Chapter 1
The crown was the symbol of authority for Silverpine's female Alpha.
To the outside world, I was Kenna Winter, the Winter family's long-lost biological daughter. But I'd grown up in a shelter for rogue wolves in Northvale, and my family hadn't found me until I was 22.
Tonight was my first time representing Silverpine at a Moon Court auction.
"Bring your mother's crown home."
That was the only instruction my grandfather, Edmund Winter, had given me.
His words still echoed in my mind, but my fiancé, Caden Yolland, had already raised his paddle for Selena Winter, my family's adopted daughter.
"$35 million. Sold!"
Caden placed the crown on Selena's head, gently brushing aside the curls at her neck before lowering his head to nuzzle her bare skin.
His familiar cedar scent drifted through the room.
My wolf instinctively stirred, lifting her head, but I sat frozen in my chair.
Photographers crowded around the couple.
Someone in the audience exclaimed, "Blackrock's future Luna is absolutely stunning!"
Another voice deliberately rose above the crowd.
"What good is a noble bloodline? The woman an Alpha chooses to protect is the one who truly deserves to stand beside him."
I clenched my fist, my engagement ring digging painfully into my palm.
"Once you inherit Silverpine, I'll mark you beneath the full moon. Kenna, you'll be my Luna."
That was the promise Caden had made when he slipped the ring onto my finger.
In the past, whenever he took me home, he'd leave his scent on the side of my neck just like that, making it a warning so that other wolves would stay away from me.
Now Selena tilted her head back, her cheeks flushed, offering him her neck.
The wolf inside me slowly lowered herself again, letting out a wounded whimper.
My aunt, Vera Winter, approached with a glass of champagne, several noblewomen trailing behind her.
Her gaze swept over my empty hands, and a scornful smile spread across her face.
"Don't look so miserable, Kenna. Selena's been trained to become a Luna since she was little. You, on the other hand, don't even know what shoes to wear to a formal dinner. Is it any wonder Caden prefers her?"
When I didn't respond, she moved half a step closer.
"Selena takes after your mother far more than you ever will. You could put that crown on your head, and no one would mistake you for a proper aristocrat."
Soft laughter rippled through the group.
My cheeks burned with humiliation.
I gripped my skirt and looked toward Caden, silently pleading for him to say just one word in my defense.
He'd heard every insult. Yet all he did was gently brush a stray curl from Selena's forehead.
Before the auction, he'd fastened my necklace for me in the lounge.
"Don't worry about tonight," he'd assured me. "I'll win the crown and bring your mother's heirloom home to you."
"Won't Selena be upset?" I'd asked hesitantly.
He'd laughed and affectionately ruffled my hair.
"She'll have to learn who my fiancée is sooner or later."
I'd believed him.
Because of that promise, I'd turned down offers of bidding assistance from two other packs.
Yet all it had taken was a few minutes of Selena crying in his arms. Then he raised his paddle and started bidding against me for my own mother's crown.
The savings I'd painstakingly scraped together over the years were no match for the combined wealth of four families driving up the price.
My father, Marcus Winter, sat in the second row.
He slid his phone toward me.
The bank transfer was already prepared. All I had to do was sign, and the relief fund would be transferred directly to the auction house.
His lips barely moved, but the warning in his eyes was unmistakable.
"Don't disgrace your mother."
I turned the phone facedown.
Vera was still laughing.
"Your mother was once the finest she-wolf in the North. How on earth did she end up with a daughter who can do nothing but sit there looking lost?"
I said nothing.
All I could see was my pale reflection in the ballroom's gilded mirror.
A short distance away, Caden leaned down and kissed Selena's forehead just as a photographer snapped another picture.
"I can't stand men who humiliate women."
Three years ago, Caden had kissed my forehead as he said those words.
Remembering them now only made my heart ache.
I slowly unclenched my fist.
Four bloody crescents marked my palm where my nails had dug into the skin.
Yet Selena was never expected to endure even the slightest hurt.
