Masuk"How much for the Indian Old Sandalwood?" I ask, my voice flat, cutting straight through the heavy, suffocating silence of the shop.My fingers trace the edge of the glass counter inside Nature's Apothecary. My skin is cool, but beneath my heavy cotton shirt, my pulse is hammering against my collarbone. I am a human—a fat, useless, un-shifted bloodline anomaly to the rest of Silverpine City—and my body is exhausted. Walking from the Mooncrest Iron Gate all the way down into the dark, tangled alleys of Mercer’s Corner Market has left my feet burning inside my boots. My plus-size frame isn't built for endless foot travel, but I don't have the luxury of calling a Gilbert Pack Estate shuttle. Not anymore. Not since Sterling Whitlock pushed his family out of the main seat and forced me to survive on whatever scraps I can carve out with my own hands.The middle-aged shopkeeper behind the desk, Ethan, hesitates. He stares at the small wooden jars laid out on the counter between us."If the i
"Just drive," Ford snarled, flinching as he cut his eyes toward Tuesday Gilbert.My heart hammered against my ribs, heavy and thick in my plus-size chest, but I maintained my grip on my temper. Outside the dark-tinted windows of the sleek Gilbert Pack Household vehicle, the afternoon sun beat down on Mooncrest Pack Roads. I sat in the backseat, breathing through my nose, fighting the overwhelming stench of dominant wolf pheromones that clung to my young cousin. I was born human into a lineage of powerful shifters—a biological flaw the rest of the pack treated like a disease. But today, my soft, heavy frame had pinned Ford to the dirt near the Mooncrest Iron Gate, forcing a true-born wolf to beg for mercy."Shall we head to the Pack Administration House first or take Master Ford back to the Gilbert Pack Estate?" the driver asked, eyeing us nervously through the mirror.Tuesday smoothed her crisp, expensive dress, adjusting the silver crest pinned to her collar—the mark of high-ranking
“Get over here,” I say, my voice dropping an octave as I hold out a single, thick finger and curl it toward Ford Gilbert.My human heart hammers against my ribs, but I do not let the fear show in my posture. I am plus size, soft, and completely devoid of a wolf spirit, yet I stand tall on the gravel paths near Mooncrest Pack Roads. My curvier, heavy-set body has always made me an easy target for the sleek, muscular shifters of Silverpine City, but they always forget that leverage beats brute pack strength every single time.Ford takes one look at my icy eyes and flinches, remembering how close I came to snapping his wrist back at the Pack Healing Center last week. His boots scrape backward against the loose dirt."Coward," I spit, my voice flat and unimpressed.Before he can process the insult, I bridge the distance between us. My hand shoots out, wrapping around the top of his wolf-eared cartilage, and I twist it down with everything I have. Pain explodes through his nerve endings. F
"Where is the bulk herb supplier located?" Sterling Whitlock wiped his mouth with a linen napkin, his sharp hazel eyes cutting across the heavy oak table to where I sat nursing a bowl of warm broth.My wolf shifted uncomfortably beneath my ribs, sensing his quiet authority as the head of our household. As a human-born female in the Whitlock Pack Estate, I was an anomaly. A human daughter returned to a noble wolf family after years of being kept hidden in Whitlock Hollow. My plus-size frame—soft curves, broad hips, completely lacking the razor-thin, muscular build of true-born she-wolves—stood out in every mirror in this house. But I didn't care about their sleek, terrifying standards. I needed those herbs to suppress the scent of my mortal blood before the next full moon."Why do you need a bulk supplier, Joxie?" Sterling pressed, his voice dropping an octave, carrying the heavy weight of an Elder's command. "The Pack Healing Center stocks everything our line requires. You do not need
"I am telling you right now, Briggs, if she tries to play the victim one more time, I will rip her lie apart in front of the entire Alpha council," I growled, my jaw tightening as the phantom burn of my unused claws prickled beneath my fingernails.Briggs Whitlock did not even turn around from the dark wood railing of the Whitlock Moon Suite balcony. The heavy scent of pine and crushed leaves clung to his leather jacket, thick with the possessive, restless energy of a high-ranking wolf whose pack blood was boiling. "You think you are the only one who sees through Tuesday Gilbert? She came back to the Gilbert Pack Estate with tears in her eyes, telling Ford Gilbert that you threatened to banish her from the Mooncrest Pack Roads.""She lied!" I snapped, my voice ringing hard against the timber walls of my bedroom. Being born a full human inside the legendary Whitlock lineage was an endless, bloody trial, but my broad shoulders and heavy, curvy frame carried more stubborn resilience than
"You think you can just hide an old woman away in the mountains without anyone noticing?" I spat, my jaw clenching as the phantom pressure of my inner beast clawed at my chest.Briggs Whitlock did not even blink. He leaned his heavy frame against the dark wood dining table inside the Whitlock Cottage, his hazel eyes cold, locked onto mine. "I did what was required for Lorelei. She wanted out of Silverpine City, away from the Gilbert Pack Household and their endless political noise. You had no right to dragged her back into pack business.""She is my grandmother, Briggs!" I took a sharp step forward, my heavy boots thudding against the floorboards. Being a curve-blessed, broad-shouldered human born straight into a lineage of dominant, high-ranking shifting wolves was an endless war, but I never backed down from my brothers. "She raised me when the rest of this family acted like I was a mistake. If she moves, it is because she wants to, not because you or the Alpha council forced her ha







