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"I would never claim you. Not if you were the last she-wolf on this planet." I was still on my knees, begging him not to reject me, when my fated mate, Marc Harris, chose Cora instead, the girl who had made my life a living hell for years. But I had always been the outcast. The reject of the pack, because I'd been cursed by the Moon Goddess herself. For seven years, everyone told me the curse was my fault. Even my own father hated me. "You are a disgrace and a mistake. I have no daughter." I was just a scarred, wolfless loser Omega. The kind of girl that no one looks at but everyone abuses. They spat on me, they beat me with sticks and whips, they made me scrub the streets and pick up garbage. I was the lowest of the low, not even fit to shine the shoes of the noble wolves in my pack. Until Marc came into my life. He was the first person who made me feel like I wasn't a curse. And the first man who promised to choose me. "At the Lunar Ball, I'll claim you as my mate... in front of everyone." For the first time in seven years… I believed I wouldn't have to be alone anymore. But everything changed the night I attended the Lunar Ball… and not in the way I had hoped. I walked into the Lunar Ball with a dirty rag tied over my face, wearing a borrowed dress that was two sizes too big for me. I looked like a joke with a dress that kept slipping off my shoulders, wearing a stained, threadbare rag knotted behind my ears. Mother said it was important to cover the lower half of my face so that no one would see the ugly scar on my left cheek. Every other she-wolf in that ballroom looked like she'd stepped out of a painting. Silk gowns that shimmered under the chandeliers. Hair swept up in elaborate styles, lips painted the colour of crushed rubies, eyes lined with gold. None of them wore veils. And then there was me. Merida Cooper. In a secondhand dress and a dirty rag. “You little freak,” my father hissed under his breath. “Don’t you dare take off that veil, even if someone holds a knife to your throat. Got it?" My attention snapped back to him. “I don’t even know why your mother brought you here,” he muttered, glaring at her. “And what are you even wearing?” “She can wear whatever she wants, darling,” my mother said coldly. “It’s not like she’ll be sitting with us. No one has to know she’s ours.” My father gave me one last look of disgust before walking into the ballroom. My mother followed without a glance. Then came my sisters, Monique and Mabel. They scoffed as they swept past me, clutching their feathered fans. “Get a grip, you slut,” my older brother, Gerry, barked in my ear. I flinched. “I can smell your disgusting pheromones from a mile away,” he sneered. I lowered my head, my blood pounding in my ears. Gerry terrified me. He wouldn’t hesitate to slap me in front of everyone just for the spectacle. A moment later, he decided I wasn’t worth his time and walked away, leaving me alone. The Lunar Ball was a big deal, the one night that every she-wolf dreams of. It was where the Moon Goddess revealed mate bonds, where every girl hoped that an Alpha might look her way, might claim her and change her life forever. A tiny flicker of hope burned in my chest. Perhaps the Moon Goddess would finally forgive me tonight and bless my mate bond with Marc Harris, the future Beta of the Lunarstone pack. But I should have known that a wolfless, cursed freak like me didn’t have the right to indulge in a dream like that. The second I stepped through those doors, the laughter started. It came from a cluster of girls in matching emerald gowns, their eyes widening with disbelief before their lips curled into sneers. Their mocking laughs spread through the crowd like wildfire. I kept my eyes forward, back straight, and kept walking. I tried to pretend like it didn’t affect me, although my ears were burning with embarrassment. And then, cutting through the noise like a blade, came a voice I knew all too well. Cora. Cora and her gang stood in the centre of the ballroom, champagne flutes in hand, their faces lit up with savage delight. "Is that toilet cloth supposed to be a veil?" Cora's voice rang out, loud enough for half the ballroom to hear. "You should have put a paper bag over your head instead!" The laughter that followed hit me like a physical force. High-pitched giggles, barking laughs, the sharp cackle of girls who had found their entertainment for the evening. One of them clutched her stomach, tears of laughter streaming down her perfectly made-up face. "She's covering her face so no one has a heart attack from looking at her!" "Oh my goddess, did she actually think she could show up here?" "Who let her in?" My face turned red and my hands trembled at my sides. Shame wrapped itself around my chest and squeezed till I felt suffocated. Cora and her friends had already made my life at the Academy a living hell, and now they were here too, determined to ruin the one day I thought something good would happen in my life. I wanted to turn around and run, I wanted the marble floor to swallow me whole so that I could disappear to never be seen again. But I just stood there, silent and perfectly still. I swallowed the fire rising in my throat. And I reminded myself of the one thing that had gotten me through every humiliation, every whisper, every cruel joke. Marc Harris. Marc was going to claim me tonight. He'd promised. He'd looked me in the eyes and told me that when the time came, he would stand in front of everyone and choose me. I held onto that promise like a lifeline, replaying it in my head during every sleepless night, every tear-soaked morning, every moment I wanted to give up. Marc didn't care about my scar. Marc didn't care that I was wolfless. Marc saw me, the real me, and he loved me anyway. That's what I told myself. That's what kept me standing in that ballroom with a dirty rag on my face while a hundred she-wolves laughed at me and whispered about me. "She's his mate?" "The cursed one? The wolfless freak?" "No way a future Beta would accept someone like her." “She was cursed and rejected by the Moon Goddess. Who would willingly tie themselves to that?” Every whisper landed like a claw scraping against my skin. But I ignored all of it because I believed in Marc. That’s why bile rushed to my throat when I noticed Marc standing on the other side of the room with his hand resting comfortably on Cora's lower back. My heart stuttered. Something cold and sharp began to spread through my veins. It couldn’t be real. I must have made a mistake. Was I seeing things? The lighting was dim, the crowd was dense, and I was still reeling from the mean taunts thrown my way. Maybe I had imagined it in the heat of the moment. Marc wouldn't do this to me. Not tonight. Not after everything he'd promised me. I ignored the stares and the whispers that followed me like a swarm of wasps as I walked through the crowded ballroom. I kept my eyes locked on Marc, searching for some sign that this was a misunderstanding, that he'd turn and smile and reach for my hand and make everything okay. I walked past Cora’s sniggering gang of bullies and finally reached him. "Marc?" He turned. And I saw everything I needed to see in the half-second it took his expression to shift. The flicker of recognition. The flash of irritation. And then, the look of disgust that settled over his features, as though the very sight of me was an inconvenience he hadn't planned for. It was worse than anything I could have imagined, worse than anything I had endured. "What are you doing here?" His voice was flat. Cold. A stranger's voice. My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I glanced at Cora, who was watching this unfold with the satisfied smile of a cat watching a mouse walk into a trap. "Marc, I… you said…" "I didn't say anything." He cut me off, his voice louder now. Loud enough for the people nearby to hear. Already a small crowd was gathering around us, their ears pricked to find out the latest scandal surrounding me. Marc sneered at me, his upper lip curling with distaste and spite. "I don't know what you thought was going to happen tonight, Merida, but let me make something very clear." He stepped back. Away from me. The distance between us might as well have been a canyon. "I would never claim you. Not if you were the last she wolf on this planet! Not if the goddess herself came down from above and chose you! Never would I claim you as my mate! Do you understand?" The words landed like a fist to my chest. I felt the air leave my lungs in a single, silent rush. But Marc wasn't done. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "I, Marc Harris, future Beta of the Lunarstone Pack, reject you, Merida Cooper, as my mate." He then turned to Cora, slipped his arm around her waist, and pulled her close. "This is who I'm with. This is who I have chosen. Cora is my mate, not you. She is a real She-wolf. Not a wolfless runt who has been cursed by the Moon Goddess herself. I wouldn’t accept you as my mate even in my worst nightmare!" Cora's smile was radiant. She leaned into Marc like a woman who had already won the war, like she had been planning this all along, just waiting for her moment to drop the devastating truth. She pursed her lips, let out a mocking tsk, and then she turned to me with a look of pure, undiluted cruelty. "Poor wolfless Merida," she cooed, her voice dripping with mock sympathy. "Did you actually think he wanted you? A handsome future Beta like Marc would never mate bond with a wolfless loser like you, even out of pity." She reached forward. Before I could react, her fingers closed around the edge of my cloth, and with a swift tug, ripped it away from my face. The gasp that tore through the ballroom was immediate and collective. “By the goddess,” someone gasped. The jagged, angry mark that ran down my left cheek was exposed for every single person in that room to see. Under the chandelier light, it looked worse than ever: a raw, puckered line that twisted my features into something the werewolf world had decided was monstrous. Silence fell. For one terrible heartbeat, no one moved. And then the whispers started again. Louder this time. Crueler. “I heard she was slashed by a rogue as a child,” one said. “No, she was born that way, defective, a curse from the goddess that she should never make pups!” another sneered. “I heard someone at the academy hated her so much they cut her face open,” a third girl laughed. Then Cora stepped closer, her eyes gleaming with vicious satisfaction. “How dare you try to seduce my man with a face like that?” she spat. Her voice was pure venom. Without my veil, I felt naked. Exposed. My breath hitched as a panic attack clawed its way up my throat, but Cora wasn't done with me. Not even close. She was going to make sure I drowned in a humiliation worse than anything I'd known since the night the Lunar Curse first marked me. “With a face that ugly, even the Moon Goddess can’t stand to look at you,” Cora said loudly, making sure everyone heard every word. “That’s why she cursed you. To protect everyone else from your ugliness.” A few people laughed. “And you seriously think Marc would ever accept you?” she continued mockingly. Her lips curled in disgust. “You’re disgusting. Even if some insane man wanted you, the Moon Goddess would curse him too. He’d inherit all your deformities.” She leaned in slightly, her smile turning crueler. “But that man will never be Marc.” I couldn’t take it anymore. My knees buckled. I dropped to the floor from the sheer, crushing weight of a humiliation so complete it stole the strength from my legs and made my head swim. The marble was cold beneath my palms, cold beneath my knees. I was on all fours on the ballroom floor, surrounded by designer heels and the rustle of silk gowns, and every pair of eyes in that room was staring down at me, their laughter cutting me like razors of contempt. Then I saw it, the cloth. It had fluttered to the ground a few feet away, crumpled and dirty against the polished marble. I crawled toward it, on my hands and knees. My fingers reached out, trembling, desperate. It was the only shield I had left, the only way I could think of protecting my nearly-exhausted dignity. Almost there, but I didn't reach it. My fingertips brushed the fabric. And then a leather boot came down on my hand with a sickening thud. I let out a scream. The pain was immediate and blinding. My vision went white. I heard the crunch before I felt it. I felt my bones grinding against marble under the weight of a boot that pressed down with deliberate, punishing force. I looked up and saw my own father glaring down at me with sheer rage. "Useless bitch." His voice was low, but it carried. It carried across the ballroom and into every corner, into every ear, into the deepest parts of my already shattered heart. "When will you stop embarrassing your family? Have you no shame left, you ugly, wolfless freak?" I should have felt angry. I should have felt shocked. I should have felt the white-hot fire of injustice, of a daughter being crushed beneath her own father's boot. But the truth is, I'd stopped feeling surprised at my father's cruelty a long time ago. This was just the plight of a wolfess disgrace. You see, in my world, your wolf is everything. It's your identity. Your power. Your proof that you belong. Strip it away, and you're not a pack member anymore. You're not even a threat. You're just a stray, something the pack steps over without breaking stride. When a young wolf turns sixteen, their inner wolf awakens: a rite of passage as sacred and expected as breathing. But when I turned sixteen, my wolf never came. I only received a scar on my shoulder, the brand of the Moon Goddess's curse. For the first sixteen years of my life, I was my family's golden girl, the pride of our pack. Then the Lunar Curse hit, branding me with the crescent moon scar on my shoulder and ripping my wolf away. Overnight, I became nothing. No wolf. No power. No worth. From that day forward, I became the laughing stock of the entire Lunarstone Pack. A wolfless girl in a world that measured your value by the strength of the beast inside you. I was less than nothing. I was an embarrassment. A stain on the Cooper family name. Why? Why was I cursed? Why had my inner wolf abandoned me? And was there any force on Earth - fire, war, love… - that could awaken it? I knew the answer. I knew the truth, this was a plight, my fate, nothing could change it, and no one was coming for me. And now, lying on the cold marble floor of the Lunar Ball, with my father's boot grinding my fingers into dust, I was being reminded of this truth in the most brutal way possible. But the night wasn't done with me yet. My fate was about to change forever and a way I could have never expected. That’s when it hit me, without warning, without my permission, my pheromones exploded. I didn't choose it. I didn't want it. I never did. But ever since I was marked by the Moon Goddess, my body was not in my control. My pheromones regularly leaked out against my will, a heat overcoming my body, and usually at the most inappropriate moments. The "female in distress" scent wafted from my body and filled the entire ballroom. It was so powerful, so primal, that every male wolf in the ballroom turned toward me at once. Heads snapped in my direction. Wild and possessed. Eyes flashed gold. Nostrils flared. I could feel the scent rolling off me in desperate, uncontrollable waves and I wanted to die of shame. And then the whispers resumed. "That's not natural. What's wrong with her?" "The nerve of her, pumping out a scent like that just seconds after being rejected." "She's trying to drive every man in this room into a frenzy with that smell!" "What a disgrace to the Lunarstone Pack." "I'd rather be childless than have a cursed kid like Merida." "I feel so bad for the Coopers. She's just dragging their name through the mud with this disgusting behavior." Panic clawed at my chest. Why me? Why did my body have to betray me like this? Why did the goddess have to curse me like this? My father's face twisted with a new kind of fury. He released my hand and grabbed me by the arm, hauling me to my feet with a force that nearly dislocated my shoulder. "Shameless slut," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Do you have to do that right now? Don’t you know how disgusting that is? Haven't you embarrassed us enough?" Tears filled my eyes as I tried to protest. "It's not my fault!" "Shut your whore mouth." The command was absolute. Final. It carried the weight of years of hatred and blame. Every time my father looked at me, he saw nothing but a curse he wished he could cut out of his bloodline. A black mark on the Cooper family name and a scourge on our kind. He began dragging me toward the exit. It was over. The ball, the hope, the fantasy that tonight might be the night my life finally changed for the better. That someone could actually want me and take me away from all this. But then something happened that I will never forget for as long as I live. A new scent cut through the air. It wasn't just any scent it was pure power. Strength. Absolute command. The kind of scent that made wolves forget how to breathe. The kind that made even Alphas bow their heads in submission. Whose scent is this? A sudden silence fell over the entire room. Not the awkward silence of a crowd losing interest. The other kind. The kind that freezes a room, making every hair on the back of your neck stand on end and every instinct in your body scream that something massive is about to happen. Something terrifying. But I felt something different, something strange, that frightened me in a way I could not explain. A warm buzzing filled my chest, as though my heart had turned into a frantic hummingbird that was fighting to be released from my ribs. Every head turned toward the entrance. And there, in the doorway, stood a man. A man unlike any other I had seen before. He was taller than any other wolf in the room. Broad shoulders that filled the frame of the double doors. A face carved from granite, with a jawline sharp enough to cut glass and eyes the colour of molten gold. He wore black from head to toe, no embellishment, no ceremony. And yet, the sheer force of his presence made every silk-clad Alpha in that ballroom look like a boy playing dress-up. The whispers came fast. Frantic. Electric. "That's Alpha Darian." "Alpha Darian?? The Alpha of the Mystic Fury pack?! What's he doing here?" "I heard he's going to be the next Werewolf King!" Alpha Darian Oaksmith. Even I, the wolfless runt, knew that name. Everyone did. The most powerful, most feared, most dangerous Alpha in the werewolf world. A man whose name alone could make seasoned warriors lower their eyes and show their necks in submission. A man who commanded the Mystic Fury pack: an army of the most ruthlessly trained wolves on the continent. A man who answered to no one, feared nothing, and took whatever he wanted. His golden eyes swept over the room with an icy calm before they landed on me. They were fixed on me. Everything stopped. Time itself. My pheromones, the ones I could never control, vanished. Just like that. As if someone had snuffed out a fire. As if they had just… submitted. But why was he affecting me like this? My pheromones had never listened to anyone, not even me. These wild pheromones, the very ones that had gotten me into trouble countless times, were finally being tamed by a stranger, someone I knew only by name. Why? I had never even met him. Then, Alpha Darian started walking toward me, and my breath caught in my throat. I forgot how to breathe. I didn’t know it then, and by the time I finally understood, my life had already changed forever, but I wasn’t the only one affected by the scent and the savage pull of desire. Even the most powerful Alpha alive fell victim to his desires. Darian never liked the Lunar Ball. To him it was nothing but a meat market place for weak-willed men to scrap over their mates. He had zero patience for the petty politics, for desperate Alphas trying to shove their daughters at him. He wasn't here to find a Luna. None of these women meant anything to him. But the second he stepped into the ballroom, something shifted. His wolf let out a snarl so violent it rooted him to the spot. A scent hit him, potent as a drug. Wild. Untamed. Wrong. His eyes fell on me. I was on the floor, my silver-white hair spilling around like liquid moonlight. I could sense that his eyes then moved to my scar, a jagged, brutal gash slicing down my left cheek. He thought that a wound that should have healed if I were a true wolf. His wolf rumbled, unsettled. Without realizing it, he took a step forward, his eyes locking onto mine. For a split second, something ancient and dangerous clawed at the inside of his chest. Recognition. Possession. Mine. He shoved it down. He ignored the way my scent coiled in his lungs, the way his whole body tensed, ready for a fight. Under his breath, he muttered, “What is happening to me? This has never happened before. Why does her scent affect me like this? She can’t heal her wound. She is wolfless, so why do I feel this possessive over her? This isn’t right.” My violet eyes held him captive, and my long silver hair shimmered like moonlight around me, leaving him frozen in place. “I’ve never seen anyone like her,” he whispered hoarsely. “She’s... enchanting.” Before he could force himself to look away, his wolf growled fiercely inside him. “Mine. Protect her.” And in that moment, only one thought remained in his mind. “I need to save her.” As he walked toward me, the crowd parted for him like water before a blade. His stride was unhurried and oozing confidence. His face remained unimpressed by the beautiful wolves surrounding him and the desperate glances they made hoping that he would notice them for just a split second. The click of his boots on the marble floor was the only sound in the entire ballroom. He crossed the room in seconds. Then stopped directly in front of me and my father. My father's grip on my arm tightened. His jaw clenched. Whatever was about to happen, every instinct in his body was screaming at him that he was not going to like it. Darian didn't look at my father. He didn't acknowledge Cora, or Marc, or the hundred pairs of eyes boring into him from every corner of the ballroom. His gaze was locked on me: the girl with the scarred cheek, clutching a dirty rag with tears streaming down her scarred face. And then he spoke. "She belongs to me now." Five words. Five words that detonated like a bomb in the centre of the Lunar Ball. The silence that followed was so complete I could hear my own heartbeat crashing against my ribs. I could hear the breath catch in my father's throat. I could hear the stunned, collective inhale of a hundred wolves trying to process what they had just heard. That’s when Marc’s voice cut through the silence. “Alpha, she is a wolfless runt. You’re joking, right?” Darian’s anger flared at Marc’s words. He could end him in a heartbeat. It took everything he had not to wrap his hands around the bastard's throat. Instead, he turned back to me. The entire room expected him to dismiss me, to turn my back on me like everyone else. They were all fools. He saw what they refused to do. The power coiled just under my skin. The rage simmered in my blood. I wasn't weak. I was caged. Alpha Darian turned to him, his gaze cold. “Do I look like I’m joking?” Marc went pale and took a step back. “You rejected her,” Darian said flatly. “That means she belongs to no one. Which means she belongs to me now.” He stepped closer, and my body went rigid. “I am not some object to be passed around,” I said, lifting my chin to meet his gaze in an attempt to save the remaining bit of my dignity. I can’t just let anyone control my life. Not anymore. The room went dead still. But instead of answering, he bent down and picked up the shredded remains of my veil. Gently, he lifted it and covered my face again, shielding me from the stares. Then he spoke, his words final. “Tomorrow, I will come for you. An in two days, you will be my wife.” Another shockwave rippled through the room. A Beta rejecting his mate was scandal enough, but an Alpha King claiming a wolfless, cursed woman was unthinkable. Why was he doing this? Why would he risk the wrath of the Moon Goddess for a cursed girl like me? I was the unwanted outcast. Why would a powerful Alpha want me in his life? Before the chaos could erupt, another voice cut through the tension. A beautiful woman stepped forward, her red gown shimmering beneath the chandeliers. Her green eyes burned with barely concealed outrage as they landed on me, then shifted to Alpha Darian. Who was she? The way she looked at him was unmistakably possessive. “Are you certain about this?” she asked, her voice low and controlled. Darian held her gaze. “You disapprove, Wendy?” “I question the wisdom of it.” Her eyes flicked back to me with open disgust. “This woman is cursed. She has no wolf, her pheromones are unnatural, and that scar will mark her forever. Is this the Luna you want by your side? The Queen you want your people to see?” I stared at her in disbelief. I had no idea who she was, but the way she spoke to Darian made it sound as though she believed she had every right to him. Jealousy practically radiated from her. A flicker of hesitation came across her before she spoke again. Then, quietly, she said, "I think you should be careful." Before he could respond, another voice sliced through the air. “Darian!” I turned to see a powerful older man staring at Darian with an undefinable emotion. He moved through the crowd like a man who was still used to being in charge, every step measured, every glance a judgment. When his eyes met Darian’s, I didn't see anger. I saw pure disappointment. "What are you doing?" His voice was smooth, unreadable. Darian rolled his shoulders with a casual arrogance. "I’m claiming my wife." His gaze flicked to me, then back to Darian, dismissive. "You could have chosen any woman here. Any strong, capable woman worthy of standing by a King." He exhaled slowly, his tone laced with finality. "Darian, this was your last chance. I gave you an ultimatum: leave this ball with a wife. I expected you to choose one worthy of our bloodline." Darian smiled, cold, and sharp. "Then you should be pleased, Father. I have." Father? This man was Darian Oaksmith’s father?? And Darian just told him that I? The wolfless cursed freak was worthy of their bloodline? The man’s jaw twitched as though had expected Darian to bend. But if the rumors were true he never had, and he never would. Darian turned to me. His expression unreadable. I didn’t want this, any of it. But something told me the moment he saw me tonight, the moment he caught my scent and looked into my eyes he sensed something about me I could not understand. And whether I wanted it or not I was already his. His golden eyes shifted to my father. His voice didn't rise. It didn't need to. Every word was an order, delivered with the quiet certainty of a man who had never once been disobeyed. "Beta Gabriel. I will return tomorrow to claim your daughter as my wife. Make the necessary preparations." He didn't wait for an answer. He didn't ask for permission. He turned on his heel and walked out of the Lunar Ball the same way he'd entered. He moved like a king who had already won a war no one else knew was being fought. The ballroom erupted. But I didn't hear any of it. I was frozen, my father's grip on my arm suddenly forgotten, my mind a hurricane of questions that slammed into each other with a force that made my vision swim. Why me? Why did the most powerful Alpha in the werewolf world just claim me — a wolfless, cursed, scarred nobody — in front of everyone? What could he possibly want with me? Was this real? Was I dreaming? Was this some kind of sick joke? My father clearly had the same questions. And very different plans for how to answer them. The drive home was a warzone. My father's hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel. My mother sat rigid in the passenger seat, her gaze fixed straight ahead. My siblings — Gerry, Monique, Mabel — were crammed in the back with me, their faces twisted with a cocktail of shock, fury, and something that looked sickeningly like jealousy. "You did this on purpose." My father's voice was low. Dangerous. The kind of voice that came right before the violence. "You released those pheromones on purpose. You seduced him." "I didn't-" "Don't lie to me! You terrible slut!" The car swerved. My mother gripped the dashboard. "Here's what's going to happen." The cold, calculated tone of his voice was somehow worse than the shouting. "When Alpha Darian comes tomorrow, we'll tell him you ran away. That you didn't want to marry him. That you rejected his claim." My blood turned to ice. "But I did nothing of the sort!" "You will shut your mouth and you will keep it shut." His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. "Do you understand me, Merida? Not a single word. Or you will not live to see the morning and no one will ever find you!" I stared back at my father's reflection. And what I saw there was not a man protecting his family. It was a man who had looked at his youngest daughter and decided that she was disposable. A chess piece to be sacrificed. A problem to be buried. When we reached the estate, he didn't take me inside. My brother Gerry knew what needed to be done. He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me across the courtyard, past the main house, past the gardens, until we reached a small, rotting wooden structure at the very edge of the property. The chicken coop. Gerry slapped me across my face. "You finally caught an Alpha's eye. Too bad you don't realize he's just going to use you as a toy." He then threw me inside. I hit the filthy floor. Straw and feathers and chicken droppings and the sharp, rancid smell of animal waste assaulted my senses. Then the door slammed shut behind me and the lock clicked in place. Silence followed, but Gerry’s words refused to leave me. He’s only going to use you as a toy. The thought clawed through my mind, over and over. Was that why Alpha Darian wanted me? Did he plan to turn me into a breeder for his pack? Ice spread through my chest. I had endured humiliation ever since my sixteenth birthday but this... this was different. This would destroy whatever pieces of me were still left intact. Then another thought surfaced through the panic. Alpha Darian was going to become the Werewolf King. A man like him would never want a wolfless girl carrying his heirs. That was impossible. So why me? Why had he chosen me? Unless he never meant any of it at all. Maybe he had only stepped in because he pitied me. A passing act of mercy he had already forgotten. Yes. That made far more sense. He wasn’t coming back for me. My thoughts spiraled until I felt like I was drowning in them and so I did the only thing I could. I closed my eyes and prayed to the only being who could save me. The same one who had forsaken me. The Moon Goddess. "Moon Goddess please, why do you hate me? Why did you curse me?" I whispered into the dark, my large eyes welling with tears. "You branded me as worthless with your Lunar Curse! You made me undesirable, so why did Alpha Darian choose me? Why? Answer me!” Suddenly lightning tore through the sky. The flash as bright as day, then I heard, or perhaps it was just the wind playing tricks, but I swore I heard a voice in the wind… “Soon.” I was losing my mind. Fear and chicken droppings making me crazy. I was so lost in self pity that I had created something to comfort me. There was no voice, the goddess didn’t care about me, and I was alone, lying on the cold, filthy floor of a chicken coop, where I belonged. But what if? What if it was real? That word? Soon? Could it be? Impossible. Morning came cold and grey and with it the painful reminder… The first thing I felt was the ache deep in my bones. My ribs hurt, and the throbbing in the hand my father had crushed beneath his boot had grown worse. The wooden floorboards beneath me were hard and unforgiving. Dust motes drifted through the thin cracks in the walls, and the stale, rancid smell of the coop was so thick I could taste it. It wasn’t a nightmare, it wasn’t my imagination, all of it was real, and all of it had happened. I pushed myself up slowly, wincing at the pain that shot through my body with every movement. My lip was crusted with dried blood from where my brother had slapped me the night before. My hand-me-down dress was now ruined, streaked with grime and chicken feathers. I looked like an animal. I smelled like an animal. And I had been caged like an animal. How would I ever escape this? And what would my father do with me next? But that was when my worried thoughts were interrupted by an unmistakable sound. I heard the cars. The rumble of engines cut through the early morning silence. Not one car. Several. The low growl of expensive vehicles pulling into the courtyard. My heart slammed against my ribs as something even worse began to take hold, something I knew the moment it started: That warm humming sensation I had only felt once before, and along with it, a deep fear of the unknown. Why did my body respond when my mind ran frantic? Why was I overcome with this unidentifiable sense of wanting and dread? I pressed my eye to a crack in the coop's wooden wall. Though I was completely hidden from view, I could see and hear everything. Black cars. Armoured. A row of warriors stepping out, their posture rigid, their eyes scanning the property with predatory alertness. There could only be one pack, one group of wolves that commanded such presence. And there, stepping out of the lead vehicle with the casual authority of a man who owned the ground he walked on was my answer, him, Alpha Darian. He was even bigger than I remembered. Towering, dressed in black, radiating an aura of power so intense it pressed against me even through the walls of the coop. He was flanked by his Beta, Jeffery, and surrounded by warriors who moved with the controlled precision of soldiers awaiting a command. Coiled and ready to pounce at the slightest appearance of challenge. I watched through the crack as my father stepped into the courtyard to meet them. To his credit, he kept his composure. He stood tall, chin raised, trying to project the authority of a Beta who still had control of his own household. "Alpha Darian." My father's voice was smooth, rehearsed. He'd been practising this lie all night. "I'm afraid there's been a development. Merida, my daughter, has left. She ran away in the night hysterical and feral. She said she wouldn’t marry you. We tried to talk sense into her, but it was no use. She’s always been a bad egg." The lies rolled off his lips with unnatural ease. I clenched my fists in the chicken coop. For the millionth time in my life, I wondered what I had done to make my father hate me so much. At that moment, Darian’s wolf had growled violently. “Lies! She’s here! Find her!” The fury behind it was raw, savage enough to shake the air itself. Only with visible effort did Darian force the beast back under control. “I announced my intentions at the Lunar Ball last night,” Alpha Darian said, his voice low and even. “I’m here for Merida, to take her as my wife. And now you’re telling me she ran away?” A fresh knot of anxiety twisted in my gut. He came all this way... for me? Why? What could possibly drive a man like him to obsess over someone like me, a girl her own family treated as worthless, as a curse, as a stain on their bloodline? From the corner of my eye, I saw my father tense. “Beta Gabriel,” Jeffery cut in, annoyance sharp in his voice, “aren’t you going to offer us a seat?” My father shot him a cold stare. “My apologies for my lack of hospitality.” His tone made it clear it was no apology at all. He looked back at Darian. “I wasn’t expecting you’d really come.” For once, my father was right. Even I hadn’t believed Darian would show up. I thought I'd made myself clear at the Lunar Ball. Why would he still want me? That clearly offended Alpha Darian. His power spilled into the courtyard, a heavy, suffocating pressure that served as both warning and reminder of who was in charge. At that moment, my mother and siblings rushed out of the house, their faces tight with worry. “Are you going to bring Merida to me,” Darian asked, calm and cold, “or do I have to find her myself?” My father’s jaw tightened. “Alpha Darian, I already told you. She is not here. And you have no right to come to my home and demand my daughter.” “And yet, here I am,” Darian replied, unfazed. My father shook his head in disgust. “I don’t understand why you want her so badly. She’s cursed. She brings ruin and bad luck wherever she goes. Why would you bother with a wolfless freak?” Something inside me shattered. Not because the words hurt, but because I finally understood the truth. He wasn’t protecting me. He wasn’t trying to save Darian either. All he cared about was himself. His reputation. His standing. He feared that if the future Werewolf King suffered because of his daughter, the shame would reflect back on him. But beneath all of that, there was still one question I couldn’t escape. Why would Darian go through all this trouble for someone like me? Why stand here confronting my father for a girl everyone else considered worthless? Darian stared at him with terrifying calmness. His wolf, however, was far less controlled. “He insults our mate! Kill him!” When Darian gave no response,my father’s eyes darkened. “Even if you had asked properly and even if she were here, I would never give her to you.” Darian’s voice dropped, dangerously soft. “Jeffery.” Jeffery immediately dropped to one knee. “Yes, Alpha.” “Gather the men. Search the estate. Turn over every stone if you must, but find my bride. I will not leave the Cooper Estate without her.” The courtyard fell silent. Only the sounds of strong steps thudding against the earth. Alpha Darian barely looked at my father. His eyes swept frantically across the estate, searching for the slightest sign of me. He then suddenly turned towards the chicken coop and sniffed the air. "She's here after all." Darian didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. My father blinked. "I'm sorry?" “I can smell her. No need to search, Jeffery. I know where she is.” My stomach dropped. Darian's golden eyes swept the property. His nostrils flared. His head tilted slightly, like a predator catching a scent on the wind. And then he moved, striding across the courtyard, past the main house, past the gardens, following a trail that no lie could disguise. How? How did he sense me? What was it about me that called to him in this way? No. It didn't make any sense. But I was sure my father would never let me go. He'd much rather keep me trapped here, his personal punching bag for every misfortune that came his way. I'd take that over being thrown to a stranger whose intentions were a complete mystery. The Moon Goddess had cast me aside seven years ago. My own mate had rejected me in front of hundreds of the most powerful wolves just last night. Who in their right mind would want a cursed, wolf-less, rejected girl? Unless they were some kind of saint, and in our world, there were only monsters. My father scrambled after him, his composure crumbling with every step. "Alpha, I assure you she is not in our home!" But Darian wasn't listening. His warriors followed. Jeffery followed. And my father stumbled along behind them all like a man watching his own house of lies collapse in real time. The door of the chicken coop swung open. Light flooded in, blinding me. I threw my arm up to shield my eyes, and then, when my vision adjusted, I saw him. A mountain, a statue, a god of violence and destruction who had come for one thing and one thing alone: me. Alpha Darian Oaksmith stood in the doorway of the chicken coop, looking down at me covered in filth, shivering, my dress torn, my cheek bruised, my crushed hand cradled against my chest. For a long, heavy moment, neither of us moved. We only stared at each other in silent recognition. Then Darian turned to my father. And when he spoke, his voice was dangerously calm. "Beta Gabriel, tell me. Why did you lock my bride in the chicken coop overnight?" Bride? Did he just call me his bride? His words hit me like a physical blow, and a new wave of panic crashed over me. The Alpha’s words hung in the air like a blade. Every warrior in the courtyard went still. “I didn’t… I wasn’t going to…Alpha you, you must understand…I” For the first time in my life, I watched my father mutter and fumble as though he were a cowering fool. "Don’t lie to me." Darian bellowed. Each word was measured. Each syllable loaded with a threat that didn't need to be spoken aloud. “Traditionally, I should be asking you for her hand in marriage. But seeing the way you’ve been keeping her, I don’t think that’s something you deserve. No you do not deserve to call my bride daughter. You do not deserve to be charged with her care.” He rounded on me. "I'm taking her. Now." My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my teeth. This was it. The moment I'd dreaded all night. I was about to be ripped away from the only life I'd ever known, brutal and miserable as it was, and handed over to a man I didn't know, didn't trust, and didn't want. Why? Why had the goddess forsaken me so? First the curse and now this monster? I turned to my father in desperation, hoping that some small corner of his stone heart would still ache for his daughter. "Father!" My voice cracked, raw and desperate, stripped of every ounce of pride I had left. I scrambled to my feet and lurched toward him. "Please! Don't send me away! I'll do anything!" The courtyard fell silent. Every wolf, every warrior, every member of my family turned to watch. My father finally looked at me, his expression hardened into one that I had grown all too familiar with. Disgust. Rage. "You are a disgrace and a mistake." His voice boomed with a finality that felt like a coffin lid slamming shut. "I have no daughter. As of today, you are no longer a member of the Lunarstone Pack." He paused. Let the words sink in. Let them cut as deep as they could. "Go. And never come back." He shoved me and sent me stumbling forward. A yelp escaped me, and I braced myself for impact with the ground. But before I hit the dirt, a strong arm shot out, wrapping around my waist and steadying me. The very air around me shifted, growing heavy and charged. I looked up, my breath catching in my throat. Alpha Darian. His grip was firm, steady. His gaze bored into mine, his expression unreadable, but I saw something flicker in the depths of those piercing eyes. My heart stuttered painfully. Was this my fate now? To belong to a man I barely knew? A man whose intentions I was unaware of? One moment, he called me his bride and looked at me as though I meant something to him. The next, his eyes turned cold, clouded with indifference… even indignation. What did he really want from me? Nothing made sense anymore. He had come all this way for me. Me…a cursed girl no one wanted. Why does he care for me so much? Was this finally the Moon Goddess answering my prayers? Or was this simply another cruel punishment disguised as salvation? The questions clawed at my mind, but reality came crashing back. My father hadn’t just disowned me. He erased me. From the family, from the pack. In the werewolf world, being expelled from your pack is almost worse than dying. You lose your identity, your protection, your place in the world. You become nothing, less than nothing. I was always an outcast, a stray, a disgrace, but now I wasn't just being sent away. I was being unmade. And nobody said a word. Darian's hand closed around my arm. I didn't fight it. I didn't have the strength. The last reserves of my resistance had been spent on that desperate plea to my father. And as Darian pulled me toward the cars, I looked back one last time. My mother. Standing by the front door, her face pale, her hands clasped in front of her, her lips pressed into a thin line. Was that guilt in her eyes? Regret? Or just relief? My sisters, Monique and Mabel, stood with their arms crossed, their expression unreadable. Mabel chewed her lip, refusing to look me in the eyes. My brother, Gerry, stood with his jaw tight, his back ramrod straight. His hands shoved in his pockets. His eyes on the ground. Not one of them breathed a single word in my defense. Not one of them raised a finger in protest. If anything, they looked relieved. Like a burden they'd been carrying for years had finally been lifted from their shoulders. I could feel the unspoken hope in their demeanour wafting across the courtyard and smacking me across the face. Now that the embarrassment, the shame, the curse that had plagued the family was finally being taken away, they were hoping that they could go back to normal and pretend like I had never even existed. The silence was louder than any condemnation. Darian didn't even glance at them. He turned to my father one last time, his voice pure command. "You will bring your family to Mystic Fury for the wedding tomorrow. This is not a request. This is not a negotiation. I don't need your permission to marry her, I never did. But you will come. You will stand there. You will watch. And you will not open your mouth to object, because the moment you do, you stop being her family and you become my enemy. Do you understand?” My father's lips pressed into a bloodless line. “Beta Gabriel,” Jeffery interjected “My Alpha has asked you a question. Do not make him ask twice.” I could see the nerve on his forehead bulging, his fists clenched and his knuckles white. But he said nothing. He only nodded. Because nobody challenges Alpha Darian Oaksmith. And then with those final words, we were moving. I was guided into the passenger seat. The door closed with a soft, decisive click. I pressed myself against the passenger door, as far from Darian as the car would allow. My body was rigid. My jaw was clenched. Every muscle in me screamed to get away from this man, this stranger, this terrifyingly powerful Alpha who had just claimed me like a piece of property. But while fear raged through me like wildfire, an entirely different storm was brewing inside Alpha Darian. His wolf, Rhovan, was furious. Not at me. At him. Rhovan hated the fear pouring off me in waves. Hated the way I shrank against the door as if Darian himself were a threat. The wolf paced violently inside his mind, growling with relentless disapproval. “You’re scaring her. She is our mate. Can’t you handle her with something other than anger for once?” The accusation struck Darian hard. For a brief moment, his sharp eyes swept over my tense posture before he looked away again. He chose not to speak. But I noticed the faint easing of tension in his shoulders. The cold brutality in his demeanor softened, if only by a fraction. The engine then rumbled to life. The convoy pulled away from the Cooper estate. And as the only home I had ever known grew smaller and smaller in the side mirror, the questions came crashing in. Why had he chosen me? Out of every she-wolf in the werewolf world, why had the future Werewolf King chosen a wolfless, cursed, scarred nobody from a family that didn't even want her? He could have any she-wolf he wants. Powerful women, beautiful women, women with strong wolves and political connections. And yet, he had chosen me. Why? What could he possibly want from me that he can’t get from other she-wolves? Was this mercy? Or something far more dangerous? Was I being freed from my father’s tyranny, or was I being driven into a cage for something much darker, much worse than anything I’d endured so far? The tension in the car was thick enough to choke on. Darian said nothing. His eyes stayed on the road, his expression a mask of stone. I stole glances at him from the corner of my eye. I noticed the hard line of his jaw, the way his hands rested on the steering wheel with effortless control, the way his mere presence seemed to compress the air around me until every breath was a conscious effort. I didn't trust him. I didn't know him. And I had absolutely no idea what I was walking into or what he intended to do to me…. The Mystic Fury fortress rose out of the landscape like a mountain of stone and shadow. It was a massive, sprawling complex of towers and walls and battlements that looked like it had been carved out of the earth itself. Guards stood at every gate, every wall, every entrance, their eyes sharp and their posture rigid. This wasn't a home. It wasn't an estate. It was a military stronghold. The kind of place that was built for war, not for weddings. The second the cars stopped, every pair of eyes in the courtyard landed on me. The warriors and pack members greeted Darian first, bowing low. They gave his Beta, Jeffery, the same respectful nod. But when their eyes landed on me? Their faces soured. I saw it alljudgment, suspicion, and outright contempt. Not one word of welcome. Not even a curious glance. Just a wall of silent rejection. I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. I shouldn't have been surprised. I was a curse, wasn't I? A mistake the Moon Goddess had let slip through. Different pack. Different fortress. Same hatred. Same loathsome contempt. No matter where I went, I would always be the cursed one. But then why couldn’t Darian see it? Or worse… maybe he saw exactly what they saw, and still chose to ignore it. But why? Even when his entire pack looked at me like I was something rotten dragged into their home, he had still brought me here. Why? Every question clawing through my mind was answered only by those hateful stares. My stomach clenched. My fingers trembled at my sides. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to keep my distance from the man beside me. He had ripped me from my home, claimed me without asking. Darian’s motives were as opaque as his golden eyes. But as I walked beside him, my body trembled under the withering looks I was getting, and my feet betrayed me. Without thinking, without choosing. I found myself shuffling closer to Darian's broad frame. Letting him shield me from the hostility. Hiding behind the very man I should have been running from. I hated myself for it. So why did I do it? What was this strange hold he had over me? Darian didn't even acknowledge my presence. But what I didn’t know was that a storm was raging inside him. Every insult thrown at me had awakened the fury of his wolf, Rhovan. “They dare insult Merida? Kill them all!” Rhovan snarled, pacing violently inside Darian’s mind. “They are my pack members. My family,” Darian argued. “No one matters more than her,” the wolf shot back instantly. And a part of Darian agreed. He wanted to punish every single person who had mocked me. Wanted to make them suffer for it. But he couldn’t understand why. Why was he willing to stand against his own pack for a wolfless girl? Why did the thought of me being hurt make his blood boil? The questions clawed at him, but for now, he shoved them aside and remained quiet. He strode into the fortress with the confidence of a man who had built this world with his own hands and ruled it without question. Servants bowed. Warriors saluted. The massive doors swung open before him. I followed, my eyes darting everywhere. I took note of the high walls, the never-ending corridors, the exits, the fearsome guards standing alert at every doorway. With every step, I was searching for a way out. Even the slightest chance of escape. A window left unlatched. A hallway left unguarded. But I found nothing. Every exit was watched. Every door was covered. The Mystic Force fortress was airtight. Once inside the castle, Darian’s gaze flicked to an old woman standing by Jeffery. "Madame Beatrice, move her to the Guest Wing." "She’ll see to all your needs," Darian said, turning back to me like it was an afterthought. “One more thing,” His voice was suddenly low and serious. "It would be stupid of you to try to escape my fortress. You’re far too important for me to let you leave.” A chill crawled down my spine. “My guards will be watching you,” he continued evenly. “So don’t waste your strength before tomorrow’s wedding trying to run.” "What?" The word was a choked whisper. I hadn't even started to form an escape plan. Did he just say I was important to him? How? Why? I had no one to answer those questions. Madame Beatrice escorted me silently to the guest chamber. And the moment I reached, I sank onto the edge of the bed. My heart quietly buzzed with the same warmth that had been humming ever since I first laid eyes on Darian. Why? What was this indescribable feeling he stirred inside me? And did it feel like dying and being reborn all at once? Twenty-four hours ago, I was a wolfless girl with a dirty rag on her face, walking into a ball with one desperate hope: that the boy she loved would claim her. That hope was dead. Marc had humiliated me. Cora had ripped away my only protection. My father had crushed my hand beneath his boot, disowned me in front of a hundred wolves, and locked me in a chicken coop overnight. And now I was in a fortress full of killers, all of whom were loyal to the most dangerous man alive. A man who had claimed me as his bride for reasons only he understood. I would be married to a man I didn't know, didn't trust, and couldn't read. I was surrounded by a pack that hated me on sight, with no allies, no wolf, no family, and no way out. The guest room felt like a prison. And that haunting message, whispered in the wind, when I was broken and alone, echoed in the darkness of that guest room. "Soon.” Was this my fate? The moongoddess destined plan? I wasn't ready. I wasn't trained. I was just a wolfless girl, an unwanted reject in a fortress full of killers, about to marry a man whose every word was a command and whose every silence was a threat. Why did Alpha Darian Oaksmith, the future Werewolf King, walk into that ballroom and choose me when he could have had any she-wolf he wanted? Was I a bride? A prisoner? A pawn in some game I couldn't see? Slowly sleep claimed me, taking me away from all unanswered questions and doubt. [Interior, Alpha Darian’s Chamber, grand stone bedroom with dark wooden furniture, tall windows, iron candleholders, and black draped curtains, Night] But in another part of the castle, Darian sat alone with thoughts that ran relentlessly through his mind. He remembered the state he had found me in. I was dragged out of the poultry shed like some animal. I was filthy, covered in grime and smelling of chickens and dirt. For a split second, his wolf had snarled, baring its teeth in silent rage. Not at me. At them. “She had stood there before me, trembling but with her chin held high. No tears, no begging.” A slow smirk played on his lips. “She is a feisty little wolf.” The beast inside him rumbled instantly in agreement. “Because she is our mate.” The words troubled him. He knew exactly what I was. Wolfless. A girl who should have held no power, no pull, no effect on someone like him. And yet… He couldn’t ignore the violent instinct roaring inside him every time someone so much as laid a hand on me. It confused him. Earlier that day, his father, Randalf Oaksmith, had visited to discuss the werewolf killings. But the conversation had quickly turned bitter. Randalf had made no effort to hide his disgust over Darian’s decision to marry a “wolfless freak.” Darian had nearly lost control. Still, he had forced himself to answer coldly. “Choosing Merida Cooper is a calculated move. If I had chosen a royal Alpha’s daughter, the others would see it as a power play. A declaration of war. It would ignite a civil war. By choosing a powerless, wolfless woman, I’m sidestepping that battle. At least… for now.” The explanation had sounded convincing enough. But Darian knew it was a lie. This was never political. It was very personal. But how could a wolfless girl have such a terrifying hold over him? Why did his wolf react to me as though I were something precious? Something meant to be protected at all costs? The questions poisoned his thoughts long into the night. But eventually, Darian surrendered to sleep as well. The next morning, Madame Beatrice and the maids scrubbed me clean from head to toe and prepared me for the wedding. I thought life had no surprises left, until my mother arrived with my cold-hearted sisters and gifted me Azul, my childhood maid, as a wedding present. This was an unfamiliar kindness shown by my mother. Did my mother truly care about me after all this time? Or was this nothing more than guilt finally catching up to her? I never got the chance to think about it for long. Everything after that happened too fast. I was painted and decorated, molded into something delicate. When I finally looked into the mirror, a stranger stared back at me. This wasn’t me. This was Darian Oaksmith's bride. Before I could make sense of anything, loud bells began to toll across the estate. It was time. With Madame Beatrice leading the way, the servants escorted me forward. Straight to my fate. The ceremony was in the Sacred Lunar Courtyard, an open-air space reserved only for the weddings of the highest-ranking wolves. Behind the altar, a towering stone archway was carved with ancient symbols of the Moon Goddess. All the royal Alphas were in attendance. And above them all, watching from his elevated seat, sat King Alderic, the current Werewolf King. Then Darian arrived. The moment he stepped into the courtyard, every gaze shifted toward him. Dressed in a perfectly tailored black wedding suit, he looked devastatingly handsome. He didn't miss the disapproving glares from the Council of Elders, or from Gabriel Cooper, my father. They were all waiting. Watching. Judging. He ignored them all and focused on the end of the aisle, on me. As soon as his eyes fell on my veiled face, a voice snarled in his head. Mine. It was Rhovan, his wolf. Calm down, he ordered his wolf. She is ours, he insisted. Claim her. Get a grip! Darian raged, fighting his wolf for control. Just then, I reached the altar, stopping beside him. The priest stepped forward, his voice commanding the space. "Under the gaze of the Moon Goddess, we are gathered to witness the sacred union of Alpha Darian Oaksmith and Merida Cooper. Their bond, sealed by vow and blood, shall be honored by the spirits of our ancestors and the laws of our kind." A moment of silence passed, then, the priest turned to Alpha Darian. "Darian Oaksmith, do you accept this woman as your mate and wife?" He glanced down at me. I think he could feel the tension rolling off me in waves. His jaw tightened. "I do." I froze. Did he really just say I do? So this was really happening. Why does he want a cursed girl to become his wife? The priest then turned to me. "Merida Cooper, do you accept Alpha Darian as your mate and husband?” The silence stretched. A low murmur rippled through the guests. Darian clenched his jaw, his voice a low command meant only for me. "Answer the question." The priest hesitated, then tried again. "Merida Cooper, do you take Alpha Darian Oaksmith as your lawful husband?" And then, I lifted my head. Through the thin veil, my violet eyes locked on his. The silence became absolute, stretching for an eternity. Then, my voice sliced through it like a blade. “No. I don’t accept Alpha Darian as my husband.” There it was. My decision. For the first time in my life, someone had actually asked me to choose something for myself, and I did. I said no. No to the most powerful Alpha in the entire werewolf world. But what happens now? Would Alpha Darian accept my answer… or see it as an insult from a cursed girl? Would he make my miserable life even worse? I had already been thrown out of my own pack. And now, in front of the entire world, I had rejected Alpha Darian himself. So what did that leave me with? Nothing. Just a cursed, wolfless girl with no pack, no home, and nowhere to go. But could Alpha Darian really accept rejection from someone like me? From a wolfless nobody? Or would he decide I deserved to die for humiliating him? The mystery only grew deeper. Why had Alpha Darian chosen a wolfless girl cursed by the Moon Goddess to be his bride in the first place? And even stranger was the way his wolf acted around her, protective, possessive, almost drawn to her. That alone made no sense. And now Merida Cooper, a girl with no honor, no status, and no place in the world, had publicly rejected him. Where would this decision lead her? Would she finally gain the freedom she had never once known? Or was she about to step into a nightmare far worse than anything she could have imagined? To find out what happens next, download the Pocket FM app now and listen to Lunar Curse. Keep listening by clicking the link below. You can’t guess what happens next.