Alpha Calum's POV I made camp three miles from the Hound pack's village. I purposely chose that spot because I wanted to be close enough to strike at dawn, but far enough that their scouts would find nothing but darkness and wind. Inside my battle tent, maps were sprawled across the wooden table, weighed down by daggers at each corner. My generals stood in a semicircle, their faces set and hard, awaiting my command. They always waited. No one spoke before I did. I traced a finger along the map, following the path my warriors would take through the valley. The Hound pack had no idea what was coming. They actually believed me when I'd agreed to their pathetic proposal for peace. Peace. The word didn't exist in my vocabulary. Iskar, that fool of an Alpha, had practically wept with relief when I'd nodded and clasped his hand, sealing what the Hounds thought was a truce. Idiots. All of them. I'd leased them that land fifteen years ago - fertile soil, good water, perfect for their little farming operation. The deal was simple: pay tribute every harvest season, and they could stay. For a decade, they'd kept their word. Then the tributes stopped coming. No explanation. No apology. Just silence. When I'd confronted Iskar about it, demanding he takes his people and leave my land, the man had the audacity to argue. "The land may be yours, Alpha Calum, but everything we've built on it belongs to us." As if planting seeds gave them ownership of my territory. Iskar had begged for another chance, promised the tributes would resume. But I'd learned long ago that second chances were just opportunities for people to disrespect you twice. I'd smiled, told Iskar I'd consider it, and sent him home thinking the matter was settled. The matter was settled. Just not the way Iskar imagined. "We leave at dawn," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. My generals straightened immediately, eyes locked on me. I looked at each of them in turn - Levi, my second-in-command, who'd been at my side for centuries; Bellick, whose scarred face told the story of a hundred battles; young Kade, hungry to prove himself; and the others, all hardened warriors who'd seen enough blood to fill a river. "I only need one thing from you at the battlefield." They leaned in slightly, though none of them moved their feet. "Kill everything on site." "Yes, Alpha," they chorused, their voices a unified growl. Levi shifted his weight, and I caught the slight hesitation in my second's eyes. I'd seen that look before - a look that tells when someone was about to ask a question they shouldn't ask. "Something on your mind, Levi?" His jaw tightened. "The women and children, Alpha. Do we..." "Everything," I repeated, my tone becoming more dangerous. "Or do you need me to define the word for you?" Levi's face went blank. "No, Alpha." *** Diana's POV  I lay in my small bed, staring at the ceiling as the first hints of dawn shone through my window. I stared at the faded lines in the ceilings - lines I'd memorized over the past three years. Five thirty-seven. Twenty-three minutes left. My heart hammered loudly as I counted down the seconds. Today was finally here. The day I'd been waiting for, praying for, dreaming about since I'd first walked through the convent doors. Today, I would become a full-pledged nun of the Catholic Church. I beamed with joy. Here, within these walls, I belonged. Here, no one ridiculed me. No one mocked me because of my size. No one whispered cruel things when they thought I couldn't hear. The bell chimed - six loud, beautiful notes rang through the morning air. I threw off my blanket and jumped out of bed, my feet hitting the cold stone floor. My hands trembled as I reached for my ceremonial white dress, the one Mother Superior had specially made for me. I couldn't stop smiling, couldn't contain the joy bubbling up inside my chest. Today, I would also see my parents. It had been three years - three long years since I'd last hugged my mother, since I'd heard my father's laugh. They'd promised to be here for my ceremony, right after they visited my elder sister Vivian. Vivian, who'd married into the Hound pack. Vivian, who'd just given birth to the heir, second in line to the throne. I'd heard he was the most handsome baby you could ever imagine. I couldn't wait to hear all about him, to see the joy in my mother's eyes as she described her first grandchild. My family were the only people in the world who loved me. Everyone else avoided me like a plague. They claimed I was fat and ugly, that being seen with me would ruin their chances of finding a husband - preferably a werewolf husband. It wasn't a secret that every girl in our little human village wanted a werewolf for themselves. They were handsome, protective, possessive. And the few girls who'd been bold enough to take werewolf lovers had confirmed, in hushed and giggly whispers, that they were incredible in bed. I'd given up hope of ever finding a husband long ago. Let alone a handsome werewolf who'd look at me the way those males looked at the pretty girls in the village. So I'd dedicated my life to serving the church instead, to being useful, to finding purpose in devotion rather than in someone else's arms. A sharp knock interrupted my thoughts. "Diana, dear? Are you ready?" Mother Superior asked through the door. "Almost!" I called back, fumbling with the buttons on my dress. When I finally opened the door, Mother Superior stood there with that warm smile that had welcomed me three years ago when I'd arrived, broken and desperate for somewhere to belong. She looked at me the way my mother did - with kindness, with acceptance. "You look beautiful," she said softly. I didn't believe her, but I appreciated the lie. She offered her arm, and I took it, my hand trembling slightly. "Like it's your wedding day," she said with a gentle laugh, and we began walking toward the church. As we approached, I could hear the murmur of voices inside. The entire village was required to attend - because left to their own choices, no one would have stepped out to support me on this journey. "Are my parents here yet?" I asked, trying to keep the hopeful tremor out of my voice. Mother Superior smiled. "I'm sure they're on their way, dear." The church doors opened, and we stepped inside. Silence filled the room. Every head turned. Every eye glared at me. I kept my gaze forward, my hand firmly wrapped around Mother Superior's arm as we began our march down the aisle. But I could still hear them. I always heard them. Better this than to die alone, girl. She never would've found a husband anyway. Who would want a fat, ugly girl like her? I heard she's never been kissed. Would you kiss those ugly lips if you were a man? She's tainted our village enough. It's time she hides behind those convent walls and stay hidden forever. Finally, the werewolves would look our way when they notice the ugly duckling in our midst is gone. Thank goodness. At one time, those words would have shattered me. I would have run from this church in shame, tears streaming down my face, because every word was true. But I smiled instead. I was so used to their cruelty that their words meant nothing anymore. They were just noise, background chatter, as meaningless as the buzzing of flies. We reached the altar, and Mother Superior helped me kneel on the velvet cushion. The priest stood above me, his prayer book open, ready to begin the ceremony that would change my life forever. Then Sister Martha rushed in from the side entrance. Her face was pale, her habit askew as if she'd been running. She leaned down and whispered something urgent into Mother Superior's ear. I watched Mother Superior's expression change - watched the color drain from her face, watched her eyes widen in shock. Then she looked at me. Tears began streaming down her cheeks. My heart stopped. "What is it?" I asked, suddenly scared. "Mother Superior, what's wrong?" She knelt beside me, taking my hands in hers. They were shaking. "I'm so sorry, dear. About... about your family..." she whispered, her voice breaking. "So, so sorry." "Sorry for what? What happened?" Panic clawed at my chest. "What happened to my family..." "There's been an attack," she said, and the words seemed to come from very far away. "On the Hound pack's village. Early this morning." Everything disappeared instantly - the church, the stares, the whispers - the only thing I could feel was numbness all over my body. "Vivian," I breathed. "My sister. The baby..." Mother Superior's grip tightened on my hands, and the look in her eyes told me everything I needed to know before she even spoke. "I'm so sorry, Diana. They were all killed in the attack."

Diana’s POV  They were all killed in the attack. The words echoed in my head like a drum, beating over and over until they lost all meaning. I stared at Mother Superior’s crying face, but I couldn’t see her. Couldn’t see anything except the image of my parents - my mother’s warm smile, my father’s gentle hands - dissolving into smoke. Were killed. Were killed. My body started moving without my knowledge. I stood, my legs somehow carrying me toward the church doors even though I couldn’t feel them. Couldn’t feel anything. "Diana, wait!" Sister Martha quickly caught my arm. I pulled away. "I have to go. I have to - they need help." My voice sounded strange, distant, like it belonged to someone else. "They’re probably just lost somewhere. The roads can be confusing, they could be stranded in..." "Diana, please..." "They need me." I yanked my arm free and stumbled forward, but Mother Superior stepped in front of me, her hands gripping my shoulders. "They’re gone, child," she said, her voice breaking. "There’s nothing you can do." "No." I shook my head violently. "No, they’re not. They can’t be. They promised they’d be here. They promised!" I struggled against her grip, my ceremonial dress twisting around my legs. "Let me go! I have to find them!" "Diana..." "They’re alive! I can feel it! I would know if they were... if they..." The word stuck in my throat. I couldn’t say it. Wouldn’t say it. "They’re not dead!" "Alpha Calum led the attack!" Mother superior yelled. The name dropped into the church like a stone into still water. Everyone gasped at once as they began whispering in fear. The name itself - his name - was spoken in hushed, terrified tones, as if saying it too loudly might summon him. I literally stopped breathing. Alpha Calum. No. No, no, no. My knees weakened. Everyone knew about Alpha Calum. Everyone knew that no one survived his attacks. He didn’t just kill - he obliterated. He burned the bodies of his enemies after battle, leaving nothing behind. Not even ashes to bury. Not even that small mercy. The image enveloped my mind like a cloud: my parents, Vivian, the baby - all of them reduced to smoke and cinders. Nothing left. Nothing to hold, nothing to mourn over, nothing to lay to rest. "Oh God," I gasped, holding my chest tightly in pain. "Oh God, oh God..." I couldn’t breathe. The air had turned solid, too thick to pull into my lungs. I tried to inhale, but all that came out were desperate, gasping sounds and hiccups that shook my entire body. Mama. Papa. Vivian. The pain was a living thing, clawing its way up from my chest, wrapping around my throat. My legs gave out, but Mother Superior caught me before I hit the ground, holding me up even as I shattered in her arms. The church fell silent. No one moved. No one spoke. When Alpha Calum was involved, no one ever did. Then the doors burst open. A cold wind swept into the church first, carrying with it dried leaves and debris. Everyone turned, and the whispers died completely as the High Priestess of the Moon Goddess entered. She was tall, and covered in black robes of the black wolf pack. Her dark eyes scanned the congregation before settling on me, still limp in Mother Superior’s arms. Mother Superior immediately stood, gently releasing me. I slumped against the altar, my body feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. She hurried to greet the priestess, bowing her head in the customary show of respect. Humans respected the werewolves’ religion; werewolves respected ours. That was the arrangement. "High Priestess," Mother Superior said, her voice shaking slightly. "We are honored by your presence, though I fear this is not the best time..." "I am here for her." The priestess thundered, as she pointed directly at me. Every eye in the church turned my way. I barely registered it. The numbness had spread from my chest to my limbs, from my limbs to my mind. Everything felt distant, muffled, like I was underwater. "I bring a message from the Moon Goddess herself," the priestess continued, her gaze never leaving my face. "Diana’s ordination cannot proceed." The words should have meant something. Yesterday, they would have devastated me. But now? Now they were just more sounds in a world that had stopped making sense. Mother Superior’s face went pale. "High Priestess, surely there’s been a mistake. Diana has dedicated three years of her life to..." "There is no mistake." The priestess moved closer, her robes sweeping the floor. "The Moon Goddess has revealed a truth that cannot be denied." I stared at her, my vision blurring with tears that have refused to fall. What did any of this matter? My family was dead. Burned. Gone. What did the Moon Goddess or my ordination or any of it matter when my entire world had just turned to ash? The priestess stopped directly in front of me, towering over my numb body on the floor. "Diana," she said in a powerful voice. "You are fated to the Alpha." There was complete silence. Then the whispers exploded like a dam breaking. "Fated?" "To an Alpha?" "That’s impossible..." "Her?" "It can’t be..." The priestess raised her hand, and silence fell again. "My dear, you are fated to Alpha Calum of the Black wolf pack." I felt my spirit leave my body. Someone gasped. Someone else laughed. I heard the words. Understood them individually. But together, they made no sense. Fated. To Alpha Calum. The man who just murdered my family. "No," I whispered, the word scraping out of my raw throat. "The Moon Goddess does not lie," the priestess said. "The bond has been ordained. You are his mate." His mate. The room began to spin. Faces blurred together, different expressions, disbelieving stares, mouths hanging open in horror. "The fat girl?" "Fated to the most powerful Alpha?" "This is a joke..." "Alpha Calum’s mate?" "She’s not even pretty..." "How is this possible?" Their voices layered over each other, matching the loud screaming in my own head. My parents were dead. My sister was dead. Her baby - that beautiful baby I’d never get to meet - was dead. And the man who killed them was supposed to be my mate. My husband. The universe had played a cruel joke. The cruelest joke imaginable. "No," I said again, louder this time. My hands pressed against the cold floor, trying to ground myself in something real, something solid. "No, that’s... that’s not..." But the pain was too much. The numbness and the agony crashed together in my chest, a contradiction my body couldn’t process. The church tilted sideways, the candles becoming streaks of light, the faces melting together into a blur of color. I heard Mother Superior call my name, heard her footsteps rushing toward me. But the darkness was already rising, ready to swallow me whole. My last conscious thought was a prayer, desperate and broken: Please, God. Please let this be a nightmare. Then everything went black.

Diana's POV  I woke to darkness and the smell of burning sage. My head throbbed like someone had taken a hammer to my skull. I touched my face - my already chubby cheeks felt swollen, puffy beneath my fingertips. Had I been crying in my sleep? My eyes felt raw, crusted with dried tears. I blinked, trying to focus on my surroundings. This wasn't the convent. This wasn't anywhere I recognized. The cottage was small, cramped, filled with strange objects that made my skin crawl. Talismans hung from the ceiling, swaying gently though there was no breeze. Jars lined the shelves, filled with herbs stem shooting out. Animal bones were arranged in patterns on a wooden altar in the corner. Where was I? My heart began to race. Maybe this was still a dream. Maybe I'd wake up in my narrow bed at the convent, and my parents would be waiting downstairs, and we'd all laugh about the nightmare I'd had... Then I heard voices outside. Too clear and too real to be a dream. "What happened to her is tragic, I won't deny that." The High Priestess's voice. "But she is the rightful Luna of this pack. Alpha Calum needs someone as pure as her." My heart started hammering as the memories came flooding back - the church, my ordination, Mother Superior's tears... Alpha Calum. I felt instant pain all over my body, stealing the air from my lungs. Mama. Papa. My entire family... "I understand the Moon Goddess's will." A man's voice now, "But you don't seem to understand Calum. He will never accept someone like that as his Luna. You know the kind of women he beds." Someone like that. Someone like me. Even now, even in this nightmare, I was still the fat, ugly girl no one wanted. "Do you want to contradict the Moon Goddess, Beta Jarred?" The priestess's voice sharpened. "What's more important - finally finding his mate after a thousand years of waiting, or sleeping with every available slender girl in this village?" A thousand years. That's the oldest I've ever heard a werewolf lived. He must've destroyed and murdered so many people in that time. "Your point is valid," Jarred said slowly. "But Calum will be returning from battle soon. You know how dangerous he is after a war - how hot-blooded. He might snap her neck in two if you immediately present that innocent girl as his mate. He detests fat women." "Nevertheless, he must accept his bride, or this pack will crumble." Bride. The word made bile rise in my throat. I'd rather die. I'd rather throw myself off a cliff than become the bride of a monster. A man who burned my family until there was nothing left to bury. Who stole every person I'd ever loved from this world. My hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms. The pain in my chest was unbearable - a howling, gnashing thing that threatened to tear me apart from the inside. Every breath hurt. Every heartbeat was agony. But beneath all that grief, the need to survive overwhelmed me. I had to get out of here. Now. Before the devil returned and decided my neck was easier to snap than accept. I stood slowly, my legs trembling. My head swam, the throbbing intensifying, but I forced myself to stay upright. One hand pressed against my temple, trying to hold back the grinding pain that pulsed behind my eyes. I can do this. I have to do this. The voices outside continued their debate. I tiptoed silently toward the door. The door was opened - thank God, thank God - and I peered through the gap in the curtains. Night had fallen. The moon hung fat and bright in the sky, casting silver light across the clearing. The priestess stood to the right, her back to the cottage, conversing with a tall man beside her. Beta Jarred, presumably. This was my chance. My only chance. I pushed the curtains aside, and immediately slipped through. The moment I was outside, I turned left and ran. The forest swallowed me immediately, branches reaching out like grasping fingers. I didn't care. I ran as fast as my weak legs could carry me, ignoring the burning in my lungs, the ache in my muscles, the way my vision blurred with tears and exhaustion. I couldn't go back to the convent. If Mother Superior had let them take me, then she had no power to protect me from whatever fate awaited. So I ran deeper into the woods, branches tearing at my white ceremonial dress, roots trying to trip me, the darkness pressing in from all sides. I'd rather die out here - alone, afraid, lost in these woods - than face that demon sent from hell. *** Alpha Calum's POV I rode through the gates of my palace as the moon reached its peak, my horse's hooves clattering against the stone courtyard. Blood had dried on my skin, mixing with ash and dirt until I looked like something dragged from hell itself. Which, I supposed, I was. Beta Jarred appeared immediately, and fell into step beside me as I dismounted my horse, taking the reins without being asked. "Alpha." He bowed his head. "Welcome home." I strode toward the entrance without a word, servants scattering from my path. The bloodlust still sang in my veins, hot and demanding. After a battle, I was at my most dangerous - my beast barely leashed, my control hanging by a thread. "Is my bath ready?" I asked without looking at Jarred. "Yes, Alpha. The maids drew it up minutes ago. And dinner is prepared..." "I don't want food." I stopped at the base of the stairs, finally turning to look at him. "I need a woman waiting in my bed after my bath." Jarred hesitated, "Alpha, the High Priestess is waiting..." "It has to be a werewolf," I continued, ignoring his interruption. "I need to release this fury, and a human girl will not survive it." It had happened before. When I'm lost in the haze of post-battle rage, I end up killing fragile human girls who couldn't handle what I needed. I didn't need the hassle of disposing off another body tonight. "The priestess has urgent information," Jarred tried again, calmly. "She's been waiting since..." "Then she can wait a few hours longer." I started up the stairs. "I'll see her after I've bathed and found my release. Not before." I didn't wait for his response. Jarred would do as ordered. The bath was scalding hot, exactly as I preferred. I sank into the water, watching it turn pink, then red, then dark as the blood and ash lifted from my skin. The heat did nothing to cool the fire in my veins, but at least I'd smell less like death. Faces flashed through my mind - Iskar's expression when he'd realized I'd lied about peace. The way his eyes had widened. The pathetic way he'd begged, promising anything if I'd just spare his family. I'd killed him last, made him watch everything burn first. A fitting end for someone who'd thought they could cheat me and walk away unscathed. The water sloshed as I stood, reaching for the towel. My muscles ached pleasantly, the kind of soreness that came from good violence. My beast purred contentedly, sated on blood and victory. For now. When I entered my chambers, she was already there. Waiting on my bed in a see-through nightie. Slender waist, long legs, the kind of body I loved. I didn't look at her face. Never did. Names didn't matter. Faces didn't matter. Only one thing mattered right now - the burning need to dominate, to claim, and to release a truckload of cum. "You understand the rules?" I asked in a rough tone. She nodded, but I caught the tremor in her shoulders. "If it becomes too much, you tap out. Three times, anywhere on my body." I moved closer, watching her pulse jump in her throat. "Do you understand?" "Yes, Alpha." I reached for her, my hand wrapping around the back of her neck. She gasped, and the sound ignited something dark in my chest. Tonight, I would lose myself in painful pleasure. Tomorrow, I'd deal with whatever the priestess wanted. But this moment belonged to the beast. And the beast was hungry.