Chapter 1

I was the Snow Wolf Princess.

My clan gave everything to make Bloodfang king.

Six months pregnant, he forced a wager on me.

My Luna title.

Three thousand Snow Wolf lives.

At the Autumn Hunt, I had to outshoot his favored consort.

His favored consort was the pack's top female archer.

She smirked triumphantly in his arms.

One arrow.

My sacred crown was gone.

The bastards laughed their hardest.

Right then, I heard my unborn pup's voice.

He said he was the War God Sky Wolf reborn.

"Mom, take the bet!"

I drew my bow.

First arrow, straight through the bell.

Second arrow, clean through the hall.

The bastards were left with nothing.

Military command and the throne.

Both mine!

Inside the Alpha King's tent, I stood below, cradling my belly.

I watched that disgusting pair cuddled on the throne.

Bloodfang's men watched me like predators, jeering from both sides of the hall.

"Luna, you accepted the bet to shoot against Her Highness Consort Nayi.

Are you backing out after only one arrow?"

Nayi sat in Bloodfang's lap, black-eared and gold-eyed, smirking at me.

A lithe Black-Stripe Jackal.

The pack's finest female archer.

I was the Snow Wolf Princess.

My kin came from the snowfields, every last one pure white.

During the fight for the throne, I led my kin thousands of miles.

We sought these warm valleys solely to crown my mate King.

But the moment my dear mate took the throne, he made Nayi his consort.

He exalted his mistress and crushed his Luna.

At the Autumn Hunt, Bloodfang used entertainment as his excuse to pit me against Nayi.

Three thousand Snow Wolf lives thrown on the table.

He even demanded my sacred crown as a wager.

My bow hand trembled.

I bowed my head.

Desperate tears splashed onto my knuckles.

Right then, I heard a child's voice from inside my belly.

[Fear not, Mother. I am the War God Sky Wolf reborn.

The next shot is mine.]

My eyes went wide.

A tiny wolf spirit emerged from my belly.

Silver-white all over, his translucent body shimmered with starlight.

Left eye gold.

Right eye silver.

[Zephyros is here! Who dares bully my mother?]

Zephyros, the War God Sky Wolf. The most legendary young hero in wolf history. Could it truly be him?

Yet no one else in the hall seemed to see him.

Bloodfang drawled from his throne.

"Can't keep up, Luna? Just concede.

It is a trinket.

Nayi wants it, so let her play with it for a few days.

You're the Luna. Act like it."

My fists clenched tight.

That crown had always been the sacred symbol of a Luna's rank.

A crownless Luna.

The humiliation would be endless.

Nayi stroked Bloodfang’s chest and looked my way.

A dark, sultry smile curled her lips.

"My King, you are so good to me.

But if the Luna is struggling, let's raise the stakes.

I want the ice crystal around Isolde's neck. Does she dare?"

The hall erupted.

I hissed.

"This crystal is the Heart of Everwinter, our pack's sacred charge.

The Sky Wolf God granted it to our ancestors.

It is no power symbol or military seal.

It is the foundation of the entire wolf order.

Nayi, how dare you treat it like a toy!"

I lifted my ice-blue eyes.

My voice came out cold and steady.

Bloodfang waved his hand and pulled Nayi close with a doting squeeze.

"Whatever you want, my love."

I gritted my teeth.

The godlike little pup placed a paw on my hand.

[Fear not, Mother.

Take the bet.

With me here, you will not lose. Not a chance.]

I paused for just a beat, then made up my mind.

"Since Your Majesty will sacrifice a century of our pack's foundation just to amuse a mistress, then I accept."