Christina's POV

What?!

"You're not serious." I finally found my voice.

"I'm completely serious," he replied, as if he were announcing a quarterly financial report. "I've just returned from Europe. I've been Alpha of my pack for some time now, but I still don't have a Luna."

He stepped closer, his wolf's energy radiating power that made Akira whimper inside me.

"Unmated Alphas are considered volatile, aggressive. But with a mate and cubs?" A cold smile touched his lips. "People see us as grounded. Cautious. The council prefers their pack leaders... domesticated."

I fell silent.

Two days ago, I vowed I'd bring home someone better than Niall.

Someone impressive enough to silence my parents.

Now, the universe had sent an answer-just with a thick layer of irony.

But I knew.

Marriage shouldn't be like this.

I'd already lived through a loveless engagement once.

All it left was a house full of silence, hollow intimacy, and a slow, brutal erosion of my self-respect.

I opened my mouth to say no.

But at that moment, my phone rang.

The sharp ringtone cut through the quiet like a knife.

I glanced at the screen and felt like a bomb had exploded in my chest.

Franklin Vance.

My father.

The Alpha of The Crescent pack, whose word was absolute in our household.

I looked at his face, familiar yet distant, then back down at my phone.

And finally, I said the words,"I can't accept."

I walked out of the hotel suite, the ringtone still shrieking.

I answered, not because I wanted to, but because I needed.

"Where the hell are you?" My father's voice was angry."Your actions reflect on this entire pack. Do you understand the strategic liability you've created?"

Ah, there it was. Not "are you okay?" but "how have you damaged our investment portfolio?"

"I'll be there soon," I said coldly, hanging up before he could start calculating my depreciated daughter-value.

I gave the driver my parents' address and collapsed into the backseat, like someone bracing for a public execution.

Okay. Let's get this over with.

My neighbor, aka my one-night stand, was probably insane.

But I still had a drop of alcohol-induced courage left in my blood. The old Christina, desperate for pack approval, hadn't crept back in yet. I had to move fast.

The pack house sat on the centre of The Crescent territory, in the kind of suburban enclave that didn't welcome anyone who couldn't trace their bloodline back three generations.No human visitors. No rogues. Just an elegantly worded "pure blood only" policy.

At the wrought-iron gate, I took a deep breath. I felt like a boxer entering the ring. Shoulders squared, chin up, and emotional armor locked in place.

The moment I entered the living room, I could sense the ambush.

My father, High and mighty Alpha Franklin, sat alone in his leather chair, wearing the same expression he probably used when commanding subordinate wolves.

Beside him, my mother, Caroline, with her perfect hair and perfectly aligned pearl necklace,

To their left, Niall sat on the sofa, all solemn and brooding, as if waiting for a pack tribunal to direct his next pose.

And on the right?

Beatrice, obviously.

All we were missing was a silver stake and an executioner.

This was a trial.

I was the defendant.

And the verdict had already been written.

Father struck first.

"What took you so long? This pack doesn't run on your schedule." His voice was cold.

"Traffic," I lied.

If I told them I'd just escaped from a towel-clad Alpha proposing marriage, they'd have me locked in silver chains.

"So? Why am I here?" My tone was iced over.

No one answered.

Not until Niall stood, a bandage still across his forehead.

The sight of him looking vaguely wounded brought me a small, grim satisfaction.

"I had your things removed from my pack house," he said slowly, nudging a small suitcase with his foot. "Everything's there."

I stared at it.

A single carry-on suitcase. Four years of engagement, and all I had to show for it was luggage small enough for the overhead compartment on budget airlines.

Perfect metaphor for my importance in his life.

Rage rose in my throat, but I swallowed it.

"Thanks," I said flatly. "That's... thoughtful."

I snatched up the ridiculous little suitcase and turned to leave.

Come on. No one calls a full-blown family meeting just to return a suitcase. I knew better. This was about humiliation. About putting me in my place.

They were the real family.

I was always the outsider, tolerated only when they needed someone to blame.

"Wait," my father said.

I paused. Didn't turn around.

He folded his arms and smiled.

"Now that Beatrice is back," he said, "and since you and Niall have broken up, we need to address the pack's public position."

I gave a short, humorless laugh. Turned around slowly, letting the sarcasm drip from my lips.

"By all means. Plan whatever you want. It's not like you've ever asked for my opinion before."

"We used to ask," he shot back, "back when you were still the sensible daughter. The one with potential."

He stepped closer.

"You're too emotional, Christina. Your insecurity drove you to paranoid-accusing Niall, trying to control him. You rejected your fated mate, and that's what destroyed the relationship."

His words were blades.

Light in tone. Ruthless in effect.

"So this is on you. And you will announce it to the other packs. Tell them you fell for someone else. That's why you rejected your mate bond."

I froze.

Something ripped open inside my chest, like they'd torn it apart with their bare hands.

I looked at them, all of them-my parents, Niall, Beatrice.

So calm and deliberate.

Like a script they'd rehearsed for weeks.

What had I done to deserve this?

Where had I gone so wrong?

I glanced at Niall, hoping for something. I didn't know what exactly. A shred of decency? A moment of courage? But there was nothing. Just that entitled look staring back at me, unapologetic and self-satisfied.

This was absolutely insane.

"No, I refuse to make that statement!" I exploded. "Niall and Beatrice's affair caused me unbearable pain, weakened my wolf. Akira and I can barely sense scents anymore. You both know that means I'll have difficulty bonding with any new mate."

I was ready to storm out.

But that's when my father finally stood.

Like a judge preparing to read the sentence.

"You don't have to worry about finding someone new," he said with absolute finality.

"We've already made arrangements. As long as you're still part of this pack, you have value, don't you?"

I stared at Franklin in fury.

In his mind, my value was marrying some Alpha to bring resources to the pack.

Fuck that! I had my own career to prove my worth.

"You're absolutely right, Alpha Franklin. As long as I'm in this pack, I'm valuable-as your prized commodity to auction off." My voice was sweet as poison. "What a brilliant businessman you are, selling your own daughter. Too bad your best merchandise just quit."

And with that, I stormed out.

Christina's POV

I must not be their daughter.

How else could my own parents treat me like some expendable omega when I carried the same Crescent blood as Beatrice?

Akira, my wolf, snarled inside my mind. "They don't deserve us, Chrissy."

The moment I got back to my apartment, I collapsed into bed. I didn't move until my phone started ringing.

It was Ysolde.

"You ditched family dinner night?" she asked before I could even say hello. "Your father just called my dad and asked almost every pack member in the entire Carlisle pack, demanding to know if you were hiding out with me."

"Well, hello to you too," I groaned. "And no, I'm not hiding. I'm staging a tactical retreat after declaring independence."

"What happened? Wait,don't tell me. Niall did something spectacularly stupid again?"

I didn't wait for her to speculate further,I just blurted out everything.The final fight with Niall. My parents making me publicly confess to "cheating".

And, yes... I also told her about the one-night stand.

I left out the proposal.

Ysolde let out a howl so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

"You had a one-night stand with your neighbor?! The one who looks like he stepped out of a Calvin Klein billboard? And you didn't send me a single picture?"

I switched the phone to speaker and tossed it onto the couch.

"He's not just hot, Ysolde. He's an Alpha."

"An Alpha?!" Her voice reached a pitch only dogs or werewolves could hear. "From which pack?"

"I don't know. I didn't exactly ask for his pack credentials while he was taking off my-"

"Don't you dare stop there, Christina Vance! Details. Now."

I dragged a pillow over my face. "You are the worst best friend in the history of werewolf friendships."

"And you're dodging," she shot back.

Yes, I was.

I never hid things from Ysolde. Not even when Niall started showing his true colors last year. Not even when Beatrice "accidentally" ruined my portfolio before the design competition.

But last night...

I slept with a man whose pack I couldn't identify.Just to wash Niall's memory off my skin-for a minute, an hour, a night.Whatever it took to feel free again.

"At least tell me this," Ysolde pressed. "Did your wolves recognize each other? Any... mating pull?"

My hand unconsciously went to my neck where his teeth had grazed my skin.

"I don't know," I muttered. "Akira was... unusually quiet."

"Holy moon goddess," Ysolde breathed. "You need to find out who he is."

"What I need is to figure out how to deal with my parents trying to auction me off to the next available Alpha now that Niall's rejected me."

Ysolde went quiet for a moment. "You know you always have a place with our pack if things get ugly."

I swallowed hard.

"Thanks," I managed. "I might need it sooner than you think."

I glanced at the time and cursed.

"I've got to go to work."

Now that my parents had made it clear I was as useful as a declawed cat in a hunt, my job was the one thing I couldn't afford to screw up.

Of course, they believed I worked as a barista at Ground & Pound.

In their minds, once mated to Niall, I should be home full-time-a perfect little Luna with no ambitions beyond pack politics and eventual pup-bearing.

They had no idea I was actually Nyx Collective's rising star jewelry designer.

The coffee shop was just my cover-my way of explaining where I disappeared to every day without revealing I was doing something my controlling parents would consider beneath them.

I dragged my exhausted body to Ground & Pound, already planning my escape route to my studio afterward.

"Chrissy."

My boss, Benny, greeted me like I was an IRS agent with a warrant-nervous, sweaty, practically whimpering.

"You don't need to be here today. I was just about to call you..." He stared at the floor as if it might open up and swallow him. "You're not on the schedule anymore."

My wolf bristled. "Excuse me?"

"You've been... fired. I'm really sorry. I didn't want to, but..." He finally looked up, his eyes wide with genuine fear. "Your father came by."

My stomach dropped faster than a stone in a lake.

"Said he'd have every werewolf in Highrise boycott us if I kept you on staff." Benny's nose couldn't pick up pack politics, but even he knew Alpha Franklin wasn't someone to cross. "I'm sorry. I couldn't do anything."

"He's just Alpha, Benny. Not the Alpha King of all the packs."

"Maybe not, but he's got The Crescent pack wrapped around his finger. And they're half our customer base."

I took a deep breath. Yelling at Benny wouldn't do anything. This wasn't his fault.

Before Akira could urge me to do something stupid,like shift right there and tear up the espresso machine,I stormed out.

I didn't hate that job. Being a barista was just my alibi.

What really paid my bills,what no one in my pack knew except Ysolde,was my jewelry design work.

Ever since I was a pup,my father had told me I was average.Ordinary. Unexceptional. Every time I tried to shine, he dragged me back into Beatrice's shadow.

Eventually, I learned to hide. I buried my ambition, wore gray feathers.

So no, I didn't care about losing the coffee shop job.

What infuriated me was that this was clearly a power move. My father's influence was all over it.

It was his punishment. His response to me rejecting Niall. Rejecting the arrangement that would have bound our packs. But Beatrice had already taken my place in this ridiculous marriage. Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

He was sending me a message,"You don't get to walk away from the pack's plans. I can destroy any independence you think you've earned with just one word."

If he thought I would come crawling back, belly-up like I used to, begging for the pack's approval...

He could go howl at the moon.

I wasn't his obedient pup anymore.

I was done playing the good little daughter.

Thirty minutes later, I shoved open the front door of the pack house.

No knocking. No announcing myself through the pack mind-link. I didn't care.

I had come ready to start round two of our family dispute.

What I found instead was something far worse.

My parents were sitting on the couch, sipping blood-red wine worth more than my rent, laughing-actually laughing-with a man I didn't recognize.

The scene was picturesque. Like they'd stepped right out of How to Host the Perfect Alpha-Wannabe Dinner.

He was a sleazy, off-brand version of an old-school pack boss. Custom suit, shirt open too far-revealing a pasted-on looking thicket of chest hair, like holiday decor gone wrong. Everything about him was overdone: the bleach-white teeth, the polished, pointless smile.

"Darling," my mother cooed, "come meet Mr. Leonard Shaw, Alpha of the Silver Heights pack. A true self-made wolf.There's so much you could learn from him,about turning wolf talent into real pack success."

It hit like a silver bullet to the face.

Leonard grinned ear to ear. His eyes went straight to my neck, searching for mating marks.

"Lovely to meet you, Miss Vance," he said. "I do hope we get to run together soon. I always enjoy taking young she-wolves under my wing. Especially unmated, beautiful ones like yourself."

I didn't bother hiding my expression.

It wasn't disgust. It was the look a wolf gives right before it tears out a throat.

He was practically drooling.

I could hear his wolf howling mating calls in his head.

"Christina," my father warned in that threat tone, "don't be rude. Show Mr. Shaw proper respect as an Alpha."

I didn't move. I didn't even blink.

My mom's laugh rang out, high and brittle, like a fox caught in a trap.

"Young she-wolves are so temperamental these days, aren't they?" she said to Leonard, with the practiced tone of a Luna placating an Alpha.

Leonard just waved it off. "I like a female with spirit.Makes the chase more interesting."

Yeah, and I like hunters who don't use silver bullets. We can't all get what we want.

And my father, the same man who had told me "we'll handle everything" just days ago, was now nodding at Leonard like a hotel concierge hoping for a good tip.

That's when I understood.

This wasn't an introduction.

It was an offering.

I was the sacrifice on display tonight.

This wasn't about meeting a 'promising Alpha male', but a pack alliance negotiation. I was being marketed like a breeding female with a bonus dowry.

When Leonard finally left,I turned to face them.

"What the hell was that?"

My mother raised her wine glass, took a triumphant sip.

"That," she said, "was your future mate."

Christina's POV

Interesting, introducing me to a man who's clearly over sixty and has buried several wives. The kind of man who would definitely make headlines in the human world as a textbook example of 'husband is usually the killer' in those spousal murder cases.

Wow, it's a miracle I've survived to 24 without being poisoned by my own parents.

I snorted."You've officially lost your mind. You're pimping me off to a man who probably qualifies for a senior discount."

"Watch your tone," my father snapped, his Alpha voice making the glasses on the table vibrate. "Leonard Shaw is a shipping magnate who controls three major port terminals in Highrise City. His pack may be smaller than ours, but his business acumen is unparalleled."

I stared at him. "So, this is it? I dump Niall and suddenly you're throwing me at the next Alpha with a functioning heart valve?"

Dad's jaw tightened. "The Crescent pack invested in you for twenty-four years, Christina. Elite education. Social training. That lavish coming-of-age ceremony. Do you think any of that came for free?"

"Send me an invoice then," I shot back. "I'll pay back every penny, but I'm not selling myself to the highest bidder just so you can get your money's worth."

"You misunderstand your position," he said ruthlessly. "This isn't a negotiation. The pack needs stability after your little... tantrum with Niall. Leonard provides that opportunity."

My mother sat beside him, silent as a museum exhibit, stirring her tea like she was trying to create a whirlpool to escape into. Supportive in the way that meant she'd watch him throw me under the bus for his business deals and then hand me a bandage for the damage.

"That wasn't why I came back," I said, redirecting. "Why the hell did you call my boss? You got me fired."

"That was the price of disobedience," Dad replied coolly. "You don't get to disrespect the pack's arrangements and walk away unscathed. Actions have consequences, Christina."

"I'm never marrying Shaw. Or any other creep you drag out of your Alpha contact list."

Dad's expression didn't change, but the room temperature seemed to drop. "You'll fall in line. You always do."

"You've already cost me my job. I don't even live at home anymore. There's nothing else you can take from me."

His smile was slow and cold - he kind that reminded everyone why he was Alpha. "Don't be so sure. You like your apartment, don't you? Shame if your landlord suddenly received an offer he couldn't refuse for that building."

My stomach dropped faster than an elevator with cut cables.

"And that best friend of yours... Ysolde? Her parents' little family business still depends on our supplier network and territory protection. The Carlisle pack is what-a tenth our size? They'd never survive winter without our support."

I stared at him, stunned. "You wouldn't."

"Would you be willing to risk it?"

The way he said it made me certain that he meant every vile syllable.

Franklin Vance didn't just run The Crescent pack; he was a shrewd businessman with connections throughout Highrise City's corporate world. The kind of man who turned networking into an art form, building alliances that stretched from pack politics to boardroom deals. If he wanted to destroy someone's livelihood, one phone call was all it took. And my father had never hesitated to weaponize those connections.

As his daughter, I was just another commodity in his portfolio-something to be traded, leveraged, or liquidated for the right price. He was basically running a high-end escort service, except instead of a street corner, his office had mahogany furniture and a killer view.

So unfortunately, I didn't have a choice.Not really. I couldn't let Ysolde get caught in the crossfire of my family's twisted drama. If someone had to go down, it wasn't going to be her.

So I went on the offensive.

"I can't marry that old creep," I said, with all the conviction of someone who just bet their life savings on a horse named 'Maybe Tomorrow.'"Because I'm already engaged."

My fatherr's teacup froze midway to his lips. "You what?"

"Found a new mate," I repeated, casually inspecting my nails like I wasn't making this up on the spot. "Met someone incredible. Very powerful Alpha. We've been... making it official."

Even my mother looked up at that, her eyes wide as dinner plates.

Dad set down his cup with a sharp clink. "That's not possible. You were engaged to Niall for years. You broke it off last week."

"Well, it's been a productive week," I said, flashing my most deranged pageant smile. "Turns out, I'm quite decisive when I finally get a say."

"Who is he?" Mom finally spoke.

"You'll meet him soon enough," I said, lifting my bag and stepping toward the door. "I'll bring him home for dinner sometime. And I promise, he'll make your Leonard Shaw look like a small-time player trying to run with the big dogs."

Dad rose from his chair, his Alpha presence filling the room. "Christina Vance, you are not walking out of this house until-"

"Until what?" I turned, summoning every bit of courage I'd never known I had. "Until you threaten more of my friends? Go ahead. But then I'll make sure my new mate knows exactly how you treated his chosen female. I wonder how that would play out at the Elder Council."

The bluff was so enormous it practically had its own gravitational pull. But the mention of the Elder Council, where Alphas settled territory disputes, made my father hesitate just long enough.

"This discussion isn't over," he growled.

"It is for today," I replied, and walked out before he could use his Alpha command on me.

Back at my apartment, I collapsed onto the sofa like a house of cards in a hurricane.

"FUCK!" I screamed into a pillow.

I was seething not only at my father and his Machiavellian maneuvering which earned him a top-tier spot on my shit list, but also, bitterly, at myself.

Because after all these years of therapy,self-help books and telling myself I was immune to his manipulations... he still got under my skin like a splinter you can't quite dig out.

And now I'd gone and thrown a bloody mate into the mix like I was auditioning for a supernatural rom-com, minus the romance, the comedy, or the actual mate. My father would sniff out the lie in three business days, max. Probably sooner if he bothered to check with his connections.

Akira paced nervously in my mind. "We need to find someone. Fast."

"I know, I know," I muttered aloud.

I needed to make my little lie true. Somehow. I needed an Alpha who oozed enough power and dominance to make my father think twice about his precious Leonard Shaw alliance. Someone untouchable. Impressive. Preferably with enough bite to make my father second-guess every threat out of his mouth.

Too bad every eligible Alpha I knew who fit the bill was either mated, morally bankrupt, or part of Niall's inner circle.

"Moon goddess help me," I groaned, burying my face in a throw pillow.

Then, just as I was ready to spiral into a full-blown panic attack, a face floated into my mind.

Blue eyes and sharp jawline.

My next-door neighbor who had proposed to me just hours ago.