The Sun Princess

The silver chalice shattered against the stone floor, splashing dark elderberry wine over the hem of my threadbare dress.

"Useless wolfless pest," Lady Caelia hissed, her hand still raised from the strike. "Look at you. You're ruining the decorations."

I kept my chin down, pulling a damp rag from my apron pocket. "I'm sorry, Lady Caelia. I'll clean it immediately."

"You'd better," she sneered, her heels clicking away toward the high table where the elders sat. "The Awakening Ball starts in ten minutes. If Alpha Vance catches sight of an unranked servant dragging down the pack's image, he'll have you thrown to the perimeter guards for target practice."

I didn't answer. I knelt on the cold granite, soaking up the spilled wine.

Eighteen years old today. For normal pack members, the eighteenth birthday was the night your wolf awakened, the night the Moon Goddess revealed your destined mate. But I had no wolf. My inner beast had been silent my entire life, leaving me rankless-an outcast in the Silver Shadow Pack, surviving only on the table scraps of the wolves who despised me.

The heavy oak doors of the Great Hall suddenly slammed shut with a boom that rattled the stained-glass windows.

The chatter died instantly. A suffocating pressure washed over the room-an aura so dense, so heavy, it felt like the air itself had turned to lead.

"He's here," someone whispered in terror.

Alpha Malakar of the Bloodfang Pack.

He didn't walk into the hall; he commanded it. Standing well over six feet, wrapped in heavy leather and dark armor, he looked like a god of war carved from obsidian. Battle scars slashed across his sharp jaw, and his eyes-a glowing, dangerous amber-scanned the room with absolute disdain. Behind him stood six of his deadliest Enforcers, their hands resting on the pommels of their blades.

The Silver Shadow Pack bowed immediately. Even our ruthless leader, Alpha Vance, stiffened, stepping down from his dais to greet the warrior who had single-handedly annihilated three rogue packs in a single winter.

"Alpha Malakar," Vance said, forcing a tight smile. "We are honored by your presence."

Malakar didn't answer. He didn't even look at Vance.