Chapter 33

"Well, it has been a long time," I murmured, eyeing the stage where my fate awaited. "Time to be yourself," Harper said, her eyes glowing with wolfish understanding. She knew everything—how I'd abandoned my Blackwood pack, changed my name when I bonded with Darius Silverclaw, surrendering my identity as completely as I'd surrendered my rare blood to Isolde. My stomach tightened at the memory of the needle marks that had once decorated my arms like grotesque jewelry. According to Kaia's midnight pack-calls to Harper, I had transformed into "Dorothy the Docile"—a shadow of the she-wolf who once climbed boarding school walls after midnight just to howl at meteor showers. Both she-wolves agreed: severing my mating bond with Darius was the best decision I could have made. I'd sacrificed enough of myself—and my precious RH negative blood—for a bond that had been nothing more than a resource agreement. My wolf rumbled in agreement beneath my skin. It was time to reclaim my voice. I took a fin