Chapter 1

At the Black Pack banquet, the Elder held up an invitation to the Far North hunting grounds and asked Alpha Kael of the Black Pack, the academy's chief professor, with a smile:

"Alpha Kael, who are you planning to take to the Far North?"

Every eye in the hall instantly fell on me.

I was Elara, the only daughter of the White Pack Alpha and Kael's fiancée.

Everyone knew that after the Far North hunt, Kael and I would be holding our wedding.

I clutched the vow we'd written together when I was sixteen, waiting for him to speak my name.

But Kael didn't even glance at me.

He casually handed the invitation to his student Lila standing beside him.

"Give it to her. She's been working so hard on her thesis defense lately."

My best friend Rhea's knuckles went white with rage.

"The four of us made a pact as kids that we'd hold our weddings after the Far North hunt! Has he lost his mind, giving the invitation to someone else?"

I smiled, suppressing the sting in my eyes.

"The wedding goes on as planned. I'll be standing in the Far North snow in my wedding dress."

"If he doesn't want to go, I'll just find myself a new groom."