Brianna

"Did you hear? Colton Westbrook is demanding an unmated bride from Duskwood. They say he needs a young maiden, that means Paige."

The words drifted through the hallway, I froze with my hand on the banister, and for a moment I could not breathe. Colton Westbrook, the War Dog. The same man who had buried four wives and smiled at every funeral. The monster who had been terrorizing the outer territories for years, and now he had set his sights on Duskwood.

Paige, My sister. The golden daughter, she was the one they would send, because she was the unmated maiden of the house, the one everyone looked at when they thought of marriage and alliances.

I felt a small flicker of something in my chest, something that was not quite relief but close to it, because for once I was not the one being offered up to the wolves. I was not the one being told to lay down my life for the pack. But the feeling did not last because I knew what it meant for Paige , and despite the years of being treated like the shadow she cast, I did not want her to suffer.

I needed to find Jax. He would know what to do. He was clever, always thinking ahead, always planning, and he had connections that I did not. Maybe he could find a way to shift this, to buy Paige more time or negotiate with Colton or find some other solution that did not involve my sister being sent to her death.

I ran through the hallways, my feet pounding against the floor, and I did not stop until I reached Jax's quarters. I pushed open the door, and the words were already on my lips.

"Jax , you will not believe what I just heard. They are saying Colton Westbrook is demanding a bride from Duskwood, and everyone thinks it is going to be Paige. We need to find a way to help her. We need to find a way to shift this somehow, or at least buy her some time."

And then I stopped.

The sitting room was not empty. My parents were seated on the couch, their faces calm and measured, and Jax was standing near the window with Paige in his arms. Her face was buried in his chest, and his hand was stroking her golden hair, and he was murmuring something soft into her ears. My father was looking at the floor, and my mother was watching me with an expression that was impossible to read.

For a moment I told myself it was fine. Jax was just consoling her because of the news, because she was terrified, because anyone would need comfort after hearing that they were being sent to marry a killer. I stepped forward, and I forced a smile onto my face.

"You must be so scared, Paige ," I said, my voice soft. "I know it seems hopeless, but Jax and I will figure something out. We will find a way to fix this."

My mother laughed, a short, sharp sound that made me flinch. "Do not be silly, Brianna . There is nothing to fix. You are the one going. You are the unmated female."

The words did not make sense. I stared at her, and for a moment my brain refused to process what she had just said. "What do you mean? I am not unmated. Jax is my mate. Everyone knows that."

Jax looked up from Paige 's hair, and his eyes met mine. His gaze was cold and flat, and I recognized that look.

"There is no mate," he said, and his voice was quiet and deliberate. "There never was. I was never your mate, Brianna. I was just keeping an eye on you, like your parents asked me to."

My heart stopped, and at that moment it froze in my chest. "That is not true. You promised me. You said we would be together. You said—"

"I said what you needed to hear," Jax cut me off, and he stepped away from Paige , walking toward me with slow, measured steps. "Do you really think I would choose you over her? Over Paige ? Look at yourself. You cannot shift. You have no wolf spirit. You are less than nothing. I was only using you because your parents asked me to keep you distracted, to make sure you did not cause any problems while they arranged Paige 's future."

My mother stood up from the couch, and she walked toward me with her hands folded, her expression calm and pleasant. "We needed to make sure you stayed out of the way, Brianna . You have always been a liability, a weakness in our family line. But now you have finally become useful."

I turned to my father, but he would not meet my eyes. He stared at the floor, and his silence was worse than any cruelty.

"You are the unmated female now," my mother continued, and she said it like she was explaining something simple to a child. "Paige is spoken for. She has Jax, and Colton Westbrook demands a bride from our house. That means you."

"No," I said, and my voice came out as a whisper. "I cannot go to him. He will kill me. Everyone knows he kills his brides."

"Then you will die," Paige said, and she smiled as she said it, a slow, satisfied smile that made my stomach turn. "That is what you are for, Brianna . You have always been the expendable one. You were only ever a placeholder, a sacrifice waiting to happen. Did you really think we loved you? Did you really think you were part of this family?"

I looked at Jax , and I begged him with my eyes to say something, to tell me it was not true, but he just looked at me, and his expression was cold and amused.

"Sign the contract," Jax said, and he walked to the table where a piece of paper was already laid out, already waiting. "You will take Paige's place, you will pretend to be her and you will do it without complaint."

"And if I refuse?" I said, and my voice was shaking.

Jax 's smile widened. "Your grandmother is still alive, is she not? It would be such a shame if something happened to her. If she was exiled or if she was left to die alone in the cold."

My blood turned to ice. "You would not hurt her."

"Try me," Jax said. "Sign the contract, and she lives comfortably for the rest of her days. Refuse, and I will personally make sure she suffers before she dies. I will drag her through the streets myself and let the pack watch."

My mother walked over to the table and picked up the pen, holding it out to me with steady hands. "Do not make this difficult, Brianna. You have no choice. You never had a choice."

I looked at my mother, and she did not look away. I looked at my father, and he stared at the floor. I looked at Paige , and she was still smiling. I looked at Jax, and he was holding the contract, his eyes cold and unreadable.

I could not refuse. They had taken everything from me already, my dignity, my hope, my future. The only thing I had left was my grandmother, and they would destroy her without hesitation. There was no way out.

I took the pen from my mother's hand, my fingers were cold and numb, I leaned over the contract, and I signed my name at the bottom of the page.

Jax took the contract from the table and handed it to my father. My mother walked over to me and patted my cheek, "Good girl," she said.