1: FAT B*TCH

THEODOSA.

I’d sucked Prince Narra’s cock more times than I cared to admit out loud.

No one knew, it was our little secret––the beta’s bastard daughter sneaking off with the pack’s most sought-after heir.

Narra Triosi was next in line to become the Alpha King of Duskmire.

No one would imagine he would have interest in me even if I wasn’t the child the beta of our pack was the least proud of.

And it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

It was because of how I looked.

Overweight, soft, nothing like the lean, muscled wolves of Kingdom Duskmire.

I liked my body, don’t get me wrong.

But everyone thought I was fat.

It didn’t helP that I was the bastard child from an affair my father would rather forget. He made that very clear when he brought me home when my mother died.

Everything the people of Duskmire knew about me, they weaponized.

Except my siblings. Except him.

Narra Triosi.

And... maybe that’s why I fell for him.

That, and the countless flowers, the affection, the way he was the only one to tell me I was pretty.

We became friends-with-benefits, and I lost my virginity to him in his family’s abandoned cabin. It was days before he left.

Now he was back, and the biggest bash I’d ever seen in Duskmire was being thrown in his honor.

Fast forward to my siblings and I standing in front of Narra Triosi’s beach house, music damn near vibrating through my body as my sister rang the doorbell.

She squeezed my hand in hers, “Nervous?”

I glanced at her, “More like I feel like I might pass out.”

“Don’t worry, Theo,” she grazed the back of my hand with her thumb.

“Last I checked, you’re the one who wanted to come to this,” I heard Binny say, “Why the hell do you need a pep talk?”

“Shut up, Binny.” Pippa slapped his shoulder, “You’re such a guy.”

He rubbed the spot as the door opened and we were greeted by someone in Narra’s close circle.

He grinned at Binny and smiled at Pippa. But when his gaze came to me, the smile thinned so noticeably that my heart clenched. “If you’re looking for a free meal, canteen’s that way, Fane.” He pointed over my shoulder and I felt my cheeks heat.

“What did you just say to her?” Binny stepped forward and my hand was on his arm in an instant.

“Nothing, man, we’re just fooling.” The guy backed up and walked into the house, while I tried to tell Binny to let it go.

Binny hated Narra’s group of friends, hell, I was certain he hated Narra too. That was why I never told him about us, despite our close relationship.

Pippa sighed, “I wanna see my boyfriend, let’s get inside.”

The party was straight-up craziness.

“Alright, I’m gonna get us drinks.” Binny said.

As he walked off, Pippa whipped around so fast her blonde hair swept her face, “You need to go find your man. He just came back, and while I believe Narra Triosi is a good guy, other girls here are gonna think that too. Now that his training is done, he’s looking for his Luna. These days, we never find our mates so you better find him before some other bimbo who wants a crown does.”

Wow. No pressure?

“I just saw Jerome, that means Narra’s over by that table. Come on.”

She dragged me past the centre of the room, to a secluded little neon section with the high rankers. Narra and his friends.

Unexpectedly, my chest grew light as we got closer. Not just light, almost... fluttery.

Really, really fluttery.

“Wait,” I stopped in my tracks, “I don’t feel good.”

“Theo—”

“No, I mean it, Pippa,” I interrupted, “I really don’t feel good.”

I looked up to the crowd of his friends, finally seeing him standing in the centre and talking to a group of girls.

My heart was running a mile a minute. Butterflies erupted in my belly.

Mate!

“Pippa,” I breathed, “I— I”

I saw Narra suddenly stiffen, as he tilted his head back and sniffed the air.

In the next second, he looked over at me.

“I think Narra might be my mate.” I whispered.

“What?” Pippa whisper-yelled, looking between us in shock. “Shit. He’s watching you, Theo. You think he can feel it too?”

Narra Triosi was my mate?

It felt like the biggest apology letter from the goddess for how shitty life had been right until that point.

“Well go get him.” She urged, “Stake your claim!” I wasn’t prepared for her to literally shove me in his direction.

People glanced at me enough to cement I couldn’t really rethink this.

Goddess, give me the confidence.

I walked up to him with my heart in my throat, trying to ignore every irritated or confused glance that came my way.

Every step closer to him made my heart beat faster, made my body thrum higher.

“Narra––”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jerome, Narra’s friend, came up beside him, “Walk your fat ass back to the centre of the party. You get lost or something?”

None of Narra’s friends had known about us, which was why the insults kept coming with them.

But as I stood in front of him now, I desperately wanted him to call out his friend for speaking to me that way.

But he didn’t.

“You deaf now? All that food’s getting to your ears? I said leave!”

“Leave her alone, Jerome.” Narra finally cut in, gazing at me carefully, “She just wants to talk to me.”

I frowned, waiting for Jerome to leave before I asked, “Can you feel it, too?”

His blue eyes thinned slightly, “Feel what?”

“This,” nervously, I stepped closer to him, “Our bond.”

This time, his eyes narrowed to slits, “Our what?”

I faltered.

Was this a one-sided bond? Goddess no.

Before I could think of what to say, Narra snatched hold of my upper arm, startling me as he literally dragged me away from his friends.

He took me all the way to the almost empty kitchen before he let go of me and scrubbed a hand down his face.

“Narra what are you––”

“Keep it a fucking secret, Theo!”

My skin was still tingling where he touched me, as I whispered, “Keep what a secret?”

“This!” He sharply gestured between us, “You can’t tell anyone. Not your dad. Fuck, don’t tell Binny.”

My brows furrowed, and the dread started to sink in, “You’re ashamed of me.”

“I’m not fucking ashamed of you, Theo. But us fooling around is a whole different ball game from us being mates.”

“What. The. Fuck?”

Both our heads whipped around to Binny standing within hearing range, looking incredulous as he looked between us.

“You’re her fucking mate?” Binny almost yelled, “You?! And you’ve been folling around with my sister behind my back?”

Godess.

“Binny––”

“Stay out of it.” Narra cut me off.

Binny immediately glared at him. “Don’t talk to her like that.”

Narra’s face went red.

I hated this.

There was already a crowd forming.

Narra and Binny ironically didn’t have a good relationship, despite the fact that they were supposed to rule together in the future.

“You step the fuck away from her,” Binny warned.

And it shocked me to hear Narra egg him on with, “And if I don’t? What the hell are you gonna do about it, Binny Fane?”

I turned to face him, “Narra, don’t say that––”

”Or else what?” He looked down at me, eyes suddenly angry, “Look at this fucking crowd, goddess, Theo, you couldn’t wait to come up to me on another day?”

“You’re gonna blame her cause you’re not man enough to own what’s yours?”

Narra scoffed, his voice taking on a hard edge as people gathered, “She’s not mine.”

Something in my chest cracked.

“Yeah? I think the goddess has something else to say on that.”

“What?” I heard someone whisper.

“She’s not my fucking mate!” Narra suddenly bellowed.

The crowd fell silent at the anger in his tone. Narra grabbed my arm roughly, and said loudly, “Fat bitch wants to be though.”

Everyone. Laughed.

And my heart... shattered to pieces at hearing him call me that.

“And just to make it clear to her,” he turned to look at me, his eyes red and angry. Different. Not Narra. “I, Narra Triosi, Alpha Heir to the Kingdom Duskmire, reject you, Theodosa Fane, as my fated mate.”