Chapter 1

Sylvia’s POV

The very Alpha whose life my mother drained her power to save, now stood over her cold body and refused her a funeral. He would only grant it if I consented to become the pack whore.

He knew I had no way out. No one would help me just because I was always an outcast of the pack.

Since I was a child, they looked down on me for having no father and never stopped bullying me. When I grew up, things didn't get better, they only grew worse. Because I was also the wolfless freak.

In this merciless pack, Alphas often casts out those deemed useless to become rogues. Without a pack's protection, life as a rogue is a death sentence in its own right. I always thought that would be my fate.

I never imagined something far worse. But the Alpha wasn't done with me yet. I tried to scream for help, but no one would hear my cries. The entire pack was too busy preparing for the Alpha King's visit, leaving me completely alone and abandoned.

“My mother just died…” My voice came out hoarse; I barely recognized the sound of it. "We need to hold the burial rites quickly. Like our traditions demand, to show respect and guide her spirit home."

But he didn't speak. His eyes skimmed the tiny room—the cracked basin, the worn-out blanket, the sprig of dried lavender my mother tucked under her pillow for better sleep. Then, they landed on me, slow and assessing.

"Sera was a burden on this pack for long enough. By pack law, it doesn't warrant the expense of a formal burial."

The word cut deeper than claws. My mother, Sera, had carried this pack for years with her rare healing gift. She might have been frail, her power weaker than others, but she saved lives.

“How can you be so disrespectful after everything she has done for you?” I said through gritted teeth, my grief burning into fury. “She healed you. She healed half of this pack!”

“She took more than she gave. Her gift was rare, yes, but weak. Allowing treatment for a woman who can no longer serve the pack was already my mercy.”

Suddenly, Alpha Marshall's voice dropped into a false sweetness that made my skin crawl. Those snake-like eyes locked on me.

"If you want something, you must provide value in return. You don't have Sera's healing gift, and you can't even shift. By all rights, you should have been cast out long ago. I've already extended you considerable... privilege."

I gritted my teeth against the sickening implication of his words. I hadn’t expected him to show his perversion over my mother’s dead body.

"I never took anything I didn't earn with my own labor—not even when my mother fell ill and I worked myself to the bone at the packhouse. My mother... she left behind a jeweled locket. I can give it to you. In exchange for her funeral."

My heart ached. That locket had never left my mother’s neck. I knew it held the only photo of us together. But I had nothing else valuable enough to stall his disgusting advances. Even if I could never hold the locket itself again, I would carry the photo and the memory with me, always.

Tears stung the back of my eyes, but I refused to release them; I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

A smirk twisted his lips. "That cheap, useless trinket is worth nothing. But I have a proposal that will see your mother blessed by the priestess and buried with all the rites before sunset."

He stepped further into the room, his heavy steps creaking along the floorboards.

"Not only that," he added, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "You'll taste delicacies you've never had and wear clothes finer than you've ever touched. All you have to do is agree to become the pack whore. And trust me, I don’t make an offer this generous to just anyone."

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Alpha Marshall had torn away the last shred of decency, his raw desire so blatant it turned my stomach. But I would never bow to him. I had to find some way to buy time, for my mother’s sake and my own.

"By the Moon Goddess, I could never betray my mate. I haven't even had my mating ceremony yet, he could be right here in this pack. And I believe once I find my mate, he will provide for me. Then… I would be more than willing to contribute to the pack in other ways."

I poured every ounce of false sincerity I could muster into my voice, even though it was all a lie. The truth was, I wouldn't pin my hopes on males who can’t be trusted. My mother walked right into that trap—with a father I’d never even met. I would earn my mother’s final respect myself.

Alpha Marshall's smug, victorious expression froze. No wolf would ever deny the sacredness of the mate bond; it strengthened both individuals and fortified the whole pack. But as wolfless, no one had bothered to notice that I’d just passed my adulthood without a mating ceremony like the other she-wolves.

“You’re not wrong,” he muttered lowly. But before I could even release a breath, his voice sharpened again. “Still… until this mate of yours shows up,” he said, the word dripping with mockery, “don’t you think you owe some… compensation? For wasting your Alpha’s precious time?”

There was a predatory glint in his stare I didn’t like—not one bit. And then he made a grab for me.

“Alpha! Someone is looking for you!”

A soft, breathless voice called from outside the door. It was my best friend Grace. For the first time since my world ended, a sliver of air found its way into my lungs. I knew, from her rushed tone, that she had overheard and was trying to buy me time.

“Tell them to wait. I’m in the middle of something,” he growled in return.

“This can’t wait, Sir,” Grace went on to say hurriedly. "It's about the setup in the banquet hall for the King's visit. They said it's urgent!"

Marshall swore under his breath. He looked from me to the door, calculating. Then he turned, shoulders tight with irritation. “I’ll return,” he said before closing the door behind him.

The second he was gone, my knees threatened to give, but I didn’t let them. I tucked my mother’s blanket over her chest with shaking hands and kissed her brow where the fever had cooled to ash.

“I’ll be quick,” I whispered, the promise sitting in my throat like a stone. “I won’t let them touch you.”

Approaching footsteps drew my attention before Grace slipped into the room. Her eyes found my mother, and her face fell; sadness was evident in her expression.

Grace’s parents died when she was only a little girl. My mother took her in and raised her like a second daughter. Grace was my sister in everything except blood. Tears spilled out of her eyes as she pressed her hand to her mouth.

“Oh, Syl…” she whispered brokenly. “I’m so sorry.”

I didn’t bother keeping the tears away this time; seeing her tears, her sorrow, did something to me, and I broke right there on the spot. She wrapped her arms around me, and we stayed like that for a short while before she pulled back to assess my tear-soaked face.

"Where do we go from here?"

"There's no more time to waste. Alpha won’t let this go. What are the chances a wolfless would ever actually find a mate?" I said, swiping at my face with my sleeve as resolve hardened within me. "We have to rely on ourselves. I will prepare my mother's body. You go to the priestess, she shared an old friendship with my mother. I believe she will preside over the rites for us."

"But if Alpha Marshall finds out, the consequences would be unimaginable. I've heard the Alpha King is a powerful and just leader," Grace said, her voice tentative. "Perhaps... perhaps he could help us."

I smiled bitterly. "The Alpha King hasn’t set foot in this backwater pack in years. Why would he care about some nobody like me? It’s not like he’s my mate."