Prologue

As I stepped out of my car, a strange chill sliced through the summer air, raising the hairs on my neck.

The setting sun painted the sky in shades of blood and bruises, and something ancient whispered in the wind—a sound I felt in my bones rather than heard.

The air felt wrong. Heavier than usual, almost charged, as if the universe itself was holding its breath.

I shook my head and forced a deep breath, brushing off the unease. Just nerves, I told myself. Probably leftover tension from another day of dodging Mr. Peter’s wandering eyes and “accidental” touches.

The memory of his fingers brushing my shoulder and his overpowering cologne made my stomach churn. He was always too close in the break room. One day, I would do more than just step away. One of these days, I would make him understand what it felt like to be prey.

The thought died as I stepped inside. Wrong. Everything felt wrong.

The usual sounds of the TV playing in the living room, where Mom watched her evening shows, were absent. The comforting aroma of dinner cooking, despite her promise to make my favorite pasta, was missing.

There was no cheerful greeting of “Welcome home, sweetheart!” echoing through the house. Instead, there was only an eerie silence that felt suffocating, like a scream trapped in my throat.

I took the stairs carefully, each creak under my feet too loud in the stillness. My bedroom door hung open, though I always closed it, a habit born from years of Mom respecting my privacy.

When I reached the doorway, my heart stopped.

Mom knelt on my carpet like a broken doll, her shoulders shaking as she clutched one of my framed photos to her chest. It was the one from my twenty-second birthday, both of us laughing at the camera with ice cream on our noses.

She rocked back and forth, crying as if I were already gone, even though I stood right there, watching her world crumble.

“Mum?” My voice cracked as I dropped to my knees beside her. The carpet was damp with her tears. “Mum, what’s happening? Please, talk to me!” I reached for her shoulders, but she flinched away as if my touch burned, still clutching that photo like it was the last proof I’d ever existed. She wouldn’t look at me, and that terrified me more than her tears.

“I’m so sorry, my beautiful girl. I tried, Lisa. I tried so hard to save you.” The words came between sobs that seemed to tear through her entire body.

I stared at her, my mind spinning. Save me? From what? From who? Mr. Peter’s leering face flashed through my mind, but this was something else. Something worse.

Before I could ask, she finally looked up. Her face was streaked with tears, but it was her eyes that stopped my breath - they glowed with a faint amber light I had never seen before.

She pulled me into her arms so hard it knocked the wind from me, and I felt something else: she was burning up, her skin hot enough to make me think of fever dreams and hospital visits.

“Mum, please,” I managed, trying to keep my voice steady. “Take a deep breath first. Whatever this is, we can figure it out together.” I demonstrated, breathing in slowly, and felt her shuddering inhale against me as she tried to match my rhythm.

When she finally pulled back, I searched her face. “Now tell me what’s wrong. Why are you so upset?”

“Everything is ruined, Lisa.” Her voice was hollow, ancient, nothing like my mother’s usual warm tones. “I thought running would be enough. I changed our names, erased our trail, moved us across continents. I thought if we went far enough, if I buried our scent deep enough, he’d never find us.” She gripped my arms, her fingers trembling but strong enough to leave bruises. “But he’s coming. I can feel him in my blood, in the very air we breathe. The bond never truly breaks.”

The raw terror in her eyes made my stomach drop into freefall. I had seen my mother afraid before - of bills we couldn’t pay, of losing her job, of all the normal monsters that haunt working single moms.

But this was different. This was the fear of someone who had glimpsed something beyond the veil of our ordinary world, something that haunted her very soul.

“Who found us, Mum? What’s happening?” I tried to make sense of her cryptic words, my heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted to escape.

“The Alpha King.” She spat the title like poison. “The true king of all werewolves.”

I waited for her to crack a smile, to tell me this was some bizarre joke or stress-induced breakdown. But her face remained grave, etched with a terror too real to be fake.

“What do you mean, ‘werewolf’?” The word felt ridiculous on my tongue. “You can’t be serious. You’re not saying...” I trailed off as she met my eyes, that amber glow brightening.

“We’re werewolves, Lisa. I am, and so are you, though your blood has been sleeping.” Her voice carried the weight of decades of secrets. “I bound your wolf when you were born, locked it so deep even you couldn’t feel it. I thought... I prayed it would be enough to hide you from him.”

I jerked back before I could stop myself, my mind refusing to process her words.

My mother, the woman who burnt toast and teared up at dog food commercials, who sang out of tune in the shower, was a werewolf? That meant I was...

“Every year,” she continued, her voice dropping to barely a whisper, “the Alpha King claims girls from different bloodlines as his concubines. Some say it’s to maintain his power; others whisper about an ancient curse. It doesn’t matter if they refuse. It doesn’t matter if they run.” Her lips curled in disgust.

My stomach churned as I connected the dots. The strange dreams I’d had all my life - of running through forests under a moon too large to be real, the way animals either loved me instantly or fled from me, how injuries healed faster than they should.

“That’s...,” I shuddered, hugging myself tightly as a chill ran down my spine. “That’s monstrous.”

“No one has ever broken this tradition,” she said, her voice flat and empty, as if she were delivering my eulogy. “Every year, one girl is chosen as a sacrifice. No one knows why, or if they do, they’ve never dared to speak of it.”

She closed her eyes, pain carving deep lines in her face. “Can you imagine watching your daughter being led away, knowing you’ll never see her again? That’s why I ran. Why I hid us in the human world, bound our wolves, changed everything about who we were.” Her hands found mine, gripping them until both our knuckles turned white. “But he’s found us, Lisa. And he’s coming for you. I feel him approaching, like a storm rolling in across the sea.”

“Me?” The word escaped me, my chest tight with dread.

“Yes, you’re the chosen one.” My mother’s voice cracked. “You’ll be his concubine. His... sacrifice.”

I clenched my fists, willing my voice not to shake. “I will never be the king’s plaything. Never.”

“Lisa, please,” Mother said, gripping my shoulders with trembling fingers. “The Alpha King, he takes what he wants. Lives mean nothing to him. Those who resist... You can’t imagine the horrors he’s capable of.” She swallowed hard.

“Let him come.” Heat rose in my chest, burning away the fear. “I don’t care what kind of monster he is. I’ll fight him. I’ll send him straight to hell myself.”

The candles flickered, casting writhing shadows on the walls.

Mother’s tears caught the dim light as she cupped my face in her weathered hands. “Oh, my brave, foolish girl,” she said in a haunted whisper. “You need to understand what it means to defy the Alpha King. When he marks his prey, he never lets go. And the price of defiance...”

She closed her eyes, pain etching deep lines around her mouth. “It won’t be just your life he takes. He’ll destroy everything you love, piece by piece, until there’s nothing left but ashes.”

Before I could respond, it came—a howl that shook the foundations of our home, vibrating through my bones and setting my teeth on edge. The sound carried centuries of darkness, of primal power that had no place in our modern world.

“He’s coming,” Mom gasped, her face draining of color.

The sound of our front door being ripped from its hinges reverberated through the house.

Each subsequent footstep fell like a death knell, measured and inexorable.

Sweat beaded on my forehead as my heart threatened to burst from my chest, yet I couldn’t move—couldn’t breathe.

And then he appeared...

He stood in the doorway like a giant, surrounded by shadows. Power rolled off him in waves, making the air feel dense and suffocating.

His eyes, ancient amber flames, captivated me, piercing through my soul, seeing beyond the surface to a deeper truth. They recognized me, even as my mind resisted in denial.

The Alpha King didn’t just claim the room; he consumed it, bending reality around him like gravity around a black hole.

His beauty was strikingly primal: sharp cheekbones and full lips that seemed chiseled from marble, midnight-black hair streaked with silver, and broad shoulders stretching the limits of his expensive suit, hinting at the powerful predator within.

Modern clothes couldn’t hide what he was. Couldn’t mask the ancient power that radiated from him.

As his gaze locked with mine, I sensed a powerful force awakening within me. The ancient magic in my blood, suppressed by my mother, stirred to life, unleashing a primal instinct that recognized my mate. My human side resisted, but the wildness within me hungered for him.

My future was being written into my very marrow, each heartbeat another word in a story I never chose to tell.