Chapter one

Kaia POV

I stared at my reflection in the mirror, my breath catching in my throat. The sacred silver wedding cloth clung to me, shining like it was meant for someone else. I forced a smile, even though happiness was the last thing in my heart. Maybe I had to pretend… maybe that was the only way.

For a girl who had been starving for family love all her life, this was my chance to prove I was worthy, not the cursed daughter they whispered about. Marrying my twin sister’s chosen mate in her name because she lay deathly ill, wasn’t just sacrifice. It was the price for belonging.

My chest tightened, my fingers curling around the edge of the table. She wouldn’t be at the wedding. That thought pierced deeper than the vows waiting for me at the altar. Before I gave myself away, I just wanted to see her… even if it was the last time.

I walked down the hallway with a leaden heart. My hand paused on the doorknob; everything I’d just overheard punched the breath out of me.

“Father, do you think Alpha Caleb’s already suspicious? Why on earth hasn’t he shown up yet? Does he know we’re trying to deceive him?” Selena’s voice floated down the corridor tight, worried.

“How would he find out?” my father answered, calm as if reciting a plan. “Everyone believes Kaia was killed at birth, on my orders. I told the guards to stage it. No one but us knows she’s alive. How could he possibly know?”

Selena laughed thin, cold. “So easy. Good. She’s going to end up with that cursed Alpha. They deserve each other. Both carry cursed blood, a match made by the moon goddess herself.” Her words were sharper than knives.

My chest hurt. I pressed my fingers against the knob until my nails whitened. Tears tried to rise, but I trapped them behind my teeth. So Selena wasn't ill, this was their plans to lure me away to a cursed Alpha. Sweat form on my forehead... tears dropping down my eyes.

“Of course they deserve one another,” Father said, relieved amusement in his voice. “I’m glad I learned he was cursed in time. How else would I let my perfect little princess marry a cursed Alpha?”

Each sentence was a new stab. I swallowed hard and kept my face still. Even if I looked ordinary on the outside, rage and humiliation burned under my skin.

“Once they marry and Alpha Caleb dies, as the seer predicted,” Selena went on, already picturing triumph, “we’ll remove her, like we planned. Then I’ll be Luna. The pack will be ours.”

I didn’t notice when the tears spilled over. I had been a fool to believe their smiles were real that finally they wanted me. Tagged “cursed” because I was born under the blood moon, because our mother died that night, I’d been shoved away to my grandmother’s cottage at the edge of the pack. A week ago, when Father came to our door, I let myself hope he’d come to fix what he’d broken. It was a lie. I was just a pawn.

My hand tightened on the doorknob before I could stop it. The door swung open and they saw me. Their faces went pale, like they’d seen a ghost. Of course they hadn’t expected me to hear.

My lip trembled. My fingers dug into my palm so hard it hurt; my whole body shook.

“Why are you frozen? Scared to speak now?”

I couldn’t hold it any longer. The tears wouldn’t be stopped by teeth or pride. I slammed the veil off my head and flung it at Selena.

“The veil is yours, not mine,” I choked out, voice breaking. “I’m not marrying your cursed You're not ill right, you do it, do it yourself!”

My words came out raw, the sound of a heart finally breaking free.

“Kaia, listen—” Father started, but I cut him off.

“No, Alpha Summer. Don’t. I know what you are.” My voice shook but I forced each word out. “I’m your cursed daughter. The one you pretend to love when it suits you. You call me a curse, you sent me away, and now you want to pawn me off for a marriage? I won’t be your bargaining chip.” I spat the words like acid. “The moon will remember you for this.”

I turned to Selena and managed a small, bitter smile. “And you, the perfect princess.”

Her face froze, then darkened. There was no pity in her eyes, only an ugly, practiced cruelty. I wanted to run — to tear out of that room and never come back — but Selena’s voice stopped me cold.

“Take one more step, Kaia Summers, and you’ll regret ever going against us. It fair you found out I'm not sick and still you have to marry him regardless, so you dare not leave” Her tone rose, sharp as a blade.

I stopped. I looked at her. “What worse could you do, kill me?” The question came out hollow, almost laughing at itself.

Her smile vanished. “More than you can imagine. You have no choice. You will marry him today. The arrangements are made. You will obey us”

“In your dead dream, Selena. He’s yours, and I won’t bow to whatever monster deal you and Father cooked up.” The words burned out of me.

Selena’s laugh snapped through the room high and cruel. “Then say goodbye to your witch grandmother,” she said, venom plain in every syllable. “Remember who protected her when she was wanted. We hold that debt.”

My chest tightened. “You wouldn’t hurt her. She’s family, she’s your grandmother too.”

“Family?” Selena mocked. She turned to Father, confidence like poison. “Do you really think I’m afraid to act? Don’t forget who raised me.” She didn’t need to add more; the threat hung in the air and it chilled me through.

“You wouldn’t—” I started, voice breaking. “If you do this, I’ll tell everyone. I’ll expose you. I’ll tell Alpha Caleb everything.”

Father’s hand smashed into my cheek before I could finish. The slap burned; pain flared hot and sharp. Tears spilled over, uncontrolled now.

“You ungrateful child,” he hissed. “I let you live when I should have killed you. Your very birth took my Luna from me. I lied to the elders; I told the pack you were dead because your bad luck would doom us. I should have ended you then. You owe me your life.”

I folded into the shame and the shame folded back into fury. “Yes, I’m the bad luck,” I screamed through the sting, my voice ragged. “But I won't marry that cursed Alpha? Never.”

I turned and ran. The corridor blurred. My breath came in sharp, ugly pulls. Behind me my father’s voice barked orders, and Selena called after me, hysterical with triumph:

“She’s running, away! She won’t marry that Alpha!”

“Hide yourself, I’ll handle this.”

"Oh Moon! The Luna to be has escaped"