Chapter One: The Arrival

Amara’s POV

​​Everyone said the Moon Goddess was perfect.

​I disagreed.

​Because if she never made mistakes, why was I born like this?

​At twenty-three, I was the only daughter of a fallen Alpha who had never shifted. The only wolf-less, unmated female in my generation. To the pack, I wasn't Amara, daughter of a hero. I was the plus-size girl they judged before they even learned my name.

​Most simply called me fat.

​A sharp, impatient knock rattled my bedroom door, shattering the quiet.

​"Are you dressed yet?" Vivian’s voice cut through the wood like a blade. "Or did the seamstress have to stitch another bolt of fabric onto your gown?"

​I closed my eyes, a familiar weight settling heavily onto my chest. The day hadn't even started, and the armor I’d built around myself was already cracking.

​"I'm ready," I replied, keeping my voice as level as possible.

​"Then stop wasting our time."

​I pulled the door open. Vivian stood in the hallway, draped in a sapphire-blue gown, the diamonds around her neck catching the hallway lights like ice. Beside her stood my stepsister, Serena. She looked me up and down, a cruel, mocking smile spreading across her face before she burst into laughter.

​"Oh," Serena gasped, covering her mouth with theatrical surprise. "It actually fits."

​Vivian’s cold gaze swept over me, analyzing every inch. "The dress fits," she paused, her voice dripping with quiet disdain. "You don't."

​My fingers instinctively gripped the silver silk at my waist, digging into the fabric. The dress is beautiful, I reminded myself fiercely. For the first time in years, I had looked in the mirror and almost liked what I saw. Almost.

​Serena circled me, inspecting me like livestock at an auction. "If she tears it tonight, who's paying for it? It’s imported silk, Mother."

​"I won't tear it," I said, a rare spark of defiance flaring in my chest.

​"You sound awfully confident for someone who can barely squeeze through the door," Serena smirked.

​"Enough," Vivian sighed, turning on her heel and heading toward the grand staircase. But before she reached the steps, she stopped, speaking over her shoulder. "Remember where we are going tonight, Amara. The Imperial Moon Summit isn't an orphanage that accepts everyone out of pity."

​My jaw tightened. "I was invited because of my father's bloodline."

​Slowly, Vivian turned around. The thin smile on her face didn't reach her eyes. "No. You're invited because your late father was respected. If this invitation depended on you..." She let the sentence hang in the air.

​She didn't need to finish it. I already knew the ending.

​Serena linked her arm with Vivian’s as they glided downstairs, their laughter echoing up the stairwell. "I heard every noble family will be there," Serena mused. "I wonder how many people will stare."

​Vivian’s reply was a soft, chilling chuckle. "My guess? All of them."

​The black SUV pulled away from the Everhart estate just after sunset, the tires crunching against the gravel.

​No one spoke. The silence inside the car was suffocating, heavy with their unspoken disgust. I stared out the window, watching the city lights blur into streaks of gold and white against the dark window pane.

​I tried to quiet my racing mind. Maybe tonight will be different. Maybe no one at the Summit will care who I am. Maybe I can just disappear into the crowd.

​"Don't embarrass this family," Vivian’s voice sliced through my thoughts. She didn't even look up from her tablet. "No second helpings. No lurking near the buffet."

​My face burned, a fierce, humiliating heat crawling up my neck.

​Serena snorted, feigning sympathy. "Honestly, Mother, that's unnecessary. Amara already knows people watch what she eats."

​I looked back out the window, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from falling.

​She wasn't wrong. That was the sick joke of it all. Whenever I ate in public, I could feel the burning weight of a hundred judgy eyes. If I chose a salad, they’d whisper that I was pretending to be healthy. If I dared to touch a dessert, they’d nudge each other and mutter, No wonder she looks like that.

​No matter what I did, I was guilty. Somewhere along the way, eating had stopped being about nourishment. It became a source of shame. A crime I committed just by existing.

​Suddenly, the car slowed. My breath caught in my throat.

​Beyond the towering iron gates stood the Imperial Moon Palace. It glowed beneath the silver light of the full moon, an architectural masterpiece of white marble and glass that looked like it had been pulled straight from a fairytale.

​For a single, fleeting second, the cruelty of my stepfamily faded into background noise.

​"It's beautiful," I whispered, captivated by the sheer majesty of the palace.

​Neither Vivian nor Serena bothered to answer.

​The heavy iron gates swung open, grinding against the stone. The SUV rolled forward, moving down the long, torch-lit driveway. My heart began to hammer against my ribs, a strange, electric current vibrating beneath my skin. My inner wolf—the silent, dormant part of me that had never spoken—suddenly stirred, sending a sharp jolt of adrenaline straight to my core.

​I didn't know it yet, but as the car pulled up to the red carpet, I wasn't just walking into a party. I was driving straight toward the night that would shatter my reality forever.

​Because as the valet opened my door, a scent hit me. A scent of dark cedar, ozone, and midnight rain so intoxicating it made my head spin. And from deep within the shadows of the palace entrance, a pair of glowing, dominant silver eyes locked directly onto mine.