Chapter 1

My family are the Pact Keepers. For generations, we have lived secluded in the Appalachian mountains, holding a secret power. We can trade years of our own life force for a single, binding promise from another. It' s a debt of the soul, and it is always collected.

The powerful Scott family, a political dynasty from New England, owed my family a life debt from my grandfather's time. They promised to repay it with a marriage. An agreement was made, and I, Sabrina Chavez, was to marry their heir, Ethan Scott. It was a matter of honor, a pact to unite our families and settle the old debt.

But on my wedding day, everything changed.

A massive political scandal involving Ethan exploded across the news. He had to disappear from the public eye immediately to manage the crisis. The wedding, however, could not be stopped. It was too public, too important for the Scott family's image.

So, his younger brother, Caleb Scott, took his place at the altar.

He was handsome, with a kind smile that seemed to reach his eyes. When he lifted my veil, he dropped to one knee right there in front of everyone. His voice was thick with emotion.

"Sabrina, I have been in love with you since the first moment I laid eyes on you. Marrying you today is not a duty. It is the luckiest day of my life."

I was a naive girl from the mountains, completely out of my depth. I believed him. I fell in love with the man who knelt before me and promised me the world.

A year later, I was pregnant. Our life together had been a dream. Caleb was attentive, loving, and treated me like a queen. He was overjoyed about the baby. I thought it was time for him to meet my parents, to see where I came from.

We drove to my secluded hometown in Appalachia. The visit was perfect. My parents, the elders of our community, were charmed by Caleb. He was respectful and seemed genuinely interested in our ways.

We left after a few days, with promises to return soon with their grandchild.

Two days after we got back to the Scott estate in New England, the news broke. A meth lab explosion, the reports said. A fire that followed. My entire town, all one hundred residents, was gone.

The official story was a tragic accident.

But the private report the Scotts received was different. My parents had not died in the fire. They were found brutally murdered, their bodies desecrated in a way that spoke of a dark ritual.

The shock sent me into a physical collapse. I started bleeding, the doctors screaming about a miscarriage. Caleb never left my side. He stayed with me day and night, his eyes red and raw from lack of sleep. He held my hand, fed me, and nursed me back to health with a devotion that seemed absolute. He was my rock in a world that had crumbled to dust.