01

*Kiara*

"Come on, Kiara," Ashly says excitedly, causing me to quicken my steps. My heart thrums with anticipation and I bite on my lower lip, nervous.

"You're sure?" I ask her for the umpteenth time and she smiles slyly.

"I have a good feeling about this. You know I'm never wrong."

True. She has never been wrong about her 'good feelings'. I'd like to trust her on this one but my entire being is tense. This is important. My life depends on it and I'd rather hear it from my father than assume and get my hopes dashed.

The nearer I draw to my father's study, the tighter my chest feels.

I twist the door knob after sucking in a deep breath and I exchange hopeful looks with Kiara. She gives me a curt nod and I sigh before slipping into the study.

"Kiara," my father says the moment I step in and he has a proud smile on his face as he says the words other females like myself crave to hear. "You were chosen."

I slap my hand over my mouth to prevent a joyous scream from leaving my lips. I leap instead, rushing got my father. He hugs me and I laugh, hugging him tightly.

I got chosen.

To be the Luna of the Black Wolves pack.

Luna to the crown prince and soon to be King.

"We must celebrate," my father says, pulling back to look at me. "And you must prepare."

I nod, even if I already started doing that before. I have dreamed of this moment all my life. Lived for it. Worked to be perfect for the Choosing like every other woman like me has.

I can hardly wait.

**********

*Dorian*

"I don't accept this. It is absurd," I grunt, walking around Shaun.

He blocks my path again and I release a fierce growl that has him moving out of my way. "Your father thinks differently. I don't think now is the time to speak to him about this. That too and the fact that he is in a meeting."

"It can't wait," I snap, hurling the door open.

It really cannot wait. I have made it a point in every meeting and every discussion that I do not wish for my Luna to be picked from any random family. I do not believe in arranged unions.

My father thinks of me as a hopeless romantic but that isn't who I am.

I would much rather choose who I mate with for the rest of my life than have a simpleton shackled to me. Or a woman who knows nothing of who I am. Vice versa as well.

And he had ignored my one request.

I do not care who was chosen. I will not be tied to a stranger.

Shaun snorts behind me, trailing after me still. "Need I remind you that this is your fault? You are the prince. You must fulfil your duties and bring forth an heir. He did wait for you but you have refused to choose a woman. You left him no choice."

I cut him a look that has his smug expression disappearing. "Sorry," he mutters.

"You're dismissed."

He turns away, head bowed.

I understand the need to have an heir, but I am in no rush to plant my seeds in just any female.

My father needs to understand that.

"The King is in a meeting," the captain of my father's guards says when I reach the door to his office.

I walk through anyway, having little tolerance left in me. The doors slam into the walls behind them as I storm in. "Father, we need to talk."

The members of my father's council rise as one and bow to me in greeting.

I wave my hand in dismissal, crossing the room in quick strides.

"Excuse us," my father says without looking in my direction and the council hurries out of the office, sensing the tension between my father and I.

"What is this?" I say, slapping a copy of the letter on the table in front of my father. The letter that has my father's seal on it, dooming me for Goddess knows how long.

"Your marriage, your future. If you have come here to make your grievances known, then you are wasting your time," Father says coldly, gripping the paper and tossing it to the ground like it is worth nothing.

"I do not accept this union, Father. I will pick my bride myself--"

"And when might that be, Prince Dorian? When your dark hair has turned white and you are incapable of producing children due to old age? I will not let you ruin your life and waste your years. You will marry the woman I have chosen for you. She is the best choice."

"Father! I will not marry a woman I do not know!"

His blue eyes--my eyes--rise from the book and hold my gaze. "She will arrive here in a few days. You have your whole life to find out who she is. Continue in your stubbornness and I will denounce you as heir to my throne."

I release a sharp breath. "What?"

In his eyes, I see the stern expression and the truth. "You can't do that."

His eyes are cold and unyielding. "Don't test me boy."

I am moments away from yelling out in frustration but my father is the King and will not tolerate such behaviour.

Noticing the change in my demeanor, he hands me a small box. A thing of blue velvet and intricate designs. I do not need to open it to know what is inside. "You will give her this as a symbol of your love and royalty. Marry her, Dorian, and give me an heir. After that, you can do whatever you wish."

I take the ring box from his grasp and leave, anger rising higher and higher. He knows I am not that kind of man.

If I do mate with her, I will be loyal to her. My honour and my duties matter to me more than anything else.

So, I have no choice in the matter.

I will give her a place by my side as Luna, but she will never have my heart. Or affection.