer. In our werewolf kingdom, rank was decided at birth by blood and genes, and a wolfless girl like me stood at the very bottom.

I pulled my cracked lips into a cold smile. A drop of blood rolled down my chin. I did not even bother to spit a word at him.

Green light flared in Felix's eyes at my silence. His legs trembled with rage as he raised the whip high again.

Before he could strike, a pale hand pressed gently against his raised arm. A woman in a lace gown stepped forward, her golden-brown curls shining under the sun.

"Brother Felix, please stop. Sister Corinna is just being stubborn," Bianca Stewart said, tilting her face up with red-rimmed eyes, her voice sweet.

She was my half-sister, born to my father's mistress. While begging for mercy on my behalf, Bianca pressed her chest against Felix's arm. A flash of malice and triumph gleamed in her gray-blue eyes when she looked up at me.

Felix immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, his harsh voice turning soft. "Bianca, you are far too kind. That is why this useless piece of trash with nothing but a pretty face has been bullying you for so long."

Below the wall, a crowd of low-ranking pack members and castle servants pointed fingers at me, their whispers buzzing.

"I heard she does not even have a trace of an inner wolf's scent. No wonder Lord Solis wants to cast her out," a rough-looking warrior said loud enough for the square to hear.

"Exactly. Clinging to the position of the rightful Luna while being a barren waste. She brings nothing but shame to the Sears Pack," another servant chimed in with a laugh.

I lowered my eyelids to hide the chill in my amber eyes. Twisting my numb wrists against the rough fibers, I felt for the weakest knot in the rope. The hidden shard in my sleeve pressed against my forearm, small and cold. I only needed one moment.

"Corinna, as long as you confess to bedding a wild rogue behind my back and willingly break our engagement, I will be merciful and spare your pathetic life," Felix barked, his patience running dry.

Bedding a wild rogue? My stomach churned. To clear the way so he could marry my bastard half-sister as his rightful wife, he was willing to pour the dirtiest water over my head.

I stopped twisting my wrists and let my body hang limp. Using a weak, breathless voice that could still carry across the square, I spoke.

"Fine... I confess."

The chatter below cut off instantly. Dozens of heads snapped up in shock. None of them expected me to give in after taking the whip all morning.

Felix froze for a second before throwing his head back in a loud laugh. "Did you all hear that? This shameless slut finally admitted it!"

Bianca's mouth stretched into a grin she could barely hide behind her hand. Lifting the hem of her lace skirt, she took a step closer to the wall and looked up at me.

"Sister, since you know your mistake, hurry and tell Brother Felix the name of the wild bastard you slept with. That way, we can graciously send you off to him."

I narrowed my eyes at Bianca's smug face. Inside my torn sleeve, my fingertips brushed against a sharp, jagged piece of stone wedged into a crack in the castle wall.

"That man..." I dragged my voice out, making my breath hitch with fake terror. "I... I do not dare speak his name out loud."

Felix's face darkened. He shoved Bianca aside and strode right beneath my dangling feet, glaring up at me.

"In this entire kingdom, is there anyone I, Felix, dare not offend? Speak! What is that wild dog's name?" he roared, his chest heaving.

I let my head droop against my chest, my tangled hair falling forward to hide the curve of my mouth.

"Come... come closer. I will only whisper it to you alone."

Felix frowned in suspicion, looking me up and down. Yet facing a tied-up wolfless girl who could not even shift, his Alpha pride left him with zero guard.

He let out a cold snort, stepped onto the jutting stones at the base of the wall, and climbed two steps up until his face was right beside my ankles.

"Speak!" he demanded.

Down below, Bianca twisted her lace handkerchief until her knuckles turned white, her voice pitching into a shrill scream. "Brother Felix, watch out! It is a trap!"

I snapped my eyes open, a cold light flashing in my amber pupils as my fingers closed tight around the razor-sharp stone.