The moon hung full and silver over the Silverfang Pack's ceremonial grounds. Hundreds of wolves stood in a wide circle, their eyes reflecting the firelight from the torches that marked the ritual space. I could feel their attention like weight on my skin.
I stood at the center of it all, wearing the white ceremonial dress my mother had chosen. My wolf was restless inside me, pacing, eager. This was supposed to be the night everything became official. Tyler and I had been building toward this moment for years.
Tyler stepped into the circle. He looked good in the traditional Alpha garb—dark leather, silver clasps, his Iron Ridge Pack insignia on his chest. He met my eyes, and something in his expression made my wolf go still.
Not eager-still. Wrong-still.
"Arabella Crawford," he said. His voice carried across the silent grounds. Formal. Distant. "I stand before the Moon Goddess and these witnesses tonight."
I smiled. My heart was beating too fast, but I smiled.
"I, Tyler Jackson, Alpha of the Iron Ridge Pack—" He paused. His jaw tightened. "—reject you, Arabella Crawford, as my mate."
The words hit me like silver through the bloodstream.
My wolf screamed. Not a howl—a scream, raw and animal and so loud inside my head I couldn't hear anything else. My knees buckled. I went down hard on the grass, my hands catching me, my breath gone.
Pain. Everywhere. Like something was being ripped out of me from the inside, something that had roots in my bones. I heard myself make a sound—low, broken, not words.
The crowd was silent. Hundreds of wolves, and not one of them moved.
Tyler's voice came again, quieter now. "I choose Colette Woods, daughter of the Silverfang Pack, as my mate."
I looked up. Colette stepped into the circle. She was wearing soft blue, her eyes downcast, her hands clasped in front of her like she was as surprised as everyone else. She looked at Tyler like he'd just saved her from something.
My wolf howled. This time it tore out of my throat, loud and ragged, echoing across the ceremonial grounds. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop shaking.
Hands on my shoulders. My mother's voice, low and tight. "Up. Now."
Eleanor Crawford didn't ask. She pulled me to my feet, her grip like iron, and walked me out of the circle. The crowd parted. I felt every single pair of eyes on me as we passed. My legs didn't want to work. My mother half-carried me.
Behind us, I heard the ritual words begin again. Tyler's voice, steady and sure, binding himself to Colette.
My mother didn't stop until we reached the pack house. She took me to my room, sat me on the bed, and stood there looking at me with a face like carved stone.
"I'll get coffee," she said finally. Her voice was flat. "Don't move."
She left. I sat there, my hands in my lap, shaking so hard my teeth chattered. My wolf was still howling inside me, a grief so huge I didn't know where to put it.
Tyler had rejected me. In front of everyone. At my own Mate Ceremony.
For Colette.
Colette, who'd been my packmate for three years. Colette, who was always so quiet, so sweet, who never said a sharp word to anyone. Colette, who I'd helped with her scholarship paperwork when she first arrived.
My phone buzzed.
I looked at it. An encrypted message. Unknown sender. I opened it because I didn't know what else to do with my hands.
It was a contract.
*Mate Contract Offer: Lycan Prince Kade Bennett*
I blinked. Read it again.
The terms were laid out in clean, formal language. A contract mating. One year minimum term. Immediate transfer of territory deed and financial assets. Title of Lycan Princess. Full inheritance of Bennett Lycan holdings upon his death.
Upon his death.
I scrolled down. There was a note at the bottom, almost clinical: *Prince Kade Bennett is currently suffering from a rare curse affecting his wolf. Prognosis terminal. Contract mate will inherit all holdings as widow.*
A dying Lycan Prince wanted to marry me.
I started laughing. It came out wrong—too high, too sharp. My mother would be back any second with coffee and objections, and I didn't want to hear them.
I read the contract one more time. My wolf, still raw and whimpering, didn't counsel me. Didn't warn me. Just curled up small and quiet inside my chest.
I signed it.
My finger shook on the screen, but I signed it. Sent it back. Watched the confirmation message appear.
*Contract accepted. Territory deed transfer initiated. Credit line active. Welcome, Princess Arabella.*
I set the phone down. My hands were still shaking, but something else was building under the grief now. Something hot and bright and vicious.
Tyler had rejected me in front of everyone.
Fine.
I'd just become a Lycan Princess.
My mother opened the door, two mugs of black coffee in her hands. She looked at my face and went very still.
"Arabella," she said slowly. "What did you do?"
I met her eyes. "I accepted an arrangement that suits me."
"What arrangement?"
"A contract mating." I took one of the mugs from her. My voice came out steadier than I expected. "With Lycan Prince Kade Bennett."
The coffee mug in her hand tilted. She caught it. Set both mugs down on the dresser with careful precision.
"The dying one," she said.
I smiled. It felt wrong on my face, too sharp. "That's the one."
"Arabella—"
"I'd like you to trust my judgment," I said. "Just this once."
My mother looked at me for a long moment. Her face was unreadable. Finally, she picked up her coffee again and took a long drink.
"I don't," she said quietly. "But I'll help you pack."
