"Hi, yes you aren't dreaming, it's the chubby Kelly," I say inwardly as I see the unhappy face expression of Jason who is disheartened. 

The guests laugh at us. They call our couple all sort of names. "The prince charming and the pancakes' eater Kelly" is one I can sadly remember."

"I, Jason Bentley of the South pack, reject you Kelly Thompson as my mate and the Luna Queen," he declared fiercely.

***
Kelly Thompson, an eighteen-year-old curvaceous and wolfless she-wolf, has been quietly admiring Jason Bentley, the heir apparent to the throne of the dominant South pack, for a number of years.

Unfortunately for Kelly, she doesn't get the same attention in return from Alpha heir Jason, as the handsome daughter of his old father's Gammas, Betty Nord, is already the love of the pack's future Alpha. But, the plump Kelly has an advantage over the skinny Betty because of a strong vow made by Jason's father, the Alpha King Don Bentley, that his son will marry the daughter of his Betas who gave their lives two years ago in a fight against the North pack's fiercest adversaries in order to preserve the life of the Alpha heir.

But clearly, nothing goes as smoothly as Kelly imagines.

The Rejected Curvy Luna Queen

The grand hall of the royal palace, usually alight with the easy camaraderie of my pack, now thrummed with an ominous intensity. Council members, their faces etched with grim determination, circled around the ancient stone table that had borne witness to countless wars and uneasy truces. 


"An aerial assault," Gamma Thorne declared, his voice cutting through the murmuring undercurrents like a knife. "We have the advantage in numbers. A swift strike from above could scatter their forces before they consolidate." 


"Numbers mean nothing if we lose half our warriors in a head-on clash," countered Delta Pierce, his fingers drumming on the granite surface. "We should draw them out, use guerrilla tactics. Hit and run until they're weary and weak." 


"Both of you speak of war as if it were a game of chess," I interjected, feeling Shelly stir within me, her presence lending me strength. "These are lives you're gambling with—our people's lives." 


Bracing for the black faes