Chapter 1

Adelaide’s POV

The council hall of the Bloodmoon Pack hummed with cedar and damp.

I shrugged off my sweat-drenched silver fox cloak, my fingers absently tracing the Moon Goddess pendant at my throat.

The bronze throne beside me yawned empty—Alpha Ulrik’s seat.

Boots echoed on stone steps before the door burst open, snowmelt and pine scent flooding in.

I knocked over the mead jug, rising to greet him, amber liquid pooling over the sheepskin map.

“You’re finally back,” I managed, my voice catching.

A year ago, we’d pledged ourselves as mates before the pack. Then the Lycan King summoned him north.

He never even marked me.

Now, as I looked at him, my mind was a tangled web.

My wolf let out a faint, rebellious snarl, catching a tangle of scents on Ulrik’s trail that made its hackles rise.

Now Ulrik stood armored and alive, his jaw set in that familiar stubborn line.

will join the Bloodmoon Pack. I’ll mark

wolf snarled low in my ribs, scenting the musk

was a warrior through and through.

as I finished speaking, Ulrik’s cedar scent, laced with his Alpha aura, swept over

of his sword scabbard scraping water-soaked stone and scraping up dark red

marking her as my mate,” his voice carried a sharp edge of

snapped in my fist. The moonstone pendant clattered toward a rain

ground the shattered gem beneath my heel. The rain pounding outside the Packhouse

were pheromones talking!” he roared,

tip lifting my damp collar. “Look at your

blade with a metallic sigh. “Velda and I fought side by side in the north. I admired her. I used my campaign merits to petition the Lycan King for her place here. As my mate. Truth is, I didn’t need

in the blade, memories flooding back of the East

heat—Ulrik’s messengers always claimed war made replies

seeds in the battle reports were never for

when I spoke again, my voice was laced with sarcasm. “So you ‘admire’ her? What about the promises you made before you left for the northern tribes? You said if I

Ulrik’s expression turned awkward.

be mates, I hadn’t met Velda yet. You were always suited to be a Luna… and now,

watched him, noting the tenderness in his eyes whenever he spoke

unlike

felt like I’d swallowed a fly—disgusted, but I pushed through the

the elder Alpha and

My father, as former Alpha,

actually agreed?

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