Celeste’s POV The room they kept me in wasn’t much more than a glorified cell—four damp, stone walls, a single cot with a thinning mattress, and no windows to tell whether it was day or night. The lock on the outside clinked open only when they needed something from me—laundry done, floors scrubbed, stables cleaned, or sometimes just to have a body to scream at. Most days I wasn’t spoken to unless it was to be insulted, slapped, or ordered around. The others treated me like I didn’t exist until it was convenient. I, Celeste Arden, was the ghost of the Shadow Hollow Pack—unseen, unheard, but always expected to serve! I didn’t know what time it was when the bolt scraped harshly, and the heavy door groaned open. My bones were stiff from the cold floor, where I’d curled up after my thin blanket did little against the night chill. “Get up, you lazy mutt!” snapped a voice I recognized all too well. It was Marla, one of the she-wolves assigned to the kitchens but who seemed to enjoy tormenting me more than cooking. “The Inauguration Ceremony is today, and the hall’s a mess.” Dorian Maddox, the Alpha’s son, turned twenty-two today and was to be officially crowned. I pushed myself upright, limbs aching. “Yes, Marla,” I whispered, not daring to meet her eyes. She tossed a bundle of worn clothes at me and sneered. “Wear something decent, you filthy thing! You’re representing the pack, even if only as its dirt-stained shadow!” Read the complete story to find out more!