"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 goddess’s voice was a river—relentless, cold, carving fissures in my resolve. She spoke in dreams now, her words etching themselves into the walls of my mind. *“The Veil is a thread, and you are the needle. Weave anew.”* 


I woke gasping, my hands glowing faintly, veins threaded with starlight. Jason stirred beside me, his warmth a stark contrast to the chill seeping from my skin. He didn’t ask. We both knew. 


The camp had begun to rebuild, but distrust lingered like smoke. Warriors averted their eyes when I passed, whispering of the silver in my hair, the way shadows bent *away* from me. Only Eden met my gaze unflinching, though his smile faltered when Rhydian’s cough wracked the silence—a wet, ragged sound that left blood speckling his palm. 


“The Anchor bond is stabilizing him,” Isolde insisted, but her hands trembled as she mixed poultices. “For now.” 


*For now.* The words hung over us all. 


The goddess's vessel