Rejected as the Fat Mate

She was never meant to be chosen. Tahlia Osadebe has spent twenty-five years as the punchline of her own pack — too soft, too quiet, too big — while her sister collects compliments and custom-tailored praise. In secret, Tahlia is the one holding the territory together, balancing books no one else will look at, dismissed by everyone who should be grateful. Then the Moon Goddess plays her cruelest joke yet. At the kingdom's most sacred festival, the mate bond snaps into place between Tahlia and Ronan Edevane — the Alpha Prince every she-wolf in the kingdom dreams of claiming. For one breathless second, she lets herself believe fate might finally be kind. Instead, Ronan looks her over in front of hundreds of wolves and laughs. "I reject you, fatass." The bond tears loose. The courtyard erupts. Tahlia collapses to her knees as her sister smiles. But rejection doesn't break her. It frees her. When Alaric Neron — the quiet, formidable new Alpha of a failing neighboring territory — sees the mind everyone else overlooked, he does what no one else ever has: he chooses her for her intellect, not her body. Power. Respect. A future where she's no one's joke. Meanwhile, the prince who discarded his fated mate in public is unraveling. His wolf won't settle. His instincts won't quiet. And every time he watches Tahlia smile at another man, the regret cuts deeper than any blade ever could. She was the girl nobody wanted. Now two Alphas are ready to burn the world down for her. And Tahlia? She's done being chosen. She's ready to choose herself.