Once upon a time, Eclipse lived a quiet life—until the Moon Goddess bound her to Malric NorthSteed, Alpha Prince of the North.

A man who was Cold, Ruthless and Ambitious beyond mercy.

On the night she was rejected as his mate, Malric slaughtered her entire pack… and then crowned another woman his bride.

Buried under the burning betrayal, Eclipse dies with her family, but five years later, she is reborn as Arrow—an assassin feared by wicked nobles and criminals alike; a ghost whispered through the underworld. Every life she takes is training that sharpens her resolve toward a single purpose:

Kill Malric NorthSteed. Then burn his entire empire to the ground.
But Malric is no longer just an Alpha Prince.

He is now the Alpha King of the North—untouchable behind towering palace walls and absolute power. So to reach him, Eclipse must do the unthinkable. She enters the grand Bridal Selection, a ruthless competition of fifty women vying to become his next Luna Queen—each bride hiding secrets, ambitions, and bloodstained desires of their own.

Disguised, surrounded by spies and trapped among obsessed rivals and lethal politics, Eclipse plays the role of the demure woman seeking Malric’s heart… while plotting to rip it from his chest.
 
Yet as the competition turns deadly, a terrifying truth emerges.

In this game of hearts and death, she is far from the only pawn on the board;
Her family’s massacre was no simple act of cruelty;
The bond she once shared with Malric NorthSteed had been anything but an accident;

Not to mention that Malric has been playing this game long before she even drew her bow, Eclipse tows the line of danger while donning on a fake mask before him.

Because if Malric discovers who she truly is—
If he realizes she is the mate he once rejected—
If the embers between them ignite into something dangerously real—

Then Eclipse will face a fate far worse than death. For when he catches her, no arrow, no mask, no hatred will save her.

Not from his vengeance.

Not from his power.

Not from the forbidden love that could destroy them both.

The ride to the Citadel was filled with silence. And if Anna had expected more reaction from Eclipse at her so-called grand reveal, all she got was nothing.


Eclipse didn't mind her much. Not as much as she minded the fact that the Hollow's penetration of the North was far deeper than was expected from a simple spy and assassination mission.


The scale of everything far surpassed what she had expected from the BloodHound's tough training—and the key laid with this hidden Master that both Rooster and Anna were connected to.


But none of this had anything to do with her. Not when she eas ending everything tomorrow.


"You already know this," Anna inserted when the silence stretched for too long between them, "his majesty is no ordinary person, so the woman he is to take as a choosen mate must prove to be the same. The key doesn't really lie with him, but with the Dowager."


Chapter 54 - The Promoted Pawn