The Luna Supreme stared at Augusta, her expression darkening by the second.

She had schemed and plotted for the Alpha Heir, engineering this match so he would claim me as his bonded Luna, binding the Ironhold Pack to him as his most powerful pillar of support. She never imagined a lesser-born daughter like Augusta would ruin everything.

The distinction between trueborn and lesser-born was easy enough to say aloud, but in practice, the gap was as wide as the sky.

The Ironhold Pack would move heaven and earth for its trueborn daughter. A lesser-born pup of no consequence? No one would lift a finger.

Unwilling to concede, the Luna Supreme spoke up, her face the picture of tender concern. "Seraphina, you and my son have known each other since you were pups. You were sweethearts. I know it pains you that your injury today cost you the Ivory Spirit Fox."

"I understand the bond between you and the Alpha Heir. Fate can be so cruel. Though you were injured and could not claim the fox, I would like to name you his secondary mate. What do you say?"

She leaned close and lowered her voice. The scent of red amber and dried rose petals pressed against me, warm and suffocating, with that dry papery undertone beneath it. "Bonded Luna, secondary mate, what does it matter? It's all for show."

"Once you enter the Heir's Den, I give you my word: the place beside the Alpha Heir will be yours."

She gripped my hand, her lacquered nails digging into my flesh hard enough to leave marks.

Behind me, the Alpha Heir let out a scornful laugh. "Seraphina, my mother is graciously offering you the position of secondary mate. In common terms, yes, that makes you a concubine. But you should understand: a concubine of the Valdris Sovereign Pack outranks any common wolf's bonded Luna by a wide margin."

"You would be concubine to me, the Alpha Heir of the Valdris line."

Augusta spoke softly from his side. "Your Grace, please don't say any more. You'll upset my sister. She was raised like a jewel in the palm of Alpha Sovereign Ashvane's hand. How could she ever agree to be a concubine?"

"Perhaps I should give up the position of bonded Luna to her instead. As long as I can stay by your side, titles mean nothing to me."

The Alpha Heir drew her closer with a gentle arm around her shoulders and smiled. "Silly girl. The position of bonded Luna is rightfully yours. Why would you give it up? I told you, I will make you the most honored she-wolf in the Heir's Den."

Then he coaxed her away, murmuring, "The decree naming the Alpha Heir's Luna will reach the Ashvane estate soon. Let me take you to see the ceremonial gifts first, and the bonding gown. You can choose whichever pattern you like."

With that, he led Augusta away under the gaze of every wolf present.

I lifted my chin and addressed the Luna Supreme, my voice ringing clear. "I beg Your Grace to withdraw the offer. Augusta and I both come from the Ironhold Pack. Two daughters of the Ashvane bloodline cannot both mate into the Heir's Den."

"I humbly ask Your Grace's forgiveness."

The warmth drained from the Luna Supreme's eyes.

What good was a lesser-born daughter of the Alpha Sovereign's household? Making a girl like that the Alpha Heir's Luna was a joke.

When the hunt concluded, I climbed into the Ashvane carriage to return home, but the Alpha Heir blocked my path.

"Seraphina, I know the title of secondary mate stings your pride. But you should count yourself fortunate."

"Augusta put in every good word she could for you. She said that once she enters the Heir's Den, she would let you manage the household. She's too gentle and soft for it, not decisive the way you are."

"I will give her the title of Luna and nothing more. The real power will be yours."

"You are the trueborn daughter of the Ironhold Pack's Alpha Sovereign, groomed from birth for exactly this. I trust no one more than you to run the Heir's Den."

"There is just one condition. If you agree, Augusta says she will allow you to bear pups after you join the household."

I tried to wrench my hand free, but his grip held. The scent of dark amber resin and smoldering oak rolled off him, that bitter iron undertone coating the back of my throat like blood. I kept my composure and said evenly, "I have no intention of mating into the Heir's Den, Your Grace."

Irritation flashed across the Alpha Heir's face, coloring it with barely concealed anger. "Enough. I know you're upset. But I said there is one condition. Agree to it, and three days after the Luna's formal entry, I will come for you."

"Augusta is lesser-born. Her dowry is modest. It would be humiliating for her to enter the Heir's Den with so little."

"You are trueborn. Simply transfer your dowry into her name so she can be carried through the gates in proper splendor, and I will see to it that you become my secondary mate without a hitch."

I stared at her, wide-eyed. "Your Highness wants me to what? Transfer my dowry into Augusta's name?"

The audacity of this woman.

Augusta trailed behind the Luna Supreme, her voice small and trembling. "Sister, I may only be a lesser-born daughter, but I'm still a daughter of the Ironhold Pack. I'm about to become the Alpha Heir's Luna. I simply don't want to bring shame upon our bloodline's name."

The Alpha Heir tenderly wiped her tears, then turned to me with a mocking look. "I'll have my Chief Sentry deliver my personal decree to Alpha Sovereign Fenwick Ashvane's estate. They are to treat the future Luna with the respect she deserves and prepare a proper bonding tribute for her."

By the time Augusta returned to the Ashvane Pack Estate, the Alpha Heir's Chief Sentry had already arrived and delivered the message.

The moment Augusta stepped through the door, she dropped to her knees before my mother, the picture of pitiful innocence. "Mother, the Alpha Heir took pity on me for my humble birth and suggested the estate prepare a proper bonding tribute. He said Seraphina could lend me her dowry first, so I'd have something respectable when I enter the Heir's Den."

"Seraphina will only be a secondary mate. No one will care how large her dowry is. Once we're both in the Heir's Den, what's mine and what's hers will be one and the same."

"After all, I may be lesser-born, but I'm still Father's daughter. Surely he wouldn't want the whole realm mocking the Alpha Sovereign of Ironhold for treating his daughters unequally?"

Her eyes glittered with calculation. My mother regarded her with quiet disappointment, then finally spoke. "Enough. Go and rest. Focus on your bonding preparations."

Augusta rose, a satisfied smile playing on her lips as she swept out of the room.

My mother took my hand. "Seraphina, do you truly intend to become the Alpha Heir's secondary mate?"

I shook my head. "Don't worry, Mother. I will never mate with the Alpha Heir. I wouldn't even want to be his Luna, let alone his concubine."

"I've already refused the Luna Supreme's offer to make me a secondary mate, but I doubt she'll give up so easily."

My father's expression turned grave. The scent of cold-forged iron and ancient cedar deepened around him, the way it always did when he was weighing something that could not be undone. "The Ironhold Pack cannot be dragged into the succession struggle. The only way to extricate ourselves is to bond you to someone else before the Sovereign Den can issue a decree."

"If Augusta wants to mate into the Heir's Den, let her. When the time comes, our pack will have its own answer."

On the day of the Alpha Heir's bonding ceremony, crimson banners draped every archway of the Sovereign Den and ceremonial howls echoed across the grounds. When the Alpha Heir arrived at the estate and spotted me standing off to the side, he smiled. "Seraphina, three days from now, I'll petition His Majesty for a decree naming you my secondary mate. Behave yourself, and I'll give you a grand ceremony too."

Then his gaze drifted toward Augusta's courtyard, where forty-eight chests of bonding tribute stood in neat rows. His expression darkened. "Is the Ironhold Pack trying to humiliate me?"

"My Luna, and she brings only forty-eight chests? This is an insult."

My father stepped forward. His Alpha aura, which he had kept carefully banked all morning, unfurled like frost spreading across stone. The air thickened. Several of the assembled wolves shifted their weight, shoulders dropping involuntarily under the pressure. "Forgive the offense, Your Highness, but Augusta is not my biological daughter. Forty-eight chests for a girl I raised out of kindness is more than generous."