"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

It hums through the fortress walls, a melody of false peace. The Forgotten rebuild, their laughter too sharp, their eyes too bright. Even the air feels staged, like a predator holding its breath. Veyra watches me now—not with trust, but calculation. She’s stopped wearing the oak-leaf cloak. A small rebellion. 


The Hunter is quieter. His edges blur if you stare too long, his form dissolving into root-tendrils before snapping back. He’s the Seed’s compass, its tether to humanity. Or what’s left of it. 


“You’re not sleeping,” he says, materializing beside me on the watchtower. Below, the crystalline forest pulses, its light refracting into shapes that almost look intentional. Faces. Claws. 


“The Seed dreams,” I reply. “And I don’t like what it’s dreaming.” 


The seed