Born beneath an omen-lit sky, Layla is no ordinary wolf. She is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy—a child blessed by the Moon Goddess with the power to heal, resurrect, and stand undefeated. But such power comes at a cost.  

Her birth shakes the foundations of the White Shen Pack, a territory ruled by treachery. Her father, Alpha Rhys, and his lover, Luna Catherine, fear what she might become. To protect their rule, they orchestrate the massacre of those who know the prophecy, leaving Layla’s mother, Maelis, cursed with a wasting sickness. Thought dead at birth, Layla is hidden away, cast into a life of cruelty and deception.  

Years later, she is nothing more than a shadow in her own pack—a girl ridiculed for her inability to shift, despised by the very people who should have protected her. The only light in her world is Kain, the Beta’s son, her first love and the boy who once saved her from years of torment. But love, too, becomes a weapon when Kain betrays her in the worst way—murdering her siblings and delivering her to her enemies.  

As punishment for crimes she did not commit, Layla is thrown into darkness, her fate sealed when she is offered as a gift to the most feared rogue in existence—the cursed Beast King.  

For two thousand years, the Beast King has sought a way to break the Moon Goddess’s wrath, his soul trapped in a monstrous body, his humanity slipping away. When Layla is thrown before him, he senses something he has never encountered before: a power strong enough to shatter his curse… or doom them both.  

But Layla is not a girl to be broken. She has her own vengeance to claim, her own past to uncover, and the Beast King may just be the key to it all.  

Bound by fate and cursed by the past, Layla and the Beast King must navigate a world that seeks to control them, betrayals that run deeper than blood, and a prophecy that threatens to consume them both.  

Will she rise as the weapon they tried to forge, or will she become the force that shatters their world?

Not the usual thick, oppressive silence of the dungeon. This was different—tight, expectant, like something waited just outside the darkness, holding its breath.


The door opened earlier than usual. Instead of stale bread and murky water, a tray of real food was shoved in—meat, hot and tender, spiced with rosemary. Fresh water followed. Cold. Clean.


I stared, breath held. My body screamed for it, but my mind whispered trap.


Servants. Not guards. Not Felissa with her cruel games.


Women I didn't recognize, eyes downcast, hands shaking.


They bathed me. Washed the filth from my skin, brushed my matted hair, scrubbed away blood and bruises until my flesh burned. They didn't speak. They didn't look at me. They just followed orders.


When they brought in the silk dress, pale silver and threaded with moonlight… my heart dropped.


Not until Felissa burst into the room, fury radiating off her in waves.


"This is ridiculous!" she shouted. "You can't be serious!"


Behind her came Catherine and Nisaba, both pale and tense, their usual arrogance buried beneath something colder—fear.


"She's the best chance we have," Catherine said, her voice sharp with finality.


"He's coming in fourteen days, Felissa. The snow has already started to fall."


"I don't care!" Felissa snapped, her eyes blazing. "I don't want him. I won't die like the others! Do you know what they say? He rips them apart before the first moon! I won't be sacrificed to some cursed beast!"


"You wanted to be Luna—" Catherine began.


"Yes, of this pack! Of this kingdom! I'll marry a powerful Alpha—one that won't kill me the moment I touch him!"


Felissa turned to me, lips curled. "She's perfect for this. Weak. Broken. Wolf-less. She'll die before the wedding night, and then he'll leave. He won't come back for more. Not if we make it look like she was the strongest we had."


"You're sure about this?" Nisaba asked quietly.


"No one knows about the prophecy," Catherine said. "Not even him. He only knew there were two daughters—and we promised him the strongest. If Layla dies before he touches her or if she shifts too late, it's on her."


"She won't," Catherine replied. "But if she does… we'll find another way to get rid of her. Either way, you stay safe."


Felissa folded her arms and smirked at me. "Enjoy the dress, Layla. You're being fed and cleaned because you're finally useful. The Beast King will take you and—if we're lucky—rip you apart before dawn."


Let them dress me like a lamb for slaughter.


Chapter 24 - A Dangerous Offer