Prologue

I stared at the document placed before me, the one that sealed our fate: the treaty between shifters and vampires. The very thought of it made my stomach churn. I skimmed past the front page, ignoring the formalities, and turned the pages until I reached the final one. There, on the right side, the signature of the current Vampire Lord was inked in dark strokes.

I sighed, grabbing the pen Layla handed me, my fingers trembling just a bit as I signed on the designated line. As I pressed my thumb to my mouth, I willed my canines to extend. They elongated, sharp and cold, and I bit down on my thumb. The metallic taste of iron filled my mouth, bitter and sharp. I pressed my thumbprint onto the paper, the ink darkening the page in a way that made the moment feel far too real.

This was it. The first peace treaty between us and the vampires in over twenty thousand years, a fragile hope for an end to the war.

"Make sure this gets to the queen of the witch clan," I told Layla, my voice calm but firm. "No mistakes. This is critical."

She nodded, taking the document from my hands, her gaze unwavering as she walked out to deliver it to the queen. The witches would infuse the document with their magic, ensuring that both sides would be bound by their word, or face the consequences—both magical and physical.

I turned my gaze to the horizon, feeling the weight of what was to come. The treaty required that my younger sister marry into the vampire royal family. She was to wed the vampire lord's brother. A union that would produce an heir in two years—a child to symbolize the fragile peace. A child who would be the first ever born from an interspecies marriage. And we had no idea what that would mean.

I hated this. I hated that it was her. But the truth was, both species had endured too much loss. The war couldn't go on.
But why did it have to be her?

I just prayed that her life wouldn't be ruined by this marriage. That she wouldn't be miserable for the sake of our people.