The Wolfless Heiress

For twenty-one years old, Elena Valcrest had learned that there were many ways to make a person feel unwanted.

Some people used words.

Some used laughter.

Others simply looked through you as though you were nothing more than an empty space they had to walk around.

In Elena's case, she had experienced all three.

The morning sun had barely risen above the tall stone walls of the Valcrest territory when Elena was already on her knees in the servants' courtyard, scrubbing the same stretch of stone for the third time.

Her fingers were sore.

Her palms were raw.

A strand of her dark hair had fallen loose from the simple braid at the back of her head, sticking to her damp cheek.

She pushed it away with the back of her wrist and continued scrubbing.

The courtyard was large enough to accommodate dozens of pack members during celebrations, but at this hour, only a handful of servants moved around it.

And yet Elena could feel the eyes on her.

She had become accustomed to them.

The whispers.

The pity.

The amusement.

The judgment.

She heard footsteps approaching behind her.

Elena kept her head down.

She already knew who it was.

A pair of expensive shoes stopped beside the bucket.

Seleste.

Elena's stepsister looked down at her, dressed in a pale silk gown that probably cost more than everything Elena owned.

Two young women followed behind her, giggling quietly.

Seleste glanced at the floor.

Then at Elena.

“You missed a spot.”

Elena stopped scrubbing.

Her eyes moved over the spotless stone, but she kept her mouth firmly shut. She swallowed the urge to defend her hard work. Experience had taught her that answering back only made things worse.

Seleste slowly crouched.

She dipped two fingers into the bucket and flicked dirty water across the floor Elena had just cleaned.

“There.”

She smiled.

“Now it isn't.”

Elena stared at the water spreading across the stone.

Her heart burned, but she kept her gaze fixed on the ground. She lowered her head further, picked up the brush without a single word of protest, and started again.

The girls laughed as they walked away.

One of them whispered just loudly enough for Elena to hear.

“That's the Alpha's firstborn?”

The other answered.

“Unfortunately.”

A pause.

“She's the wolfless one, right?”

“Yes.”

The laughter faded as they disappeared through the archway.

Elena's hand tightened around the brush.

The word followed her everywhere.

Wolfless.

At twenty-one, she had heard it so many times that sometimes she wondered whether that was all she had become.

Not Elena.

Not the Alpha's daughter.

Not the firstborn.

Just the girl whose wolf never came.

She continued scrubbing until the water in the bucket turned gray.

Only then did a servant approach.

“Elena.”

She looked up.

“The Alpha wants you in his office.”

Her heart gave a strange little jump.

Her father.

For a moment, hope rose before she could stop it.

Perhaps he wanted to speak to her about her birthday.

Perhaps he had finally remembered that she was turning twenty-one.

Perhaps...

Elena quickly crushed the thought.

She had learned not to expect kindness from Alpha Adrian.

Still, she washed her hands, changed out of the dirty apron and walked toward the main house.

As she crossed the long corridor, she passed portraits of generations of Valcrest Alphas.

Strong men.

Powerful wolves.

Leaders whose names had been carved into the history of the territory.

And beneath them, generations of heirs.

Every firstborn child had been celebrated.

Every successor had been prepared for leadership.

Elena stopped briefly beneath the largest portrait.

Her own father stood there as a young Alpha, proud and powerful, with his wolf beside him.

She looked at the painting for several seconds, keeping her painful thoughts buried deep within herself.

She continued walking before the sight could hurt too much.

The guards opened the office doors.

“Enter.”

Elena stepped inside.

Alpha Adrian Valcrest stood beside the enormous window overlooking the territory.

His hands were clasped behind his back.

He didn't turn when she entered.

“You called for me, Father?”

“Close the door.”

She did.

Silence filled the room.

Elena stood several feet behind him, her gaze lowered, waiting in quiet submission.

Finally, Adrian turned.

His expression was unreadable.

“Elena.”

“Yes, Father?”

“You are twenty-one.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Your birthday is in a few days.”

“Yes.”

He walked toward his desk and picked up a document.

“I have made arrangements concerning your future.”

Elena kept her head down, her hands tightly clasped in front of her.

“Yes, Father.”

“I have watched you for years. You are no longer a child.”

Adrian placed the document on the desk.

“I have decided to strengthen our territory through your marriage.”

Elena's breath hitched, but she remained motionless.

Marriage.

Her voice came out as a barely audible whisper.

“To whom, Father?”

“Cassian.”

The name settled heavily between them.

Cassian.

Heir of one of the most powerful territories allied with Valcrest.

A formidable young Alpha heir.

Her father continued.

“I have already reached an understanding with his family. You have been betrothed to him.”

Elena kept her eyes firmly on the rug beneath her feet.

“Yes, Father.”

Adrian studied her stoic face.

“You will be mated to him.”

A faint flicker of hope brushed her heart, but she dared not let it show on her face.

“But there is one condition,” Adrian added coldly.

Elena didn't move. She simply listened.

“Your wolf must awaken.”

Elena felt her chest tighten painfully.

Always the wolf.

Adrian continued.

“Cassian's family will not accept a wolfless bride. Neither will I allow my daughter to enter such a powerful bloodline without a wolf.”

Elena bowed her head further, biting her inner lip to keep her face entirely neutral.

“I understand, Father.”

“Your birthday is in a few days. Cassian will arrive before then.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You will undergo the final preparations for the mating.”

Elena bowed slightly, accepting the order.

“And if my wolf does not come?” she asked, her tone flat and completely subdued.

Silence filled the room.

Adrian looked down at her.

“Then there will be no mating.”

“Yes, Father.”

Elena turned quietly and stepped out of the office.

The door closed behind her.

And the moment she was out of sight in the empty corridor, the tears came.

She didn't wipe them.

She walked faster.

Past the guards.

Past the servants.

Past the grand halls that had never felt like home.

She pushed through the rear doors and ran.

She didn't stop until she reached the forest beyond the territory.

Only then did her knees give way.

Elena collapsed beneath an ancient tree.

Her hands covered her face as sobs tore through her chest.

Twenty-one years.

Twenty-one years of being reminded that she wasn't enough.

And now even her future had a condition attached to it.

Bring yo

ur wolf, or remain unwanted.

She looked up through tear-filled eyes.

The moon had begun to rise above the trees, pale and distant against the darkening sky.