Chapter 2

In my last life, he came for Lara, but he also had his eye on the Bloodline Trait, hoping to sire a golden pup and win the Dragon Lord's favor, securing his place as heir.

Now that Lara has chosen the trait he wants, he takes her with him and turns to leave.

"Wait," Lara says, catching his arm. She looks up at him, soft-eyed. "I can't just leave Seren here. Bring her with us. She can keep me company."

Keep me company. That's one way to put it.

Drake looks me over like I'm not worth the trouble.

No one dares go up against the Dragon Clan.

Even as the Fox Chief's daughter, the best I could have hoped for was to be his concubine. Always below Lara.

"The Bloodline Trait is worthless anyway," Lara adds, pouting. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It doesn't actually work."

I almost laugh.

She had no idea what the Bloodline Trait actually did.

As long as the male carried even a trace of ancient blood, the pups born from the Bloodline Trait would always rank higher than their parents.

And the Litter Trait didn't just produce more pups. It also diluted both parents' bloodlines, and carrying so many pups drained the mother's body of nutrients, causing irreversible damage.

Lara thought she'd outsmarted me. She had no idea.

Drake glances at Father.

"Is that true?"

Father looks at me. Then at Lara. Then somewhere to the left of both of us.

"The Bloodline Trait is little more than a legend," he says. "No female in our clan has ever proven it works. I wouldn't put too much stock in it."

He didn't want me near Drake. Didn't want two daughters competing for the same male in front of every clan in the realm. Easier to bury the trait than to deal with what came after.

Fine by me. I didn't want Drake anyway.

I turn toward the Wolf Clan's heir. Last time, I almost became his mate.

"Actually," Lara says, her voice carrying across the hall, "Seren has already been with the Crow Clan's heir."

"She's just too embarrassed to admit it."

"She even keeps one of his feathers by her pillow."

I spin around, stunned. Lara's eyes are already on me, sharp and satisfied.

She mouths the words slowly: You and that filthy Crow deserve each other.

The hall goes quiet. Then it doesn't.

"She was with him before she even came of age?"

"The Crow Clan? She has a thing for crows?"

The Crow Clan had always been seen as a bad omen. An unlucky clan. One that other clans looked down on and pushed around without a second thought.

Father doesn't even bother to ask if it's true. A golden whip forms in his grip, and he brings it down across my body before I can say a word.

"You shameless girl!"

The Wolf heir takes one step back. The look on his face says everything.

The rest of the hall erupts in whispers.

"She was already seeing someone before her coming-of-age ceremony?"

"I thought she seemed decent. Turns out she's into crows."

I press my hand over my arm where the whip caught me. Blood seeps through my fingers.

Before I can say a word, a male steps forward. Tall, dark-feathered, with a stillness that didn't match the noise around him.

Cael, the Crow Clan's young lord.

"I have never met Seren before today," he says, his voice steady enough to cut through the murmuring. "These claims have no basis. You don't get to slander a female without proof."

Lara laughs softly. "And yet here he is, defending her. Still going to tell me there's nothing going on?"

She nods once. Two maids disappear through a side door and return with a fistful of black feathers.

"The Crow Clan's feathers are unmistakable. These were found right beside her bed. Care to explain?"

I look at Cael. He looks at me. We have never spoken a word to each other in this life or the last. The shock on his face mirrors mine.

I know exactly where those feathers came from.

The Dragon Lord's birthday feast, last year. Drake had arranged for Crow Clan members to be ambushed on the road, their feathers singed in open flame while he laughed.

Lara had made me watch.

Cael's situation had felt too familiar. I couldn't look away then. I knew what it was like to be the one everyone pushed around.

She'd kept those feathers all this time. She'd been planning this since then.

I take a breath and pull my hands into fists, ready to speak.

My own maid drops to her knees in front of Father.

"Chief, forgive me," she says, voice shaking. "I helped them meet. Every month, I covered for her. I didn't know how to refuse."

I look up. Lara's mouth curls at the corner.

In an instant I understand.

Even if the Bloodline Trait had failed her, she wasn't about to let me become the mate of a powerful clan's heir.

And this way, she'd also killed any chance of Drake taking me as a concubine.

Father's face goes dark.

"Seren." His voice is flat and final. "Two choices. Take your own life here and preserve what's left of this clan's name. Or take ninety-nine lashes and leave. You will no longer be my daughter."

Lara watches from Drake's side with the look of someone enjoying a show they've already seen the ending of.

I look down at the feathers in the maid's hands.

At the right angle, there's a thread of gold running through the black.

I think of the story my mother told me before she died.

The Fox Clan has no place for me. Fine. I'll find my own.

My eyes find Cael's.

"I'll take the lashes," I say. "Cael. Will you take me as your mate?"