LOGIN+ MedoraWhy does she keep targeting me?I stared at the silver dress shining under the crystal chandeliers. Seraphina stood there looking so proud of her cruel little insult. The whole grand hall went dead silent. Fifty pack leaders held their collective breath. The air felt thick and hot inside the massive stone room. They waited for me to run out crying. They expected the weak Fletchling reject to shatter into a million sad pieces right on the circular rug.I looked at Seraphina's perfect, mocking smile. I saw the ugly triumph shining in her icy blue eyes. Then I looked up at the five ancient elders sitting behind the high oak table. Their wrinkly faces held the exact same judgment. They all thought I was a joke. They thought I was a mistake.My chest tightened. The familiar urge to run away flared up in my veins. But then something else woke up inside me. A quiet, stubborn spark caught fire.I was tired of hiding. I was tired of shrinking down to make other people comfortable. I s
+ KenzoThe pack elders arrived at noon, smelling like dust and judgment.I stood beside Kaz in the grand foyer, leaning against the cold stone wall. We watched the five ancient men shuffle through the massive double iron doors. They wore long grey robes made from thick wool. They carried carved wooden canes they did not actually need to walk. They just liked the sharp sound the wood made when it struck our polished marble floors. It announced their presence. It demanded instant respect. They smelled like stale parchment, old mothballs, and bitter complaints.Kaz didn't care about their wooden canes. He didn't care about their age. He stepped right into their path, blocking the entrance to the main hallway."Listen to me very carefully," Kaz growled. His voice dropped into a lethal, terrifying pitch that vibrated through the floorboards. "She is my chosen mate. She is the Luna of this territory. If you try to humiliate her today, I will rip your titles away and banish you to the froz
+ MedoraThe click of her expensive heels faded down the long hallway.I just stood there. The bathroom door was still cracked open, letting a draft of cold air slip in to bite my wet skin. I didn't move to shut it. I didn't move at all. I stared straight into the tall vanity mirror above the marble sink.I didn't see a queen looking back at me. I saw a piece of meat.The cruel words bounced around inside my skull. They cut deep into my chest, slicing right through the fragile confidence I built over the last two days. I dropped the small towel I used to dry my dark curls. I gripped the edges of the white marble sink. My knuckles turned stark white from the intense pressure.I looked at my wide hips in the glass. I looked at the soft curve of my stomach.Richard didn't love me. He didn't send me to Ironholt because he finally saw my hidden potential. He just sold a sturdy cage to hold feral monsters. My own father looked at my body and saw a shock absorber.Tears burned the corners of
+ Medora'You are our bride...'Those words kept bouncing around inside my skull. I stood under the scalding hot water of the shower. The steam filled the giant marble bathroom. The thick fog coated the mirrors and blurred the bright lights. I let the water beat down on my sore shoulders.Kai sounded so sure of himself in the greenhouse. He looked at me like I hung the sun in the sky. He wanted me to believe I was special.But my brain knew better. My brain always searched for the trap.Bride.He didn't call me his destined mate. He didn't say the moon goddess tied our souls together at the dawn of time. He used the specific word written on the political treaty. A bride is just a title. A bride is a transaction. A bride is a breeder.That was my only real purpose inside this massive stone fortress. I was here to breed strong children for four Lycan Alphas. Richard Fletchling signed a piece of paper, and I became Ironholt property. I wasn't a soulmate. I was a broodmare.I grabbed a ba
+ MedoraI locked myself in the greenhouse just to breathe.The brass deadbolt clicked loud in the humid air. I leaned my spine against the thick glass door. My chest heaved up and down. I gasped for air like I just ran ten miles up a steep mountain. The sharp sound of Kol snapping that silver fork still rang loud in my ears. The terrible, suffocating silence that followed pushed me right over the edge. I just ran. I didn't ask to be excused from the table. I didn't look at Kaz. I just fled the dining room like a scared rabbit running from a trap.The greenhouse wrapped around me like a warm, damp blanket. The air smelled like wet dirt, rich fertilizer, and crushed petals. It washed away the toxic, sweet stench of Seraphina's jasmine perfume. I walked deeper into the glass building. The temperature rose the further I went. Sweat formed on the back of my neck. I kept my oversized gray sweater wrapped tight around my waist.I found the far corner. The gardeners grew giant red roses ba
+ MedoraBreakfast tasted like ash.I pushed the scrambled eggs around my porcelain plate. I could not swallow a single bite. The grand dining room felt like a giant ice box this morning. Just yesterday, I sat in this exact same chair eating roasted chicken and feeling like a real princess. I felt the warm sun on my face. I felt safe.Today, I felt like a fraud waiting to be kicked out the back door.I kept my head down. I stared at the silver fork in my trembling hand. My stomach tied itself into a tight, painful knot.Kaz sat at the head of the long oak table. He wore a crisp black suit. He read a stack of border reports. Kenzo sat to my left, picking at a piece of bacon. Kai and Kol drank dark coffee across from me. The tense silence in the room made my skin crawl. The air felt thick and dangerous.Then, the dining room doors swung open.Seraphina Vance walked in.She didn't wear a simple morning dress. She didn't wear a comfortable sweater. She wore a sheer white silk robe that le







