"The Alpha’s Regret: I Married His Enemy"

The music in the Grand Hall was so loud that it shook against my ribs, but the only sound I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.

This was it. The Mating Ball.

Every girl in the Silver River Pack had dreamed of this night since her eighteenth birthday. It was the night the Alpha would choose his Luna. It was the night that I, Elara Vance, would stand by the side of Alpha Kade as his equal.

I adjusted the strap of my cheap, secondhand blue dress. My hands shook nervously. Hundreds of pack members around me were watching me some with curiosity, most bordering on mockery. I could hear their most awful whispers.

"What's she standing there for?"

"Does she truly think Alpha Kade will choose her?"

"She doesn't even have a wolf. She is a defect."

I bit my lip and tasted blood... Ignore them, Elara. Kade loves you. He told you he did not care about your wolf. He promised you.

The grand mahogany doors above the staircase swung wide open. A deadly silence descended upon the hall.

Alpha Kade stood in the doorway.

He was indescribably gorgeous. His golden hair shone in the light of the chandeliers, and those blue eyes of his swept the crowd with haughty arrogance worthy of a king. He looked like a god. My god. He stepped down the stairs, with his Beta in tow behind him.

I took a step toward him, heart soaring with hope, preparing my smile. I was preparing to take his hand.

But he had not smiled back.

Kade walked right past me.

He did not even spare me a glance. A chill followed him in the air, sending a shiver down my spine. He stepped to the center of the stage and took the microphone amid the whining of feedback that made the crowd flinch.

"My people," Kade said, his voice smooth and commanding. "Tonight is a night of celebration. A night where the future of the Silver River Pack is decided."

He looked at me again. Only, there was no love in his eyes. There was only annoyance-like I was a stain on his pristine white shirt.

"Elara Vance," he said.

I stepped forward, knees shaking. "Yes, Alpha?"

"Come here."

I walked toward the center of the stage. I reached out to touch his arm, seeking warmth, but he jerked away. His body language screamed rejection; it slapped me hard in the face.

For the whole hall to hear, Kade said, "You have been my companion for two years. But a pack cannot be led by weakness. A pack needs a strong Luna. A Luna with a wolf."

The chilling realization caught up with me: No, please, no!

"I, Alpha Kade of the Silver River Pack," he thundered, pitching his voice an octave lower and unleashing his Alpha power, making every single wolf in the room bow their heads, "hereby reject you, Elara Vance, as my mate."

The words landed on me like a physical blow.

I gasped, clutching my chest. The mating bond, a warm golden thread connecting us for years, suddenly just snapped.

Not just broke. Shattered.

Pain coursed through my body as if someone had reached inside my chest and ripped out a piece of my soul. I fell to my knees, choking on my breath, my tears blinding me instantly.

"I reject you," he said, just so I was sure. "You are wolfless. You are weak. You are unworthy."

In murmurs, the crowd gossiped. Not shocked-were they laughing?

Through my tears, I looked up. Kade was no longer looking at me. He was looking at the front row. A tall, beautiful red-haired woman was walking up the stairs.

Selene. The Head Warrior's daughter.

She stepped onto the stage in a diamond-studded gown worth more than my life. She saw me and smirked at me with a cruel and victorious twist of her red lips before walking straight into Kade's arms.

"I accept your rejection," I whispered, but nobody heard me. My voice was broken.

Kade kissed Selene. Right there. In front of all. Right there, in front of me.

The pain in my chest morphed into something else: a hollow, aching void. I was unranked. I was wolfless. Now I was the Alpha's rejected ex-mate. I was nothing. If I stayed here, I would be treated any worse than a slave. I would be the pack's punching bag.

Run," my mind screamed. Run and hide.

I began to willfully stand, my legs trembling. I angrily wiped the tears that streamed down my cheeks. I would never let them see me cry. Not anymore.

I looked toward the exit. But the doors were blocked by Kade's guards. I could not leave. Not until the ceremony was over.

I was trapped.

Desperately, I looked around for the room for a shadow, a corner, anywhere to hide. That was when I spotted him.

Standing in the darkest corner of the hall, he leaned against a stone pillar. He was alone; a space wide enough for three people lay around him, as if nobody dared to venture near him.

Alpha Ryker. The Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.

He was terrifying. He was tall, easily a head taller than Kade, with broad shoulders straining against his black tactical suit. One large hand held a glass of whiskey. It was his face that made people look away.

A jagged white scar slashed across his left temple, through his eye, and ended at his jaw. He looked furious. Ruined.

He stared at the stage. At me.

His eyes were gleaming molten gold. Unlike everyone else, he did not look entertained. He looked… bored? Displeased?

Enemy, my mind whispered.

For years, Ryker and Kade had been sworn enemies. Their packs were one battle away from war. Kade had called him a butcher. A monster.

A crazy idea lit up in my mind. Reckless. A suicidal choice. It was, however, my only last card to play.

Kade had turned me down because I was weak. Because I carried no value.

I needed to find value. I needed protection. And there was only one man in this room powerful enough to scare Kade.

I took a deep breath. The ache in my chest was still ever-present, but I tucked it down. I sealed it in a box in my mind. I pulled my shoulders back.

I did not walk toward the exit.

Instead, I turned and marched straight toward the darkened corner.

The whispers ceased. The crowd drew back for me with confused expressions. Where was the rejected girl going?

Kade halted his kisses on Selene. I could feel him looking in my direction, his voice ringing with confusion. "Elara? Where are you going? Servants' quarters are that way," he called out.

I chose to ignore him.

I continued. My heel-clicking echoed on the marble floor. Click. Click. Click.

About three feet away, I stopped in front of Alpha Ryker.

He was scarier up close. He smelled of rain, pine, and blood. The aura of power radiating off him was so thick I felt my legs might buckle, but I somehow forced myself up.

Ryker took a sip of his whiskey. He looked down at me, his scarred face a mask.

"Little mouse, you're blocking my view," he rumbled. His voice had a depth to it, like rumbling of thunder far away.

My hands trembled, and I clenched them into fists by my side. "Alpha Ryker."

Ryker's brow arched. "The rejected mate. Shouldn't you be crying in a bathroom somewhere?"

"I am through crying," I said. I had spoken with more strength than I had anticipated.

Ryker's golden eyes narrowed just slightly as he leaned even closer towards me, invading my personal space. "Then what do you want? I don't have any tissues for you."

"I don't want tissues," I replied. I looked him squarely in the eye. "What I want is a deal."

The hall had gone completely silent behind me; even the music had stopped. All eyes were on us. Kade had stepped to the edge of the stage, as pale as death.

Ryker paused, swirling the amber liquid in his glass. He looked amused. "A deal? You have nothing, Elara Vance. You have no wolf. You have no rank. You have no mate. What could you possibly offer me?"

"I can offer you the one thing you need," I blurted out before I could change my mind. "I know your uncle is trying to challenge your claim to the Blood Moon pack. I know the Council requires every Alpha to have a Luna to secure their inheritance."

Ryker stood still. The mask of amusement fell from his face. It felt hard and heavy, choking us both. He was now a dangerous man. "You have been listening to rumors."

"I listen to everything," I whispered. "You need a wife. You need a Luna. But no female in her right mind wants to enter into a marriage with the 'Cursed Alpha.'"

And you are in your right mind?" Ryker snarled, when his lips curled in disdain.

"Desperate would be the word I choose for myself," I confessed. "Desperate for protection. You need a placeholder. A fake wife."

I stepped closer, feeling the heat coming from his chest.

"Marry me, Alpha Ryker," I was loud enough for Kade to hear. "Claim me. Take me out of here. In exchange, I will be the perfect, obedient Luna until you secure your inheritance."

Ryker looked at me for a long moment, which felt like forever. I thought he was going to kill me. I thought he was going to laugh right in my face.

Slowly a smirk crept onto his lips. It was not a pleasant one. It was wicked and dark and promised trouble.

He set down his glass on the tray of a moving waiter.

"You are right, little mouse," Ryker's thunderous voice carried across the room, which had become eerily quiet. "Actually, I do need a wife."

He moved his hand forward. It was large, rough, calloused, and he grasped my chin, forcing me to look up at him. His thumb brushed across my bottom lip, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my core.

Pressing in closer, he whispered against my ear, "But beware, I do not buy the act."

He turned his head and shot daggers at Kade, frozen up on stage. Ryker's golden eyes glimmered with challenge.

Again, Ryker said, "Deal."