Lira never asked to be anyone's prize.On the night of her eighteenth birthday, the same night her wolf finally wakes up, she learns the truth her family kept from her for years: she was promised at birth to Kane, alpha of the Ashwood Pack. Her family's oldest enemies. A man she's never met, and never wanted to.Everyone warns her about him before she even crosses into his territory. That he's ruthless. That he buried his own uncle's rebellion without blinking. That he doesn't feel things the way other people do.But the alpha she meets isn't the monster the stories promised. He's cold in front of his pack, and something else entirely when it's just the two of them. Careful. Watchful. Like he's protecting her from something he won't name.The alliance between their packs is fragile, built on a pact neither of them chose, and there are people on both sides who would rather see it burn than see it succeed. Lira didn't come here looking for a mate. But the longer she stays in Ashwood territory, the harder it gets to remember why she should still want to leave.Some bonds aren't chosen. But that doesn't mean they aren't real.