Harper, the unloved beta's daughter, was ruined by an accidental one-night stand three years ago. ......

Until the most ruthless lycan king found her and took her to his palace.

He told her to hand over the child she gave birth to.

But she was never pregnant...

He said coldly, “Stole my genes and now you want to run away from me? You're mine now.”

My sister stole my fiancé. She’s about to become the Luna of our pack and gloats over me. But everyone thinks I deserve it.

My father is the Beta of the Riverwood pack. Samuel was my childhood sweetheart, my fiancé, and the future Alpha of the Pack. There has always been a tradition of marriage between the Alpha and Beta families. When our Alpha asked Samuel who he wanted as his Luna, he firmly chose me.

Until that night three years ago changed everything…

Three years ago, a mysterious man took my virginity, and then he disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a blank check. When I woke up in the hotel that morning, naked, my family had somehow already found me. They stood around my bedside, glaring at me.

“Harper, you shameless whore!” Mom picked up that blank check and threw it in my face. “How dare you sell your innocence for money? How could you do this to your family, your pack?!”

“To Samuel,” my sister Leah said snidely. “Do you even remember your engagement?”

My mind was a mess. I hadn’t been trying to hook up with any guys. I just came to find Leah. After Samuel chose me to be his intended, Leah would run away from home now and then. If I didn’t rush to find her, Mom would blame me for everything.

“Please hear me out,” I said, desperate. “Do you really think I would betray Samuel for money?”

“Who says you wouldn't?” Leah said coldly. “Mom and I found these in your room when we went looking for you last night. You conniving little thief, you want more money.”

She handed over her cell phone and the pictures were full of Leah's things, designer bags, extravagant watches and gems. They were lying all over the floor of my room.

“I didn't do it…” I said breathlessly. ”I'm marrying Samuel. I would never do something stupid like that for money. I… think I'm in heat. I don't know why.”

Leah was my biological sister. I don’t understand it, but I was the unappreciated one in the family. She had things that I never did. I could only look at her lavish and magnificent possessions from a distance; they never belonged to me.

Samuel was the only person who always stood behind me.

Leah curled her upper lip in disgust. “Anything to get out of accepting responsibility for your own actions.”

Suddenly, a jolt went through my thoughts and everything connected. I realized I knew who was behind all this.

“You know full well I was only going out to find you!” I countered Leah. “You know this place isn't under any pack jurisdiction, so it's a mess. I went to the club to get you. I held your drink, and hell knows what I drank...”

Leah covered her face, and started making audible sobs. “Are you implying that I drugged you? I fell out of love, so I wanted to find a new place to stay. I don't know anything about what happened to you.” Her shoulders shook.

Here we go again. Time for her crying attack. But I was sure my parents would support me when it came to my innocence.

My mother looked a little hesitant. Her eyes traveled between the two of us.

That's when I turned to my father and tried to beg for his support.

“Father…” I started.

Crack.

He slapped me cleanly across the face. My cheek stung so badly, I went into shock for a moment.

This couldn’t be happening.

“No one needed to drug you.” His voice was a growl. “You gave up your dignity for money. You're jealous of your sister, and for that reason, you steal from her and try to put your blame on her. You're no longer my daughter, and you're even less qualified to be the future Luna.”

“Whore,” Mother said again, under her breath.

My sister peeked at me from between her fingers. There was no trace of tears in her eyes now.

___

I shake my head, snapping out of my memories. Today is a big day, and I have to entertain the royal messenger for my family. Though no longer as a daughter of this household, but as a slave.

My fiancé Samuel? Now he belongs to Leah. As Samuel is next in line to become our Alpha, that makes Leah next to become our Luna.

A title she has already started calling herself during Samuel’s long disappearances conquering disputed territories. His frequent absences have delayed their mating ceremony, but Leah doesn’t seem to mind. She still walks around pack land like she’s already a queen.

Yet inside of me, a small fire burns. I still believe that through drugs, my heat was forced, which directly led to my undoing.

No one listens anymore.

Not even Samuel, who turned his back on me when I returned from that nightmare three years ago. I tried to tell him the truth, but he ignored me. He has not spoken to me again since.

Even with him in the same room as me now, he refuses to look at me.

At his first arrival, our eyes met for a half-second and I was transported to what felt like a different lifetime, when Samuel had been my fiancé and he would visit to spend time with me.

Quickly, he looked away and I remembered my new lowly place.

The royal messenger, a man in black with a violet sash over his arm, now sits in a chair opposite of Samuel and my sister who claim the couch. My mother and father stand nearby.

As per my duties as a household slave, I slowly deliver the tea set, lowering it down onto the coffee table. I try not to make eye contact with anyone in the room, but I am admittedly curious by the royal messenger’s arrival.

His visit was announced rather suddenly, causing me and the other household slaves to scramble to clean and make ready for his arrival, and that of Samuel, who escorted him.

A royal messenger is incredibly unusual.

The King doesn’t often have business with our small pack. What could he possibly want with us now?

Leah glares at me impatiently as I serve her first.

"This is awful." Leah prides herself on spitting out her tea in disgust. "You are trying to poison our honored guest."

“No, I –”

Before I can even straighten, Leah turns to me. “Harper. Kneel here beside me.” She gestures to the empty space beside her, the bare spot on the hardwood floor that the carpet does not cover.

I have no desire to press my knees to that hard surface, but I know the pain that will follow if I disobey, especially in front of an honored guest. The beating could last until dawn.

I fall to my knees where she directed.

“Hold out your arm,” she says.

Swallowing hard, I do as she commands.

Unhooking her arm with Samuel, Leah reaches forward and snatches the teapot off the table.

Samuel glances at Leah, at the teapot, and then at my arm. His lip twitches like he might say something to stop her, but he doesn’t. My heart breaks all over again.

I brace myself for what will surely be scalding hot water searing my skin.

A wild look in her eye, Leah starts to tilt the teapot.

“Stop,” the royal messenger says.

Leah stills, even as her eyes harden with fury. “I am allowed to keep my sister in her place, when she dreams above her station.”

“No you aren’t,” the messenger says. “Not anymore. This woman is now the property of the Lycan King, and only he can decide her punishments.”

The room goes very still and quiet.

For a moment, I think I might have misheard. Was the royal messenger talking about me? But why would the Lycan King want me?

Each year, every pack in his kingdom would select their most beautiful woman and send her to the capital. From among them, the Lycan King would select the ones that interest him most, who would then become part of his harem.

It’s a great honor to be selected, although somewhat precarious. Rumors are whispered in the dark, speaking of the Lycan King’s ruthlessness, as well as his insatiable appetites…

Though, oddly, there’s never been any talk of children. Those favorable to the King vow it’s because he is waiting to find his fated mate, and that she would be the one to bear his child.

I am neither the most beautiful woman in the pack nor anyone important. So I continue to wonder, why would the Lycan King want me as his property?

Unless he needs some kind of servant?

“That’s impossible,” Leah says, speaking the words I’m unable to say aloud. “There must be some mistake.”

“There is no mistake,” the royal messenger replies. “Our King Caleb has been searching for women with this one’s exact characteristics. Seeing her as I have, I can confirm she meets those traits and am honor-bound to bring her to our King.”

I don’t recall him looking at me for more than a moment. Perhaps that was all he needed.

“She’s not even a virgin!” Leah shouts. In her rage, she drops the teapot. I’m quick to retract my arm, but as the teapot hits the floor, it shatters. Hot water splatters outward, covering the hem of my skirts.

The royal messenger jumps to his feet. His face is twisted with annoyance.

“No Alpha would want her, especially the King!” Leah continues, seemingly unaware of the way the royal messenger is looking at her. Mother sees though, and starts to step closer to her favorite child. “Offering the King a whore like her would be an insult! She’s –”

A loud crack fills the room as the royal messenger slaps Leah cleanly across the face.

Leah, stunned, has turned her entire face with the slap. Tears well in her eyes. Her cheek quickly reddens.

She’s never been hit like that in her life, even when she so dearly deserved it. I was ever the punching bag; Leah, ever the perfect child.

The royal messenger speaks clearly and crisply, with obvious distain. “Who are you to question the will of our King Caleb? It’s wholly within my rights to see you hang for such treachery.”

Mother moves at once, stepping into the space between Leah and the messenger.

“Forgive my foolish child, good sir!” Mother says. “She did not mean the words she speaks. If anyone is to be punished, please punish me instead. As the woman who raised her, it is my duty as a mother to take responsibility for her.”

Meanwhile, my knees are beginning to hurt, sitting so stiffly on the floor. Looking over, I see Mother draping herself over my sister, desperate to protect her.

No one is protecting me.

Exhaling in frustration, the royal messenger slips his attention to me. “Gather your things, Miss…”

“Harper,” I provide my name.

He does not repeat it, nor even nod in acknowledgement. “You are allowed one bag. Pack wisely. We will leave in five minutes.”

Five minutes does not give me much time.

Pushing myself up to my feet, I ignore the creak in my knees, as well as the sniveling of my mother still trying to protect my terrible sister and walk toward the door.

I have no bag of my own, so I slip into my parents’ room to snatch one from them. The bag that I take is one that used to belong to me before my disgrace. It feels less like stealing to take it back now, and more like returning my own stolen property.

Bag in hand, I start for the stairs.

Three years ago, I was removed from my lavish bedroom and hidden away in the attic. It’s cold up there, without as much insulation as the rest of the house, and leaks sometimes when there’s a hard rain or too much snow. Yet I’ve still managed to make it my home, placing the few things I own around my cot bed.

In my mind, I’m making a list of the things I can’t live without. It’s not a very long list, as most of my possessions have already been stripped from me.

Dragging the bag, I climb the ladder up to my attic space. When I reach it, I startle.

A familiar figure stands in the space near my bed. In the dim light of the nearby slatted window, he turns to me.

“Samuel,” I say.

What could he possibly be doing here? We haven’t spoken since that horrible day three years prior. I’d tried to explain everything, but he wouldn’t listen. He cast me away like everyone else.

“Gather only what you can’t live without,” Samuel says. “We’ll need to travel fast and light if we are to have any chance of escape.”

I froze, not understanding. This is the most he’s talked to me since my disgrace. “What are you talking about?”

“Hurry, Harper,” Samuel pleads. Stepping forward, he takes the bag from my hands and starts to throw my things into it. I have no dresser, just a hamper of clothes tucked into the corner. He grabs blindly, packing for me.

“But… why?” I ask.

Not looking at me, he explains. “I don’t want to marry Leah. I never did. I’ve done all I can to delay this wedding. For three long, terrible years, I’ve succeeded. Two more weeks is all I need, and I will become Alpha. Once I’m Alpha, I can make my own decisions, like who I want as my Luna.”

I understand the words he’s saying, though it’s a shock. For any of this to be true means that he’s faked his compliance for years, convincing everyone he wants Leah, just to change everything once he’s deemed Alpha.

What I don’t understand is how any of this affects me.

Looking back, Samuel must see the uncertainty in my eyes. He drops my bag and walks the few steps it takes to cross the space to stand before me.

“I wanted to wait until I was Alpha,” he continues. This close, even in the dim light, I can see the burning determination in his eyes. His intensity and sincerity melds me to the spot, staring at him, listening. “But I can’t wait if they plan on giving you away. We have to leave. We can elope along the way, then no one can stop us.”

“Elope? Samuel, you haven’t even talked to me in three years…”

“Haven’t you been listening?” Samuel says. “It was all a ruse. You are the one I love, Harper. The only one I’ve ever loved. There’s no time. Run away with me now, and become my wife.”

“Your wife?!” comes a shriek from the ladder. Just then, Leah pushes her way into my space. “You are insane! You’ll be hunted forever. The Lycan King won’t be denied. He’ll chase you for the rest of your lives. No one defies him.”

Panicked, I take a step backwards. How long has she been listening?

“I know what I want,” Samuel says, speaking to Leah now. “I’ll be an outlaw, I don’t care. I’m tired of playing pretend. I’ll save you from this fate, Harper. I’ll take care of everything. I only need you to come with me.”

“You would lose everything,” I say, my heart in my throat. For so long, I’ve dreamed of this exact conversation – of Samuel loving me so much he was willing to throw everything else away. But now that I have it, it’s too much.

“Everything but you,” Samuel says.

“You would give up the position of Alpha.”

“Better than watching you become one of the ruthless king’s sex slaves.”

“You are out of your mind,” Leah snaps.

Rushing toward us, she tries to push him away from me. Her slight frame is no match for his much larger one, and he just looks at her.

“Samuel get away from her. She’s cast some kind of curse on you… We’ll find a cure, I swear. There must be a witch who can help,” Leah speaks quickly. Her eyes frantic, she’s the one who seems like she’s losing her mind. “We were going to get married… I was going to be Luna… You can’t take that away…”

Her eyes focus on me. “And for her. She’s not even pure!”

My heart crumbles into tattered pieces. Samuel’s love for me makes him want to give up everything, but my affection for him demands that I protect him from that sacrifice.

If the events of that fateful night three years ago never occurred, then we could have worked. We could have loved each other, been happy, raised a family, and led the pack.

That night changed everything. I’m tarnished now, and the stain rubs off on all those close to me.

I cannot allow Samuel, the man I once loved more than any other, to sacrifice his future and his life for me. Not while I’m in this state. Not while he has so many other options.

He needs to lead our pack. He’ll be a good Alpha.

I won’t be the woman who continues to selfishly ruin his life.

Yet as he looks at me with such blatant desperation, I know he won’t accept my decision to protect him over myself.

I cannot give him false hope. If he suspects I still care for him, he will defy the Lycan King. He will set himself up for failure.

To give him the best chance at the brightest future possible, I must deceive him.

“I don’t want to live my life on the run,” I say. I tug my hand from his and drop it down to my side.

He looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “What?”

“Becoming one of the Lycan King’s women is a great honor,” I say. “And if he’s searching for someone with traits that only I have… maybe I could be someone special. Someone great.”

“He could treat you viciously,” Samuel argues. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Or he’ll give me everything I’ve ever desired,” I counter. I bury down my self-loathing at having to lie. The hurt in his eyes slices through me like a blade.

Later, I promise myself. I can face these feelings later.

For now, I still need to be the kind of woman I despise.

“The Lycan King has more money and power than anyone else can even dream,” I say. “Compared to him, you are nothing, Samuel.”

Disbelief makes way for anger in his face. His brow lowers, his voice hardens. “You are not this vain. You love me.”

I do, which is why I’ll never let him give up everything he’s worked so hard for. Not for my sake.

I will protect Samuel, and protect our pack.

To do that, I must go to the King’s side, honoring his summons.

I turn from him, walk around Leah and head to the ladder. Behind me, I leave the bag and my possessions. There’s nothing here I need where I’m going.

Samuel starts after me, but Leah steps in his way.

“Listen to her, damn it,” Leah says. “You aren’t thinking clearly.”

I move down the ladder and then down the stairs.

The royal messenger is already outside, standing beside the open back door to a black sedan. He steps aside as I approach.

“In here,” he says.

Following his command, I sit down on the cool leather. My nerves get the better of me and I start to fidget my fingers, twisting them around each other. I can’t take the silence anymore.

“You said the King is looking for girls like me,” I say.

The messenger tilts his head to the side. He’s not glancing at me but I can tell he’s listening.

Emboldened by this, I continue. “Who exactly is King Caleb looking for?”

“The King searches for a woman he met three years ago,” the messenger says.

My heart races. Three years ago, I shared my heat with a stranger who was gone before sunrise.

That has to be a coincidence.

We drive for four hours before we arrive at a towering castle wall. I’ve never seen it in person, but this intricate brickwork could only be that of the Capital.

There’s traffic leading into one of the many entrances, but the driver veers the sedan around it all and turns into an entrance with a gate and armed guard. The guard peers through the window and then lets us through.

Eventually, the tunnel opens up into a larger underground expanse, complete with buildings and roads. Rock formations hang down from the ceiling. String lights and lanterns light up the space. A cave system?

The car stops outside a stone-faced, multistory building. There’s a line of girls that stretches from inside out the front door.

Cautiously, I exit the car. Immediately, a guard in full body armor, grabs me under the arm and hauls me into place at the end of the line.

Following the line of girls, I eventually enter the building. At the doorway, an armed guard stands beside a basket of cellphones. He looks at me expectantly.

Reaching into my pocket, I retrieve my cell phone and hold it out. He snatches it from my hand and chucks it down into the basket.

“Will I get that back?” I ask.

He stares straight through me.

I’m guessing that’s a no.

The line continues into different rooms. The house seems generations old, with smaller rooms and lower ceilings than any modern home I’ve seen. Oil lanterns are used rather than electric lights.

In one room, a group of men and women wordlessly collect our measurements with their ribbon tape. They move quickly and deftly, twisting each girl this way and that until they get what they need.

In another room, we are asked questions.

“Where are you from?”

“When were you born?”

I come to stand in front of a table when it’s my turn. The older, balding man behind the table has sweat trickling down the side of his face. As he eats an apple, the spittle crunches out of his mouth, splattering down onto the paperwork before him.

Looking me over, he chews and grins. His eyes on my breasts, he asks, “Are you a virgin?”