"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 heavy door to the council chamber groaned on its ancient hinges as Jason and I stepped over the threshold, a silent omen that whispered of the uneasy peace we were about to navigate. The room stretched before us, lined with faces that bore the weight of past hostility; each one a former enemy, their eyes briefly flicking toward us in wary acknowledgment before skittering away. 


I felt it then—the palpable tension that hung in the air like a thick fog, a tangible force that pressed against my skin and coiled around my chest. A murmur of hushed conversations died down as our presence fully registered, the stillness left in its wake far more unsettling than any whispered threat could ever be. Clasped hands tightened at my sides, nails digging into my palms to ground myself against the onslaught of memories that threatened to rise. 


Echoes of the past