Sold To The Ruthless Werewolf King

10

Emily

“The ceremony has started,” a guard barked. “Miss Anna demands your presence. Move.”

I didn’t say a single word. I straightened my spine, ignored the cold wind biting at my exposed skin, and followed them out.

Today was the day Josh would crown Anna as his Luna. And today was the day I would begin my descent into the terrors of the Nightclaw Pack.

The courtyard was grand, filled with the overwhelming scent of roasted meat, expensive wine, and toxic joy. The entire pack had gathered, and the moment I walked into the sunlight, a heavy, suffocating silence fell over the crowd.

Every single pair of eyes locked onto me. They stared at my see-through dress, my exposed skin, and the monstrous scars cutting across my face. I could see the disgust in their eyes. I could hear the sharp, judgmental intakes of breath.

A small, bitter laugh escaped my lips. Let them stare. Even I knew I looked like an ugly freak.

“Sit here,” a maid muttered, shoving me into a wooden chair right in the front row.

They had placed me directly in front of the raised dais so I would have a front-row seat to Josh and Anna’s triumph.

The High Priest stepped forward, his deep, resonant voice echoing through the courtyard like a massive bronze bell.

“We gather today,” the priest boomed, raising his hands to the sky, “to celebrate the union of Anna Ravencrest and Josh Sterling. A day of double joy—for today a husband is made, and today an Alpha rises!”

I sat perfectly still, listening to the ancient words that had bound our pack’s couples for generations. Every syllable felt like a mockery.

The priest gestured for Josh and Anna to join hands. “By the ancient laws of our blood and the moon that watches over us, I bind these two souls. Let no man, no rival, and no shadow come between them.”

He took a thick, silken cord and wrapped it tightly around their clasped wrists. “With this bond, Anna Ravencrest and Josh Sterling are no longer two, but one. I pronounce you husband and wife.”

The crowd erupted into a wall of sound—applause, wild howls, and the chaotic cheers of a pack celebrating its new masters.

Right in the middle of their joy, a sound bubbled up from my throat. I was laughing. A quiet, hollow, hysterical laugh that I couldn’t stop.

The priest raised his hand, and the crowd instantly went dead silent. He lifted a gleaming silver circlet from its velvet cushion.

“A husband must also be a protector,” the priest continued, staring directly at Josh. “Josh Sterling, your path to this throne was not easy. It was questioned. It was mourned by some and resented by others. But blood speaks. Lineage holds. And the Moon Goddess does not make mistakes.”

The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes? My ass. If a Goddess truly lived above us, why did she sit back and watch my life be brutally ruined by monsters?

The priest held the heavy silver crown above Josh’s head. “Rise. No longer the third son. No longer the one who was never supposed to lead. Rise as Alpha of the Ravencrest-Sterling Pack!”

The crown settled onto Josh’s brow.

A low, single howl started at the back of the crowd. Then another joined it, and another, until the sound became a deafening roar that vibrated against the stone floor and rattled inside my chest like a second heartbeat.

It was pack recognition—the ancient, involuntary bond a people make when they accept a leader into their very bones.

Josh turned to face his people, his eyes flashing with newfound power. He gripped Anna’s hand and lifted it high. “This is your Luna!”

The pack howled again, a sea of worshiping faces. My hands curled into tight, bleeding fists as Anna looked down from the stage and locked her eyes with mine. Her lips curved into a silent, venomous whisper: I won.

“Long live the Alpha!” the crowd roared. “Long live the Luna!”

Josh raised his hand, instantly silencing the crowd. “Thank you all for honoring me today,” he spoke, his voice carrying effortlessly across the hall. “I promise to be a good leader and guide this pack to ultimate prosperity.”

His eyes scanned the crowd, moving past his warriors, past the elders, until they finally stopped on me. A cold, dark smile touched his lips.

“To celebrate this wonderful moment, I have decided to honor an old treaty,” he announced. “Today, I am sending Emily, daughter of our Beta, to the Nightclaw Pack to become their Tenth Queen.”