The silver thread glimmered like a dying star between my fingers as I pulled the final stitch. I had spent weeks carving a masterpiece out of a mess, breathing life into a gown that was little more than a hand-me-down from Nora, the chief maid. It was a relic of the royal palace, salvaged from the scrap heap of a life I was never meant to lead.

Lia stood beside me, the yellow of her dress blending seamlessly with her pale skin. She looked like a soft sunbeam, a stark contrast to me. With my almond-tinted hair and emerald eyes that seemed too large for my face, my fair skin was a curse, it made me stand out in a pack that preferred I remain invisible. No one ever looked past the surface to see the girl drowning in a pathetic, orphaned story.

“What if you get mated to Alpha Kai tonight, June?” Lia whispered, her eyes dancing.

“You know the tales. The Moon Goddess loves to bridge the gap, mating the lowest beta to the strongest alpha to create a perfect balance. That could be you.”

I held up the gown, watching the moonlight catch the beads. It glowed with an ethereal, haunting light. No one would ever guess this was once junk. It was my armor, built on sleepless nights and desperate hope.

“Can you imagine the fallout?” I countered, my voice tight.

“The Alpha of the Crescent Pack tethered to an orphan? The clan would be the laughingstock of the territories. I’d be humiliated far beyond the small cruelties we face now. Kai is a warrior, Lia. He isn’t the kind of man who knows how to mend a soul as shredded as mine.”I pulled the dress on, the fabric cooling my heated skin.

“Besides, I don’t want to spend my life serving a pack that never offered me a home. Why should I shred my spirit to lead people who treated me like a ghost?”

We walked toward the palace hall, the grand stone arches looming like the mouth of a beast. With every step, the rhythm of my heart grew louder, a frantic drumming against my ribs. By the time we reached the heavy oak doors, the sound was deafening. Music sounded like senseless noise and the smell of celebration suddenly made me feel nauseous.

“I can’t wait for us to finally belong somewhere. Good luck, June,” Lia whispered, squeezing my hand before drifting toward the dance floor.

The moment she left, I vanished into the shadows of the crowd. I watched the room like a spectator at my own execution. Slowly, the moon reached its peak. It felt like a cruel competition. Every passing second, a gasp would erupt, another Beta finding their mate, another couple entwining their souls.

I stood in the corner, my knuckles white as I gripped the silver fabric of my skirt. I began to pray, a silent, choking plea to the Moon Goddess.

Life has taken enough from me, I thought, my throat burning. Don't take this, too.

“Goddess, please,” I choked out, a sob threatening to break through.

“Even if you give me an orphaned beta like me, I swear on my parents’ graves, I will love him. I will cherish him. Just give me someone to call mine. Please.”

Suddenly, the music died. The air in the room grew heavy, charged with a static that made the hair on my arms stand up.

“Caska?”

It was Kai’s voice, deep, resonant, and laced with a rare note of alarm. My eyes followed the crowd’s gaze to the center of the hall. The Seer, Caska, stood frozen. She was the pack’s shield, a woman of terrifying, mysterious power. Usually, she was the picture of composure, but now her eyes had rolled back, showing nothing but a blinding, milky white.

A cold shiver raced down my spine. Something inside me, something ancient and dormant, stirred in response to her trance. I felt a pull in my gut, a golden tether tightening. I didn’t like the eerie feeling.

“Alpha Kai…” Caska’s voice wasn't her own; it was layered, echoing like a chorus of spirits, almost like the moon goddess was speaking through her directly. Her eyes flickered back to life for a split second, landing directly on me in the shadows, before they went white again.

The silence was absolute. You could hear the flicker of the torches on the walls. Kai stepped toward her, his powerful frame tense, his scent,cedar and storm clouds, filling the room.

“Speak, Seer,” Kai commanded, his Alpha aura radiating enough heat to singe the air.

Caska’s head snapped toward the crowd, her finger trembling as she pointed toward the dark corner where I stood, trembling in my silver-beaded rags.

“The destiny of the Crescent Pack is no longer in the hands of the strong, but in the blood of the hidden. Alpha Kai… is mated to June, the Orphaned beta.”

The room erupted into a deafening silence. I felt Kai’s gaze hit me like a physical blow, cold, shocked, and utterly lethal. The bond snapped into place.

“The moon goddess must have made a mistake.” I say it almost immediately.

Slowly, sneers and whispers of mockery fills the hall. I do not need to lift my head up to know I’m being mocked.

“She must have surely made a mistake.”

I swallow hard. I comfort myself reminding me that all my life, I’ve been tagged unworthy. This shouldn’t come as a surprise.

My sheer strength collapses when I notice blood dripping from the side of my lips.

“You’re severing the mate bond?” I hate how obvious it is to the ear, my trembling voice.

“Did you think I was going to let the moon goddess tie me and my clan to the fate of a woman who can’t even trace her own history?”

“There’s only one way place you can lead my clan to with your pathetic self, and that is to oblivion. But I will not watch my kingdom be buried into ruins just like your father and your mother.”

“I, Alpha Kai of the Crescent Pack reject you, June Dore as my mate.”

“Funny because I didn’t even want you as a mate. I asked for everyone but you.” I say it too quickly. It slips from my mouth before I can take it back and loud enough for everyone to hear.

His already darkened gaze darkened even deeper.

“What did you say?”

The whole hall is quiet, too quiet. I’ve loved quite places like this all my life, they hide me and keep me safe.

Not this one though, nothing about this silence puts my nerve to rest. To make matters worse, it crowns me as the center of attention. In the middle of people who want nothing, absolutely nothing to do with my existence.

“I asked you a question June.” Pressure radiates from him, so intense I almost fall to my knees.

“I do not want you Alpha Kai. Not every she wolf is crazy about you. I’d have every other werewolf as a mate but you. The feeling…, it’s quiet mutual.” I ignore the pain in my soul to give him a piece of my mind. Everything is breaking on my inside. A complete contrast to my perfect display.

“Come.” He uses the Alpha command.

I know that because my body is moving against my will no matter how hard I try.

“She’s trying to defy the Alpha’s command!”

The echo is followed with loud laughter. Laughter that rips me apart.

I clench my fists in fury.

“Look at you. A pathetic offspring with no root.” He stands right in front of me. His claws outstretched.

“You dare to even think you are worth enough to pick a mate? You? A mere piece of trash? And you go ahead to even attempt to make a decision?”

“You think you can even make a decision?”

“You know, I’ve heard these days, that Betas have become increasingly presumptuous. I never expected to find one with the kind of moral that you have. What’s even more,”

“I’m still wondering, how the moon goddess couldn’t give you parents yet gave you the destiny to parent a clan.” He steps closer to me in an extremely threatening way. I’m barely standing and he knows that.

I hate that he knows it. I hate how the Beta gets to feel more, what the Alpha didn’t want. I hate it.

“Apparently, she’s not an asshole as you are.”

“Get. Down.”

“No.” My tears mix with my blood and I have no idea which exact one is more acidic. The tears or the blood.

“Get. Down.” He strengthens his command. And my knees find their way to the ground. With a loud crack.

I suck in a huge bowl of air immediately. My stomach is in pain. All I want to do is fold and scream. But I wouldn’t do that. I would not give them the privilege to know that I was wounded. I would not give him the ability to let him know that he broke me. No.

“Look at you. Is this how you want to rule my clan? On your knees? A mere dog wants to man a werewolf territory.”

My hands scrape the palace tiles. I can’t fight him. I wouldn’t win. I’d be dead before I even try. There’s no use letting my wolf out.

“Look at me.” Another Alpha command.

I swallow bile down my throat as I feel my eyes staring into his.

“You are a pathetic vile creature. You are the embodiment of imperfection in a perfect world. You do not belong here. The moon goddess did a great favor putting life into your nostrils. If I were in her place, you wouldn’t be useful. Not even as a statue.”

“She would have let nature take you the exact time nature took your parent. But you’re here now. And there’s what I can use for.”

His tone is so sinister, goosebumps fill my skin.

“While you’re here, I might as well just make it known. I found a mate. A woman strong enough to shoulder the weight of this clan. One that has proven herself to me countless times unlike you.”

“What makes you think I care about this… mate of yours?” My hands are vibrating.

“Oh, I know very well, you’d care Lia. Because you didn’t expect it. The mate I have chosen for the clan is one you would have expected if you’d been wise enough to read the handwriting on the wall.”

“Lia.”

“Yes Alpha.” Lia stepped out, her eyes locked directly into mine. No iota of shame or remorse.

I can hear my heart drumming in my ears. Every breath suddenly felt like I was trying to inhale copper.

“Would you do the honors of telling her yourself or should I do the honors?” Kai asked, his hand reaching out to pull Lia to his side.

“I would prefer if you do the honors Kai.”

She used his name. No title. No formality. You could basically hear her affection for him just from the way she pronounced his name.

I bite on my lower lip hard enough to stifle the scream attempting to rip itself out of my throat. Apparently my nightmare was not the moon goddess giving me a darned beat as a mate.

It was Lia.

“Surprised, are you?”

I clamped my teeth refusing to say a word.

“Finally. The barking dog has finally finally gone mute. What a pleasure to see your rage bottled in silent pain. I can relive this day over and over and over again June.”

“But there’s more, much more.”

“Lia, my love, my mate and the one meant to led this clan, would you accept my unworthy self to be mated to you?”

“Can I ever say no to you?”

His fangs extend, fast. And he sinks them into Lia’s neck.

It feels as though a hot knife is passing through my throat and I know screaming would do absolutely nothing to quench the raging fire threatening to consume me.

“All hail the Luna of the Crescent Pack!”

Kai’s large hand buried into Lia’s hair, pulling her head back just enough to allow him to graze her neck. He was suckling at her skin, a slow, possessive mark of a new Luna, claiming her in front of the very woman he had discarded moments before.

I was crouched on the floor, my fingers digging so deeply into the fabric of my silver dress that I could hear the silk groaning. My hands were clutched tightly over my stomach, trying to hold my internal organs together. Every time his teeth grazed her, a white-hot spike of agony shot through my own chest, the shattered remains of our mate-bond screaming in protest. I forced my eyes to the floor, fighting the sob that threatened to shatter my ribs.

“Look at her,” Kai’s voice rumbled, vibrating through the hall. He didn't stop his assault on Lia’s neck, his eyes hooded and dark.

“A Beta who cannot even stand. A warrior who crumbles at the sight of her Alpha’s happiness.”

He pulled away from Lia just enough to sneer at me, his lip curling in a way that made my stomach turn. He took a deliberate step toward me, his heavy boots clicking against the marble. He leaned down, placing his hand on his knee, bringing his face level with mine.

"Tell me, June," he whispered, loud enough for the front row of the pack to hear.

"Does it burn? Does it feel like your soul is being shredded? Because that is the sound of reality finally catching up to your delusions. You thought you could be my equal. You thought a nameless, rootless orphan could sit on a throne."He reached out, not to touch me, but to flick a stray bead from my dress.

"You even tried to dress the part. But a crow in silver feathers is still a crow."He stood back up, looking around the room at the hundreds of eyes watching my downfall.

"From this moment, June is stripped of her rank. She is no longer a Beta of the Crescent Pack. She doesn’t deserve to be one. She is an Omega, the lowest of the low. A servant to the lineage she dared to insult."He gestured dismissively to the guards standing at the periphery.

“Take her to the servant chambers. I don't want her filth staining the royal tiles any longer. In fact, scrub the floors where she knelt. I want every trace of her arrogance erased by morning.”

I felt the cold bite of metal before I felt the guards' hands. they snapped silver-lined chains around my wrists. The silver hissed against my skin, dampening my wolf and sending a dull, sickening ache through my veins. As they dragged me away, I heard Lia’s soft, triumphant giggle and the sound of the pack resuming their celebration. The music started again.

By the time they threw me into the small, damp room that was to be my new home, I was gasping for air. The servant chambers were located in the bowels of the palace, where the stone was always wet and the air tasted of mold. Every breath felt like a shockwave of broken glass traveling down my lungs. I collapsed against the stone wall, the silver chains clinking mockingly in the dark. I closed my eyes, praying for a sleep that wouldn't come, a sleep that would swallow the memory of Lia’s hand in his hair.

Hours passed. Or maybe it was only minutes. In the dark, time becomes a distorted thing. I lay there, shivering, my body trying to heal the invisible wounds of a rejected bond while the silver chains continued to poison my blood.

A soft click of the door made my ears twitch.

I became alert instantly, my instincts screaming. Someone was here. I forced myself upright, my back scraping against the rough stone as I tried to find my footing. The door creaked open, admitting a sliver of light from the hallway.

Kai stepped into the dim light of the chambers. He had discarded his heavy Alpha cloak and his formal tunic, wearing only a thin black shirt that clung to his frame. He looked leaner and more dangerous in the shadows, his Alpha aura filling the tiny room until I felt like the walls were closing in.

“Why are you here, Kai?” I rasped, my voice sounding like it had been dragged over thorns.

“Is your new Luna not enough for you? Can you not even tolerate Lia’s bed for a single night before coming to gloat over my ruins? Did you forget to insult my parents one last time?”

Kai didn't look angry. He didn't even look annoyed by my sharp tongue. He looked predatory. He stepped closer, his movements fluid and silent. The space between us vanished until I could feel the heat radiating off his body, contrasting with the freezing dampness of the room.

"You always did have too much pride for your own good, June," he said, his voice a low, melodic hum. He looked around the room, his eyes lingering on the straw pallet that was to be my bed and the single, flickering candle on the wall.

"It’s a shame. Such a beautiful fire wasted on someone who doesn't know how to play the game."

He reached out, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw with a terrifying tenderness that made me want to recoil and lean in all at once. The touch sent a jolt through the broken bond, a cruel reminder of what should have been.

“Lia is the Luna this pack requires,” he whispered, his voice low and dangerous, vibrating in the small space.

“She has the bloodline, the status, and the public grace to lead. The elders respect her. The warriors fear her family. She is the perfect piece for the board I am playing. You... you are a liability to my crown, June. You are a ghost story. You cannot serve this clan as my mate. It would be a weakness I cannot afford. If I took an Omega as my Luna, the surrounding packs would see it as an invitation to war.”

He leaned down, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear, his breath hot against my cold skin.

“But that doesn't mean I am finished with you. I’ve watched you for years, June. I’ve watched the way you move, the way you defy everyone with nothing but a look. You have a fire that Lia will never possess. She is a statue; you are a storm. You cannot be my Queen, but you can very well become something more important to me. Something kept in the dark, away from Lia’s notice. A secret I keep in the heart of this palace. Something that belongs solely to me, without the interference of pack laws or elder councils.”

I felt my heart stop, then restart with a sickening thud against my ribs. I looked up into his dark, calculating eyes, searching for a hint of a joke, a shred of the man I thought the Goddess had intended for me. But there was only the Alpha, cold, hungry, and utterly selfish.

“You want me to be your mistress?”