Chapter 1

Halley’s POV

I smoothed my dress for the third time, hoping it would calm my nerves. It didn’t.

They were supposed to be back by now. My father and Kyle had taken our warriors to the border two days ago to deal with the rogues that had been crossing into Whitemane’s territory. Yesterday a messenger returned with news that the battle was won. That Kyle had led the final charge himself.

Tonight, we were to be married.

Kyle wasn’t part of our pack. Not yet. He’s Alpha of the Darkmoon Pack and our alliance is the only reason his pack still exists. My father had supported Kyle’s claim to the throne when no one else would, had given him warriors and resources and legitimacy when he had nothing. Our marriage was the price of that deal. Kyle would take me as his Luna, uniting our packs and securing Whitemane's future.

He never said he loved me but he held my hand in front of both packs. He smiled at me like I was the only person in the room. He whispered promises about the life we would build, the pack we'd strengthen together.

The horn sounded. They were finally back.

I rushed to the gates, pushing through the crowd that had started to gather. I was smiling before I even reached the gates and then I saw them and my smile died.

Four men were carrying my father on a makeshift stretcher. His shirt was shredded to ribbons and four deep gashes ran from his shoulders to his waist. He was pale, bleeding through his bandages but his jaw was set. He was still fighting.

My heart sank. This wasn't how I had imagined my father's return from war. Before I could process the sight, something else caught my attention. 

Kyle was walking beside them with a woman I had never seen before. Her hand was in his, their fingers interlocked.

It was casual. Comfortable like they'd been touching each other for longer than two days.

They stopped a few feet in front of me. Kyle looked at me and smiled. Not the warm smile I knew. Something colder I’ve never seen before.

He turned to the crowd and announced, “Whitemane! We won the battle!”

The crowd exploded around me. Howls and fists and noise I couldn't process because I was still staring at his hand in hers.

"We won because of Shirley.” Kyle gestured to the woman next to him. She was tall, taller than me with the kind of build that came from years of combat training. Her shoulders were broad, her jaw set as she surveyed the crowd like she owned them. “Our new chief warrior.”

My mouth was dry. I stepped forward.

“Kyle?”

Shirley moved before he could answer. She stepped between us with the kind of ease that told me she'd been waiting for this moment. She was enjoying it.

“He’s your Alpha,” she said. Not loud but not quiet either. Loud enough that it wasn't meant just for me. “Address him as such.”

“He’s my fiance.”

Something flickered behind her eyes. Not anger. Amusement. She didn't whisper. She wanted everyone to hear.

“You really think he was going to marry you?” Her eyes dragged over me slowly like she'd already decided I wasn't worth the effort. "The princess of a dying pack who can't even shift? What exactly were you going to offer him? Your weakness?"

Inside me, my wolf woke up. I felt her press forward low and angry, wanting me to move. Wanting me to do something. But I couldn't.

I was twenty years old and I had never shifted. Not once. I felt her every day. A presence, a constant low hum beneath my skin but my body wasn't strong enough to let her out. Shirley knew it. I could see it in the way she held her ground, completely unafraid. She wasn't threatened by me.

My eyes burned. I turned my face before she could see the tears and looked past her to my father. He was trembling on the stretcher.

“Get him to the infirmary,” I ordered the men carrying him. “Now!”

We moved quickly. I stayed at my father's side, one hand on the edge of the stretcher, refusing to look back at Kyle or the woman standing in my place. I would have to deal with them later. The crowd parted for us. Nobody said a word.

We almost made it.

“Stop.” My father's voice was weak but firm. The warriors halted immediately. I knelt beside him. “We must discuss the alliance. Now.”

“We have to get you treated first-”

“This is more important.”

He looked past me toward the infirmary entrance. Kyle and Shirley were already there, leaning against the doorframe like they'd been invited. Kyle's arms were crossed. Shirley was examining her nails.

My father's eyes locked onto Kyle. Even bleeding, even barely conscious, he still looked like he could kill someone.

"You swore an oath, Alpha Arden," my father said. "I put you on that throne... I gave you warriors when your own pack wanted you dead. And you swore... You swore on your father's name that you would take my daughter as your Luna."

Kyle looked at him for a long moment. Then he uncrossed his arms and straightened up and the man standing in front of us was not the man I'd known. The warmth was gone. The charm, the easy smile, the gratitude he'd always shown my father. All of it had been stripped away and underneath was someone I didn't recognize.

"Your pack is dying, old man." His voice was flat. Almost bored. "Your borders are shrinking, your warriors are weak, and you're bleeding out on a stretcher. What exactly do you have left to offer me?"

"I should have let them kill you."

"I'm the strongest Alpha in this region now. I don't need your alliance. I don't need your daughter." He glanced at me and I felt the dismissal like a physical blow. "I don't need any of this.”

My father tried to push himself upright. "You swore on your father's name-"

Kyle pulled Shirley against him and kissed her. Not quickly. Not gently. He kissed her the way you kiss someone when you want the entire room to understand exactly who you chose and who you didn't.

When he pulled back, he kept his arm around her waist and looked at my father with something close to pity.

"She's my mate," he said. "She's my Luna. And there's nothing your dying pack can do about it."

My wolf howled deep inside me. My nails dug into my palms until I felt skin break.

My father's hand found mine. I looked down at him and saw something I'd never seen in his eyes before.

Fear.