REJECTED FOR MY CURVES, CLAIMED BY THREE KINGS

SHANNA

"Move, fatso. You're taking up my personal space."

The shove caught me completely off guard.

I stumbled sideways, my foot catching on a loose stone. For one terrifying second, I thought I was about to crash into Mrs Hilda's vegetable stall. A basket overflowing with bright red apples tipped dangerously toward the edge.

I grabbed it just in time.

The basket wobbled in my trembling hands before settling back onto the wooden table.

"Oh, look!" someone called from behind me. "She almost flattened Mrs Hilda's shop."

Laughter exploded around the marketplace.

I squeezed my eyes shut for exactly one second.

Don't cry.

They're not worth it.

Lift your chin, Shanna.

I slowly opened my eyes and carefully set the basket back where it belonged.

"I'm... sorry, Mrs Hilda."

The elderly woman reached across the counter and patted my hand.

"It wasn't your fault, sweetheart."

"Maybe if she stopped eating everything in sight," another voice sneered, "she'd actually see where she's going."

I didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

Clara.

Gamma Howard's daughter.

Beautiful blonde hair. Tiny waist. Perfect smile.

Everything the girls in our pack wanted to be.

Everything I wasn't.

I picked up the loaf of bread Mom had asked me to buy and placed a few coins on the counter.

"I'll take this."

Then I glanced over my shoulder.

"And Clara? Keep your silicon-botched self away from me."

A few surprised gasps echoed through the crowd.

Clara's mouth actually fell open.

Mrs Hilda coughed into her hand, clearly hiding a laugh.

As she wrapped my bread, she leaned closer.

"Happy birthday, Shanna."

A genuine smile slipped onto my face.

"Thank you."

It was the first birthday wish I'd received all day.

Unfortunately, Clara wasn't finished.

"Today's the big day," she called loudly as I walked away. "Maybe the Moon Goddess will bless you with a treadmill instead of a wolf."

More laughter.

Without even looking back, I raised my middle finger over my shoulder.

The crowd laughed even harder.

Normally, I would've marched back there and dragged Clara across the market by her perfect blonde hair.

Today wasn't the day I'd allow myself to be insecure about anything.

Tonight, beneath the full moon, I'd finally receive my wolf.

Maybe...Everything would change.

By the time I reached home, my eyes burned from holding back tears.

I wiped them before opening the door.

"Happy birthday!"

I barely had time to blink before my mother crashed into me.

"Mom!"

She wrapped both arms around me so tightly my feet nearly left the floor.

"My baby is eighteen!"

"I... can't... breathe..."

"You'll survive."

She squeezed even harder.

"I carried you for nine months. The least you can do is let me hug you for thirty seconds."

Despite everything that had happened that morning, I burst out laughing.

Only my mother could do that.

She finally released me, cupping my face with both hands.

"My beautiful girl."

I rolled my eyes.

"You have to say that."

"No."

She shook her head firmly.

"I choose to say it because it's true."

I looked away.

If only everyone else saw what she did.

Mom was beautiful.

She studied my face for barely two seconds before her expression softened.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Shanna."

"It's my birthday."

"I know."

"I got called a whale before breakfast."

Her smile disappeared.

"And?"

"A cow."

"And?"

I forced a weak laugh.

"A walking earthquake."

Pain flashed across her face.

She pulled me into another hug.

"I wish I could make them stop."

"So do I."

"They're wrong."

"Maybe."

"No."

She gently lifted my chin.

"Not maybe."

Her voice turned fierce.

"They're wrong."

Then she grinned.

"And besides, if they keep bothering you, beat them until they learn some manners."

I laughed.

That was my mother.

Matilda.

The sweetest woman in the world...

Until someone messed with her family.

Then she became terrifying.

"Where's my favourite sister?"

I groaned before I even turned around.

"I know that voice means trouble."

Killian walked through the doorway carrying an enormous wooden crate.

He was twenty-one.

Six feet three.

Built like he'd been carved from stone.

The future Beta.

One of the strongest warriors in the Cord Moon Pack.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart."

"What did you steal this time?"

He gasped dramatically.

"You wound me."

"It looks like you kidnapped someone's furniture."

"It's called effort."

He dropped the crate onto the floor with an exaggerated grunt.

"Open it."

I raised an eyebrow.

"It better not be vegetables."

"My own sister..."

He clutched his chest.

"The disrespect."

Laughing, I lifted the lid.

Then I froze.

Books.

Dozens of them.

Even every romance novel I'd secretly borrowed from the pack library over the years.

I looked up slowly.

"You..."

"I remembered."

My vision blurred instantly.

"You actually remembered."

"You've read every book in the library twice."

I threw myself at him.

He stumbled backwards as I hugged him.

"You're the best brother ever."

"I know."

"You don't even sound humble."

"I earned the title."

Mom laughed from the kitchen.

Killian lowered his voice just enough for her to hear anyway.

"I'm still her favourite child."

Mom snorted.

"Keep dreaming."

We all burst into laughter.

For a little while...

The world outside disappeared.

Dad came home shortly before noon.

Unlike the warmth filling the house, he carried the weight of the entire pack on his shoulders.

Being Beta meant everyone depended on him.

But the second his eyes landed on me, his serious expression melted.

"Happy birthday, little wolf."

I smiled.

"I don't even have a wolf yet."

"You will tonight."

He kissed my forehead.

"And everyone who's underestimated you will regret it."

"You really believe that?"

"I don't believe it."

He smiled with complete certainty.

"I know it."

I wished I shared his confidence.

By evening, the entire pack buzzed with excitement.

The Spring Ascension Festival only happens once a year.

Bonfires burned throughout the village.

Music echoed across the valley.

Children laughed as they chased one another between decorated tents.

Visitors from neighbouring packs crowded every street.

Mom spent nearly an hour adjusting the emerald-green dress she'd sewn by hand.

"It looks beautiful."

"It makes me look huge."

"It makes you look like my daughter."

Killian walked in wearing his formal warrior uniform.

He stopped.

"You look amazing."

"You have to say that."

"No."

He cracked his knuckles.

"I have to punch anyone who says otherwise."

I laughed.

"You'd end up fighting half the pack."

"Then half the pack better stretch first."

Dad sighed dramatically.

"I raised a menace."

"A loyal menace," Killian corrected proudly.

Together, we walked toward the sacred clearing.

For the first time all day...

Hope settled quietly inside my chest.

Maybe tonight really would change everything.

The clearing came into view.

Hundreds of wolves surrounded the ancient Moon Altar.

The Alpha's family stood proudly at the front.

My eyes drifted toward Darius.

Future Alpha.

The boy every unmated girl dreamed about.

He looked like every hero I'd ever imagined while reading romance novels.

Then he looked at me.

His lips curled into a smirk.

He leaned toward the beautiful girl hanging on his arm and whispered something.

She burst into laughter.

Both of them looked directly at me.

I didn't need enhanced hearing to know I was the joke.

I quickly looked away.

Some dreams weren't meant for girls like me.

Three enormous horns suddenly echoed across the valley.

The sound shook the ground beneath my feet.

The clearing fell silent.

Every warrior immediately dropped to one knee.

Even Alpha Gregory bowed his head.

Confused, I looked at Dad.

His face had gone completely pale.

"They're here," he whispered.

"They?"

He stared toward the massive gates.

"The Three Kings."

A cold breeze swept across the clearing.

Thousands of heads turned toward the entrance.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the silence.

Three men walked into the sacred grounds.

The air itself seemed to bend around them.

Power rolled from them in invisible waves so overwhelming my knees nearly buckled.

Every woman around me stared with open admiration.

Moon Goddess...

Even I wasn't immune.

They were breathtaking.

King Kif, ruler of the vampires, walked with effortless elegance, silver eyes sharp enough to cut through steel.

King Conrad radiated raw strength, every step carrying the confidence of someone who had never lost a battle.

And King Mariteo...The oldest.

His mere presence made my wolfless body instinctively want to submit.

The third king walking in the centre suddenly stopped.

His silver eyes locked onto mine.

For one impossible moment...He smiled.