Her life as madame of the Jiang sect wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t a path she would have chosen for herself, nor a role she would have accepted without a fight. All the same, it was hers, and it had been hers for many seasons now. She had become the madame of Lotus Pier when her father, the conniving, power hungry tom that he was, leader of the small Yu sect that had neither power nor influence, struck an accord with the powerful and benevolent Jiang sect, one of the five great sects of their lands. When their lands collapsed and the five great sects were all that remained of a culture and world that only existed with their effort and memory and they found SwiftClan as a place to survive while continuing to rebuild their way of life, she never saw her father nor any other member of the Yu sect again.

She assumed, long ago, that such minor sects had vanished in the wind, merely dust and ash. There were times when she missed it, particularly her sister. Yet what overcame her longing and grief was the fierce, unbridled rage whenever she caught sight of her mate’s charity youngling. Stygian was the very image of the she-cat Ziyuan had grown to hate.

At one time, she and Cangse had been rather close, best friends who fought side by side and were the mischievous chaotic spirits of the Yu sect. That is, until Ziyuan discovered her arranged mate, the tom she had been with for seasons and had borne children for, was in love with her dearest friend. Admiration shifted to jealousy, care shifted to possession, and with each step away from Cangse she took, Fengmian, the arranged mate she had sworn never to love and yet couldn’t help but fall for, took one closer to her rival.

She had no doubt Fengmian saw the wretch in the welp she had borne. The mischievous glint in his grey eyes, the smile that seemed to outshine the sun, the graceful beauty he possessed in structure and pelt despite how much she tried to scar him in private. Stygian was the son Fengmian wished he had. If she hadn’t fought tooth and claw for her son to be sect heir rather than the orphan, there was no telling what would happen to her and her children.

Ziyuan glared at Stygian from across the clearing, where he was spending time with her son and daughter. Outwardly, she was cold and vicious, ever a viper. Inside, she was roiling with rage, simmering with the desire to plan.