Traitor Wolf

The weapon that hasn't chosen anyone in a thousand years has chosen me, a Dreg-born girl with no magic. Forged by the Creator and feared across the realm, the King Killer was never meant for someone like me. But the moment I touch it, the wolves come running, snarling, fighting, and bleeding to claim me. Only one survives. A wolf with a traitor's mark burned into his skin. And now we're bonded.

Last night, I was digging through trash in the Elite district when a dying highborn collapsed at my feet. With his final breath, he pressed his trial mark into my chest and gave me his place in a deadly competition I was never meant to enter.

If I win, my entire bloodline, all forty of us, gets magic. The Dregs will rise overnight and the Elites will never forgive it.

My bonded wolf says he doesn't care about me, that he only wants my blade. But he guards me like I matter, trains me like I have a chance and when they try to kill me, he tears them down like I belong to him.

I didn't ask for this, but I'm not backing down. Not even for the wolf who could break my heart.

For fans of Red Queen and The Serpent and The Wings of Night.