The ball

Lady Irish grabbed a stack of faded, dusty photograph albums. She opened one and flipped through the pages quickly. "This is how we maintained the façade," she muttered to me. "When people ask, you are an extremely distant cousin who just arrived. You were studying abroad in the outer colonies. Remember the story in case you are asked. You have never lived here."

"But I have memories of being here," I protested, a slight tremor in my voice. The memories were blurry, incomplete and felt faraway but they were there. I remembered the garden, the library.

Lady Irish laughed, a short, humorless sound. "Nonsense. You've been isolated in the west wing since you were sixteen, except for mandatory tutor sessions. We told people you were sent away. You have lived a life of total hiding for four years. No one knows you. That is the only thing saving us now."

This explained the kind of room I woke up in. Sylvia wasn't just unwanted, she was kept hidden. I looked at Kael again. She caught my eye and there was a strange look in her eyes that looked really similar to pity.

"I'm sorry, Sylvia," she mumbled, not looking at her parents. It was the first genuinely kind thing anyone had ever said to me in my life... well, my old life.

The rest of the time was spent being fitted. They forced me into a stiff, torn dress. Mira layered my face with makeup and then placed a thick, black lace veil over my head.

"The veil stays on at all times," Lady Irish instructed. "Rouph paid for a veiled bride. He likes them quiet."

As the evening hour approached, Lord Irish delivered his final warning. He emphasized the core structure of this wolf x human society.

"I should remind you because you have been acting muddle-headed recently. The King, Alpha Bryan Blackwood, holds the annual Choosing Ball to scent a human female whose scent appeals to him. He has never chosen a female since the murder of his father four years ago. His mother, Queen Mother, is alive but she has been in perpetual mourning. This is a very unstable time. If you do anything to offend the Blackwood line, we will all pay. If he asks you a question, you look at Mira and she answers for you. Just follow her lead."

I had been thrown into a game I didn't understand but I was going to observe, learn and survive.

I followed Lord and Lady Irish into the large, waiting carriage

Do not draw the Alpha's eye, I repeated in my mind. Be invisible.

The carriage ride to the palace was tense and silent. Mira, Jessa, Kael and Mom were focused entirely on the coming social event and were chattering excitedly about it. I sat in the corner, covered by the thick veil.

What's so good about being chosen by the King anyway? Oh God, he is going to scent them, claim them, mark them. He will bite their neck and take them as his mate. I felt a little sick at that thought. So why are they so eager to become living property for a wolf?

I stared out the window. As we approached the center of the city, the buildings changed completely. The human districts were grand but felt worn down. The wolf territory, however, was superior in comparison. The streets were perfectly maintained, lit by bright white moon-lamps that cast a clear, steady light.

Then, I saw the palace.

It was made of black stone and dark wood. It looked impossibly huge and stretched upward as far as I could see, then topped by spires that looked sharp enough to pierce the sky, with giant wolf statues at the gate. How was such a thing even built? It was the grandest building I had ever seen.

They called it the Blackwood Howl Palace. Even the name gives off dangerous vibes.