LOGIN"What do you mean my son is at the peacekeeper station?!" I gripped my desk, my heavy human frame rigid with instant terror."A man tried to haul him off in his moon chariot," the peacekeeper said over the receiver. "The boy screamed for help in the middle of the trade district. Come down to the central sanctuary station immediately, Ms. Holloway."My blood went ice-cold. I dropped the communicator, grabbed my coat to hide my full curves, and sprinted out of the design suite.Ten minutes later, I slammed open the doors to the central peacekeeper sanctuary. Sitting on a high wooden bench was Kieran, calmly sipping a cup of sweet berry juice. Standing near the iron cell bars, looking ready to murder every guard in the room, was Lucien Bennett."Kieran!" I rushed across the stone floor, my broad hips knocking against a desk as I threw my arms around my son, burying my face in his neck. "Are you hurt? Did he touch you?""I am fine, Mommy," Kieran whispered, his tiny arms hugging my neck.
"I'll watch him, Freya," Hazel whispered quickly, pulling Kieran toward the back desk. "Go on before the Beta loses his temper."I picked up the heavy bundle of whiteLuna silk, my blood running cold and hot all at once. I walked past Tristan without looking at him, my heavy boots thudding softly against the cold flagstones of the central corridor.The heavy double doors of the Alpha King's Chamber were propped open. As I approached, the high, sweet sound of a woman's laughter echoed out into the hallway, followed by a low, rumbling growl that made every nerve in my body snap to violent attention."You're pressing too hard, Lucien," Rowan Ashcroft purred from inside the room. "The pack elders will see the marks on my neck during the sacred vowing.""Let them look," Lucien Bennett's deep, rough voice echoed back, thick with possessive Alpha authority. "They know who owns you now."I stopped right at the threshold, the air suddenly torn from my lungs.Rowan was sitting on the edge of the
"Mommy, can I go to work with you?" Kieran asked, his small golden eyes fixed on mine as I straightened the silver collar of my tunic.I paused, looking down at my five-year-old son standing in the hallway of our small stone cottage. He wore his heavy wool coat, his dark curly hair falling over a forehead that looked far too much like the Alpha King who had abandoned us."No, Kieran," I said softly, crouching down so my heavy frame was eye-level with him. "The sanctuary design office is full of sharp tools and heavy fabrics today. I need to finish the formal garments for the visiting Alpha delegates.""I won't touch anything, Mommy," Kieran insisted, his small jaw setting in that stubborn, rigid line I knew all too well. "Grandma is taking Freya Jr. to the herbal market. I want to see where you draw.""Let the boy go with you, Freya," my mother, Martha Holloway, said as she walked out of the kitchen, wiping her thin, scarred hands on a kitchen rag. "He spends all day reading those thi
"Lucien says he will stand before the Alpha Council and claim Rowan Ashcroft as his Luna," I said, my hand tightening around the edges of the dark oak dining table until my knuckles turned white.Lucien did not even pause his task. He set his bone-china coffee mug onto the silver tray, wiped his lips with a linen napkin, and looked straight through me with eyes as cold as arctic ice. "She carried my bloodline, Freya. A human female cannot comprehend what it means to lose a Royal Silverclaw pup. I will claim her before the full moon."He turned on his heel and walked out of the Bennett Silverclaw Citadel, his heavy dragon-hide boots echoing across the marble floor like a death knell.I stared at the empty doorway, my heart hammering against my ribs while my stomach churned with dark, violent nausea. I forced myself to sit down, reaching for the bowl of raw venison broth and oat mash Aunt Yu had laid out. I had to eat. I was a human female in a pack of apex predators, heavy-bodied, plus
Lucien grabbed my waist, yanking my plus-sized body back into his lap before I could take another step across the fur rug."Sit down and shut your mouth, Freya," Lucien growled into my ear, his hand tightening over my hip until his long fingers bit into my skin. "You aren't going anywhere while I take this call.""Let go of me, Lucien!" I spat, my heart slamming against my ribs as I tried to wriggle away from his suffocating warmth. "I don't need to sit here and listen to you whisper dirty sweet-talk to your Nightfang mistress!"He didn't release me. Instead, his heavy thumb slid down, pressing hard into the meat of my thigh through my thin cotton dress, his possessive grip anchoring my heavy hips directly over his rock-hard length."Move again and I'll strip you right here in front of the Beta Council," he growled low in his throat, his golden Alpha eyes flashing with a sudden spike of raw threat.Before I could bite back a response, the silver communicator on his desk flared to life
The heavy stone archway at the top of the Bennett Alpha Dominion Hall trembled as the pregnant human woman lost her footing, her soft body slipping against the crumbling cliff edge."Get back, you bloodsucking bastards!" the human woman screamed, her voice cracking with pure terror as her hands clutched her heavily swollen belly.My throat went dry, my own hand instinctively resting over my hips as I took a trembling step forward onto the cold stone terrace."If you pull back from the ledge, I will give you the pack silver you paid for your claim!" I called out, my voice echoing across the open courtyard where dozens of Silverclaw Elite Guardians stood with drawn weapons.The pregnant woman glared down at me, her eyes wild and bloodshot. "You lie! You're just another royal pet living in the Bennett Citadel while human workers rot in collapsed mine shafts!""I am not lying to you," I shouted back, stepping past the line of Beta Aides despite the sharp wind whipping my dark hair across







