Sold To The Alpha Kings

I bite the Alpha’s throat before he can get the word “reject” out of his mouth, because I’ve been sold, collared, and called a peace bride for the last time.His blood hits my tongue hot and wrong. Copper, winter, and something electric that tastes like the air before a storm tears the sky open. I expect him to howl, to throw me to the ground, to show the whole arena what happens to girls who draw Alpha blood. He doesn’t.His wolf just stops.The entire auction arena goes silent so fast I can hear my own heartbeat. Three thousand shifters in the stands, four Kings on the dais, and not one of them dares to breathe. The only sound is the wet thud of Rook Castiel dropping to his knees in front of me, his hand coming up to the bite on his throat like he can’t compute why it hurts.Silver bleeds out of his eyes as he stares at me. Then gray. Then nothing. He hits the marble stage, and for six seconds, the Alpha of Dead Wolves is dead.Rook Castiel. Necro-wolf. He buried his whole pack thre

I wake up chained in a circle. Again.Black stone room. No windows. Four beds around me. Four Kings watching.“Explain,” I snarl at Kain. He’s still in his suit, still on his tablet. “The Law. The crowns. Why?”He finally looks up. “Statistical certainty, hybrid. Four independent kingdoms cannot coexist under one Luna bond. The Fifth Law corrects the imbalance. Three crowns are removed. One remains. Biology, not politics.”“Three of you have to die,” I say. The chain cuts my wrists when I yank it. “For what? Land? A title?”“For you,” Rook says. He’s north of me, propped on his elbow. Dead Wolf King. My bite marks are still black on his throat. “The Law says a Luna can only anchor one kingdom. So the Goddess makes us fight for the right to keep you.”“I didn’t ask for any of this.”“No one does,” Theo says from the east. Sun-wolf King. Sewn eyes aimed at my voice. “That’s why it’s called Law, not choice. You kill me in twenty-eight days now.”“Shut up about your death date,” Silas sna

Day 2, DawnSilas doesn’t wait for dawn. He kicks my door in at first light.No knock. No offer. No knife held out hilt-first like Rook. He throws his at my feet. It sticks in the stone, point down. Silver blade. Bone hilt. Carved with things that look like screaming faces.“Pick it up,” Silas says.He’s not wearing a shirt. Scars cover his chest. Not battle scars. Sigils. Burned in. Witch marks. One for every spell his mother made him cast. One for every person she made him kill.The mother’s voice isn’t in the room yet. But I feel her. Cold draft across my neck. Like a hand.“Estate rules say Luna chooses,” I say. I don’t touch the knife. “You don’t get to demand.”Silas steps over the blade. Grabs my wrist. His fingers are colder than Rook’s blood. “Rook got to choose how he bled. I don’t. Mother picks for me. Always.” His thumb presses my pulse. “So I’m picking you first. Before she does.”The door behind him creaks. Rook. Leaning in the frame, arms crossed. Cut from yesterday wra

Alpha Draevor doesn’t sit on a throne when he wants to make a point. He stands, forcing everyone in the room to look up at him, and it makes me feel smaller than I already am.The throne room is empty except for him, his two guards, and me. This isn’t an official Law meeting. This is a message meant only for me.“You’re behind schedule,” Draevor says.It’s Day 3. Twenty-seven days left. I bled Rook on Day 1. I bled Silas on Day 2 and saw his mother rip his heart out. I know exactly where I stand.“Am I?” I keep my voice flat. Unranked hybrids don’t get to sound scared.Draevor steps off the dais. He sold me to four Alpha Kings for land and title, and I know he’d sell my sister for less. “The Law requires bonding. One King per day of the grace period. You’ve bled two. There are four Kings.”“Day 3 belongs to Theo. I’m not late.”“You’re not moving fast enough.” He stops too close, smelling of steel and wolf. “The priests are watching. They want to see the Luna who killed the Necro-wolf

I don’t sleep after Kain’s lab. I can’t.Every time I close my eyes, I see that 1% future: me pregnant, Rook alive, a crown in my hands that used to belong to Kain. In 99 other futures, someone I care about dies screaming.The bottle Kain gave me sits on my bedside table. Three drops to fake Mira’s death. Twelve hours to steal her back. It feels like hope and a trap at the same time.Day 5. Twenty-five days left. The grace period is over.Blood is lethal now.The door to my chamber slams open at dawn. I’m on my feet with my knife out before I think, but it’s only Rook. He’s not grinning.That’s how I know something’s wrong.“Draevor moved up the timeline,” Rook says. “He’s calling the Kings to the arena at noon. Full court. Priests, packs, everyone.”“Why?” My stomach drops. “Day 5 is for deciding. The Law gives me until Day 7 before I have to start cutting.”“Draevor told the priests you’ve already bonded all four. He says there’s no reason to wait.” Rook’s jaw ticks. “He wants you t