Chapter 1 The Rejection

The first time Ivy Carter heard the word "fat" that morning, she laughed. The second time, she almost cried. The third time, she realized the entire pack was waiting for her to break.

She stood in the center of the Silverpine clearing under the full moon, the soft blue dress her mother had spent two weeks sewing clinging to every curve she'd never been able to hide. Her heart hammered in her throat.

Tonight was the Moon Festival. Tonight Caleb was supposed to claim her.

Every unmated wolf circled the fire, eyes bright with expectation. Ivy searched the crowd for the only face that mattered.

Caleb Reed stepped into the light, tall, broad-shouldered, the future Beta everyone already respected. For a second her chest loosened. He was smiling, walking toward her.

Then she saw the woman on his arm.

Lila Voss. Slim, graceful, a fully awakened wolf, the kind of girl the pack mothers pointed at when they talked about "proper mates." Her hand rested on Caleb's forearm like it belonged there.

The clearing went quiet.

Caleb stopped three steps away. He didn't look at her face, only the curve of her waist, then away. "Ivy. I need to say this in front of everyone so there's no confusion." His voice carried over the fire. "I can't take you as my mate."

A few people laughed under their breath. Ivy's smile stayed frozen.

"I've tried to ignore it. Tried to tell myself the bond would come later. But every time I look at you I only see the truth." His eyes flicked over her again, open disgust flashing across his face. "You're soft, where a she-wolf should be strong. Your wolf's never woken, you're twenty-two and still dormant. I need someone who can run with me. Fight with me. Give me strong pups."

Lila's lips curved in quiet triumph.

Caleb turned to the pack. "I choose Lila Voss. She is my mate."

The clearing erupted, cheers, whistles, someone shouting about time. A voice nearby muttered, "Thank the Moon. No one wanted the plump one anyway."

Heat flooded Ivy's face. She felt every eye slide over the places the dress hugged too tight. She waited for the ground to open and swallow her. It didn't.

Caleb looked at her once more, almost pitying. "Don't make this harder than it has to be. You'll find someone eventually. Someone who doesn't mind."

The pack laughed harder.

Ivy's hands curled into fists. She wanted to scream, to demand he take it back, to ask how three years of quiet walks and stolen kisses meant nothing. She did none of it. She nodded once, stiffly, and turned from the fire.

The walk home was long, trailed by whispers. Did you see her face. Poor thing. She should've known better. She's always been too much.

She kept walking, letting the night air cool the tears she refused to let fall past her chin.

Her mother, Elena, waited on the porch with a lantern. One look at Ivy's face and her expression crumpled.

"Oh, baby." Ivy walked straight into her arms. Elena stroked her hair the way she had when the other children called her Round Ivy.

"I knew," Ivy whispered. "Part of me always knew. But I still hoped."

Elena cupped her face. "He was never worthy of you. Do you hear me? Never."

"The pack doesn't agree."

Before Elena could answer, boots and a sharp whistle cut through the night. A royal messenger in black and silver strode into the clearing, torch raised.

"By order of the Royal Palace, every unmated female between twenty and thirty is to report to Mooncrest Palace within three days. Pack Alpha cooperation is mandatory."

Confusion rippled through the crowd. "Why?"

The messenger waited for silence. "The Alpha King is choosing a breeder."

Gasps. Not a Luna. Not a mate. A woman to carry the King's heir under contract, then leave.

Ivy's stomach turned. She'd heard the rumors, Alpha King Damian Blackwood, twenty-eight, powerful beyond measure, famously unwilling to bind himself to any female. He wanted an heir and nothing more.

"Candidates will be examined by royal physicians. The selected woman will sign a binding contract. Compensation is... substantial."

Several mothers' eyes sharpened. A few of the prettier girls straightened their spines. Most of the pack glanced at Ivy, then away, as if the idea of her standing before the Alpha King were a joke.

Later, in their small kitchen, Elena said the words Ivy had been dreading. "We have nothing left, Ivy. The debt collectors came again yesterday, your father's medical bills, the repairs after the rogue attack. We're behind on everything." Her voice stayed quiet but firm. "The royal compensation would clear every debt and leave us safe for years. If you're even selected for the first examination, the advance alone would change everything."

Ivy's throat closed. "You want me to sell myself."

"I want you to survive." Elena took her hands. "You are stronger than they know. Stronger than that boy ever saw. Go. Let them look. And if the King is foolish enough to overlook you, then at least we tried."

Ivy wanted to refuse. But she looked at her mother's tired eyes, the thinness of her cheeks, and the refusal died. "I'll go."

Three days later, Ivy stood among nearly three hundred women in the grand entrance hall of Mooncrest Palace. Marble stretched cold and endless beneath crystal chandeliers. Most of the candidates were lean, sharp-featured, already glowing with awakened wolves. They whispered and laughed, eyes bright with ambition.

Ivy kept to the back, arms folded across her midsection. Her simple traveling dress felt cheap under the light.

The massive doors at the far end opened. Conversation died.

Alpha King Damian Blackwood entered alone, taller than the rumors claimed, dark hair cut short, jaw carved from ice. Golden eyes swept the hall once, and every woman dropped into a kneel.

Ivy's knees locked. Fear held her upright when everyone else bowed. Her dormant wolf, the one that had never once stirred, shivered deep in her chest.

Damian's gaze moved across the kneeling rows with open disinterest, passing candidate after candidate.

Then his eyes stopped. On her.

He studied the soft lines of her body, the color rising in her cheeks. The silence stretched unbearably.

Someone near the front whispered, "Why is she still standing?"

Damian raised one hand and pointed directly at Ivy.

"Her."

The word landed like a blade. Every head turned. The royal council looked stunned.

"She's the one."

Ivy's heart stopped, and for the first time in her life, she understood what it meant to be chosen by a man who did not want her at all.