THE LYCAN PRINCE'S BREEDER

Chapter 1

Arianna’s POV

In twenty minutes, I would enter the royal selection to become the dying Lycan Prince's surrogate.

I didn't want to win, but I couldn't afford to lose either.

If I succeeded, I would spend the rest of my life bearing an heir for a prince I had never met.

If I failed, my mother would die.

 Tick. Tick. Tick.

 The harsh metallic echo of the grandfather clock cut through the suffocating silence of my small room, snapping me out of my spiraling thoughts.

 I checked the face of the clock.

 18 minutes left.

 My heart began racing faster than it should have.

 He should have been here by now. Liam, the future Alpha of our pack, had promised it.

"I'll come before the Royal Guards arrive, Ari. We'll leave together, and we'll take your mother somewhere Beta Craig will never find us."

I had held on to those words for days. They were the only thing keeping my hope alive.

 I trusted him. Why wouldn't I?

 For three years, Liam had been my sanctuary. While the rest of the pack sneered at me as a wolf-less disgrace and Beta Craig’s dirty mistake, Liam held my hand in public and silenced the whispers before they could reach me.

 He made me believe I belonged.

He promised I would stand beside him as his Luna. He even gave me a simple silver locket. Though the chain was noticeably tarnished, he swore it was an heirloom his mother handed down to him. I had treasured every word.

We were supposed to run away together.

Tick. Tick.

13 minutes.

I fidgeted with my hands, my chest tightening. "Liam..." I whispered into the quiet room. "Where are you?"

Suddenly, heavy iron hooves echoed outside in the courtyard.

I rushed to the window and pulled back the sheer curtain. Down below, black-armored warriors rode through the main gates, their silver spears gleaming beneath the harsh afternoon sun.

The Royal Guards had arrived earlier than expected.

The entire pack gathered in awe, watching the royal entourage. To them, being chosen by the royal court was a sacred honor. But they weren't the ones being dragged to the Valtheris Kingdom to sell their bodies to a dying, savage prince.

My gaze darted back to the clock.

9 minutes.

Panicked sweat slicked my palms. Did Beta Craig’s guards intercept him? Was he delayed? Or... did he back out?

No. I aggressively shook my head, refusing the poisonous thought. Liam wouldn't abandon me. He couldn't.

If he couldn't reach me, I had to go to him.

I gathered the skirts of the simple linen dress my mother had sewn for me before illness stole the strength from her hands. The faint scent of her lavender soap still clung to the fabric. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I slipped out the door.

The hallway was clear. The house guards were downstairs kissing up to the royal entourage.

I slipped toward the back staircase. Though Beta Craig never truly acknowledged me, he allowed me to stay on the Beta floor. 

The top floor, however, belonged exclusively to Alpha Damian and his family. A Pack House was built strictly on hierarchy, its air heavy with the suffocating scent of Alpha dominance.

Normally, stepping foot up there was forbidden. But Liam had shown me every secret passage and loose floorboard.

I gathered my skirts and hurried up the stairs as fast as my trembling legs could carry me.

7 minutes.

The top floor was unnaturally silent. My ears rang with the rushing of my own blood. Please, Liam. Just be there. I needed him, more than I had ever needed anyone.

Relief washed over me when I reached the end of the corridor and spotted his room. His scent lingered outside the room.

"I knew you'd be here," I whispered to myself, a small smile touching my lips.

I hurried toward the door and lifted my hand to knock.

3 minutes left.

Before my knuckles touched the wood, a soft, breathless moan drifted through the heavy oak.

I froze. My hand remained suspended in mid-air.

Another moan followed, sharper this time, accompanied by a man’s low, rumbling chuckle.

The blood drained instantly from my face.

"No... No..." I whispered, desperately shaking my head as my trembling fingers wrapped around the brass doorknob. "No, no, no..."

 It couldn't be Liam. He loved me. He had sworn before the Moon Goddess that I was the only woman he would ever call his Luna.

Taking a shaky breath, I pushed the door open.

A white dress lay discarded carelessly on the rug, followed by a discarded leather belt and boots.

My breath hitched. My heartbeat slowed to a terrifying stillness.

"No..."

0 minutes.

The clock downstairs chimed, signaling my time was up, but my entire universe froze right then and there.

Liam was on the bed.

His bare back faced me, his arms wrapped around the woman beneath him.

Long, snow-white hair spread across the pillows.

I knew that hair. I knew whose it was.

My entire body went numb. My lips parted, but no sound came out.

That was her.

Seraphina.

My stepsister.