HIS ALPHA POSSESSION

Ashes Bene

y's

her threadbare shawl tighter around her shoulders as she swept the dusty floor of the kitchen for the third time that morning.

ibelle, snapped from the doorway. Her voice, shrill and

ver did. Talking back only

t. She looked every bit the matriarch of a proud pack, but her heart was as cold as ice. Her t

laughter in her voice. "How could a

er's mistake, nothing more. And soon, the Alpha will c

onial selection of a Luna from among eligible females. It was both honor and death sentence. Women trained

belle hissed. "I won't have you humili

e's hand struck her. She stumbled back, clutching he

aid with mock sweetness. "By law, every unmate

a Trials weren't optional. The law bound the Alp

rrowing. "Let the girl attend. It will

yard, tears blurring her vision. She fell to her kne

ey hate m

air and kind. But when he'd died on a rogue hunt, Maribelle had twisted into something cruel. With no bl

horizon. The trials were in five days.

her stirred-a small v

I trie

-

h dust, but it was the only place she could think. In the farthest corner, s

embled as sh

agger. Her heart pounded. These had been her father's. The pages of the journal smelled like pine and ag

lips. He had bel

er to her chest. "I'll do it, Papa,"

-

before

breath. She practiced the moves from her father's journal-stances, strikes, the art of staying silent and swift.

-

ing of t

onial grounds. A hundred she-wolves stood in formation-daughters

there w

hin frame. Her hair was tied back roughly, and her arms bore faint scars from kitchen wor

eld her h

m, watching them with cold, unr

ir swept back from a sharp face, and eyes like molten silver that

blink. He didn't even see

gaze lan

r eyes locked,

n her, trembling at the raw power that radiated from him.

d away, his expre

eart

-

strategy in a series of challenges. One by one, the crowd roared for their favorites. Bian

he last to

into the circle

ew like a r

's h

break li

ill be

only thing of worth she owned-and began the rou

ate, like a dance wove

tance

rikes-

worn, but

quence, the air stood

leaned forw

face twist

alked away, her

need thei

n them. She

only the

-

in the Alpha

ow, silent. His Beta, Da

her?" Dar

said

expected," Darius continu

ected," Rudolf said at la

ed a brow.

ght. "The moment I saw her. She's not weak. She's cag

-