Chapter 3

Cael's eyes meet mine. He looks a little embarrassed, but his voice doesn't waver.

"I am not worthy of you," he says. "But if you're willing to have me, I will protect you with everything I have. I won't let you suffer."

Lara laughs right in my face.

"A crow," she says. "He can barely protect himself. The Dragon Clan could wipe out his entire clan without breaking a sweat."

"And even if you do have the Bloodline Trait, the best you'd get is a golden crow. Not even worth the dirt under my dragon pups' claws."

I don't look at her.

I walk onto the platform.

My mother was Father's concubine, but she was also the Fox Clan's Oracle.

She once told me about an ancient divine bird called the Golden Roc.

"Golden Rocs were fierce," she told me. "They could travel thousands of miles in a day, and they fed on dragons."

"Only birds descended from the Golden Roc bloodline could have gold in their feathers."

And now, looking at Cael's feathers, black with streaks of gold, the answer is obvious.

I have the Bloodline Trait. Our pups might not be any weaker than Lara and Drake's after all.

Cael steps forward and catches my arm.

"Let me take the lashes," he says, looking at Father. "I'll take them in her place."

Father's expression doesn't change.

"Fox Clan law doesn't bend," he says. "Step aside."

Cael's jaw tightens. He lets go.

The first lash hits before I'm ready. Father doesn't hold back. Not once. All ninety-nine lashes land hard.

By the time I reach thirty, I stop counting and just breathe.

Lara stands behind me, laughing as I take each lash.

"Come on," she says. "Just die already."

She's thinking about my last life.

The standing I'd built in the Dragon Clan, the favor I'd earned, how far above her I'd climbed.

She wants to make sure none of that happens again.

When Father speaks, his voice sounds very far away.

"Seren of the Fox Clan. From this day, you are no longer my daughter. You are no longer Fox Clan. Leave and don't come back."

Then the ground comes up to meet me.

...

I wake up to the smell of herbs.

Cool. Something pressed against my back that feels like bandages soaked in something cold.

The ceiling above me is dark wood and carved beams. Not Fox Clan.

Crow Clan.

Cael comes through the door a moment later. His face goes red the second he sees me awake.

"The medicine," he starts. "It was the maids who changed your bandages. I didn't— I wouldn't—"

Compared to Drake, who never thought twice about taking what he wanted, Cael was almost painfully decent.

It makes me want to tease him.

I let the corner of my mouth pull up. "We're mates. Why wouldn't you want to?"

"I do want to," he says immediately, then catches himself. "I mean, I'm not— that's not—"

"Are you having second thoughts?"

"No." No hesitation at all. "Never."

The door opens before I can say anything else. A warrior steps in and holds out a gold envelope.

I've been out for over a month. Long enough for Drake and Lara to become mates. Long enough for her to be carrying his pup.

This invitation is Drake's way of making sure every clan in the realm knows it.

Cael takes the envelope and sets it aside without opening it.

"We don't have to go," he says. "You need to rest. I'll find a way to send our regrets."

I reach over and pick it up.

"We're going," I say. "There's still a show to watch."