"Mate," my wolf spoke loudly in my mind. 
The smell hit me first. A smoky cedarwood, dark and heavy. My body reacted before my head even had a chance to process what was going on, and then I saw him.
Alpha Elias Beaumont. He was tall, and handsome. His full dark hair made me feel bald and emerald eyes were sharper than the edge of a knife. 
He stole the moment. The rest of the world went into oblivion.
He was mine.
I took one step closer and he retreated.
The earth beneath my feet could have turned to liquid, it was that soft.
Elias's face impossible to decipher, his jaw shut tight, his eyes burning with some feeling I had no notion how to classify.
My wolf yelped in agony, but I held strong, muzzling my own breath into a level plane, waiting…waiting for him to speak.
He felt it just like I did. I moved towards him, but he stopped me with his hand. "Don't," he warned. 
And then, his words, individually like a blade, cutting through me.
"I, Alpha Elias Beaumont of the Artemis Pack, deny you, Amara Kings, as my mate."
~
For eighteen years, Amara Kings has been nothing more than a ghost—a forgotten heir locked away in secrecy. On the night of her long-awaited debut, she senses her fated mate among the guests. But her dreams of love and freedom shatter when Alpha Elias Beaumont, the man destined to be hers, publicly rejects her and claims her sister, Kamla, instead.  
Betrayed and heartbroken, Amara swears Kamla will not get away with her deception. But when Kamla is found murdered that same night, all eyes turn to Amara. Branded a jealous killer, she is thrown into a nightmare of torture and humiliation at the hands of the mate who once denied her.  
But Amara is no ordinary wolf. As darkness rises and buried secrets unravel, she discovers a power within her that could reshape the entire werewolf world—or destroy it. With enemies lurking in the shadows, an obsessed Alpha vying for her heart, and Elias desperate for redemption, Amara must decide: will she seek vengeance, claim her rightful place, or carve a new destiny of her own?  
The truth was never meant to come to light. But now that it has, the world will never be the same.

The werewolf's claws stopped an inch from my throat.


"Give me one good reason not to kill you right now," Alpha Elias growled.


I stayed perfectly still, even though every vampire instinct screamed at me to fight back. "Because I have information that could save your mate's life."


His eyes blazed with fury, but he didn't move closer. Good. That meant he was listening.


"You have thirty seconds to explain why a vampire is in my territory."


"Your mate, Amara Kings, is dying. Her blue fire power is eating her from the inside. Without help, she'll be dead within hours."


Elias's claws pressed closer to my skin. "How do you know about Amara's condition?"


"Because we've been tracking supernatural power spikes across North America. Her energy signature has been off the charts for days."


It wasn't entirely true. We'd been watching Amara specifically ever since our seers named her as the key to our survival. But Elias didn't need to know that yet.


Chapter 136 - Blood Diplomacy