Selene! They are here! You cannot be late, Selene, or our family will be chased out of the pack, and we will become rogues!”

Elara’s voice broke, thick with desperation.

Selene froze. Her stomach clenched so hard she thought she might be sick. Chased out of the pack? Those words alone were enough to make her blood run cold.

She had never seen it happen, but the rumors were enough to haunt her dreams. Families vanished. Bones never returned.

Her mother grabbed her hand with trembling fingers and pulled her out of their house. Selene stumbled barefoot into the night, her toes sinking into cold mud, the chill biting her skin. She hadn’t even put on her twine shoes.

But shoes didn’t matter tonight. Not when her family’s future hung in the balance.

Elara didn’t slow. She dragged Selene between rows of huts toward the bonfire blazing in the village’s center. The music died abruptly, swallowed by silence as the pack members turned their heads.

Selene’s heart pounded against her ribs. The air was icy, sharp in her lungs, but sweat still clung to her palms.

She was shoved into line beside the other girls all draped in white lace dresses like hers, their hair neatly combed, their twine sandals tied. She alone stood there barefoot. Exposed.

Her mother’s hands flew to her hair, patting it down, tugging at the hem of her dress, smoothing the creases. Desperation shone in Elara’s eyes as she whispered frantically,

“Please them, Selene. Make them happy. Submit your body to them.”

Selene bit the inside of her cheek. Make them happy. How? How could she ever please the monsters who already owned everything?

“They live in mansions, Mother. They could have any girl they wanted. How am I supposed to give them something they don’t already have? I’m not-” her voice cracked, shame clawing up her throat, “I’m not even experienced. I’m still a virgin.”

A strangled laugh burst from Elara, unbidden, her lips twitching despite the fear in her eyes. She cupped Selene’s face, kissed her forehead, and whispered,

“You know the books you’ve read. You’ll know what to do.”

Selene’s chest tightened painfully. She clung to her mother in a fierce, desperate hug.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” Elara whispered back, though her voice shook. She stepped away just as the moon shifted, bleeding crimson light across the earth.

Selene’s breath hitched. The blood moon. Her knees weakened, dread crushing down on her shoulders.

This wasn’t just a night of ritual. This was the night she was to be claimed, body and soul by three Alphas who would tear away what little innocence she had left.

Her gaze darted to the crowd, searching.

And then her breath caught.

“Victor!” Her twin stood tall, watching her. His navy eyes mirrored her own, his jaw tight, his stubble catching the firelight. That connection their bond, still alive, still burning brought tears to her eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she had feared losing it. Her lips trembled. “Victor,” she whispered.

A shadow fell over her. Selene looked up and her blood turned to ice.

He was enormous. A wall of muscle, bare skin glistening beneath the firelight, his green eyes piercing straight through her.

The West Coast Alpha. Zachary Xander.

His presence alone made the air heavier, harder to breathe. Tattoos sprawled across his body, landscapes bleeding into one another west coast into forest, forest into sea, sea into black flames that swallowed his chest.

He radiated danger, raw and untamed his snarl reverberating through her bones.

Selene’s instinct screamed at her to step back. But she held her ground, trembling but unyielding. She would not cower.

“Are we interrupting something?”

His voice was low, gravelly, and it slithered into her chest like smoke, leaving her heart hammering erratically.

Selene’s eyes darted to her mother and father in the crowd. Elara’s tearful gaze locked with hers, full of pride. Her father’s sharp nod was an unspoken order. Do not falter. Do not shame us.

Selene swallowed. Her voice was small but steady. “No.”

“Are your knees broken?”

Zachary’s words came like a threat, though they were not. Panic surged when she noticed the other girls bowed low.

She dropped quickly into a curtsey. “Sorry,” she whispered but the curse slipped out. “Shit.”

Gasps erupted from the line. A sharp laugh broke through the tension.

Ethan Coleus, the Northern Alpha, strolled forward lean and sharp-eyed. His blond hair was tied back into a bun, a long braid tipped with a bead falling down his back. Tattoos began with crashing waves, curling storms winding across his arm.

“Put that one in the front,” Ethan said, amusement glinting in his voice.

Selene’s stomach dropped as Ethan’s gaze locked onto hers again. He didn’t need words. His eyes pinned her in place, stripping her bare.

She trembled under the weight of his inspection, heat crawling over her skin.

“Stand,” Ethan commanded.

The line straightened instantly.

He stepped closer, he was so close her chest brushed his torso. His breath ghosted her lips.

“Why were you late?” His tone was deceptively calm, but each word dripped with unspoken threat.

Selene’s mind scrambled, clawing for anything to say. “I-I almost wore the wrong underwear, sir.”

His lips curved into a smirk, and the faint scent of whiskey rolled off his breath. Her stomach fluttered violently.

His hand moved suddenly, sliding up her thigh, lifting the hem of her dress.

Selene’s breath hitched, her body burning where his fingers brushed the lace edge of her panties. Her knees nearly buckled.

“The Lamborghini,” Ethan barked.

Selene’s chest tightened, dread slamming into her ribs. She dared a glance toward her family. Her father’s grin shone with pride, Elara’s eyes shimmered with tears, and Victor’s jaw was clenched in barely contained rage.

Selene’s heart broke. She wanted to run to him to cling to her twin but she couldn’t. Not yet.

Another figure stepped forward. Alexander Jorome, the South Alpha. He was older, calmer, his brown hair slicked back, his muscular body radiating confidence. His smirk was friendlier than the others, but no less dangerous.

He leaned down, his lips brushing her ear.

“Give Ethan hell, beautiful.”

Selene shivered, her breath catching in her throat. Then her nightmare deepened.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” a sickly sweet voice chimed. Lucy.

Selene’s stomach sank. Of course.

Lucy bowed low, her blonde hair shimmering in the firelight. “But I must decline. It would be improper to share a carriage with a winter-born. I would never risk misfortune on such a sacred night.”

Selene’s teeth ground together. The words stung, but worse was the way all three Alphas turned their attention to her again.

“You’re winter-born?” Ethan asked.

Selene forced herself to nod. Her chest felt tight, but she kept her chin lifted.

The three Alphas exchanged a look. Zachary’s eyes swirled with unnatural blue and white before returning to their sharp clarity. The blood moon crested, painting the world in red.

Ethan’s voice cut through the night final and , unyielding.

“Lamborghini. Now.”

His eyes blazed with fury.