Prologue

ZANE

T here may have been a time—in the years before I was in this place of darkness and pain—that I believed I was unbreakable. That the horrors of the First War were the worst things I could have experienced. I had been taken prisoner more than once. I had been beaten, tortured, and left for dead.

But oh how the humans were clever. Oh, how they were ruthless .

There was some sort of vicious irony when I heard one of them whisper, "The last of his humanity is being stripped away." Because was I losing it? Or was I gaining it? This monstrous beast in front of me that far rivaled my wolf in its cruelty, and its desire to inflict unending pain…

That was human.

That was the only human I had ever known. Would ever know.

I had no concept of time, only a cycle of agony and unconsciousness. I couldn't shift forward or back—my teeth elongated, my claws engaged—tearing at my own flesh as I tried to free myself, tearing apart other Wolves they put in front of me. Once upon a time, I thought a rescue would come, but I could no longer remember who existed to rescue me.

This was it. I had no name, no face, no purpose but to destroy.

I was a beast.

This was my burden.