Mallory Babcock

She went to the warehouse to negotiate a debt. She didn’t know I was walking into a supernatural auction. Her father died and left her nothing but two million dollars of debt to a man named Lucien Blackwood — and a dying sister whose medical bills he’d been secretly paying. He owns her before she even know his name. Lucien Blackwood is an Alpha. Powerful. Ruthless. He buys her like she just another acquisition. What he doesn’t know — what nobody knows — is that she his fated mate. And fated mates don’t stay sold.

"They've decided to marry me off," I say, "To Blackmoor." Grace's brows lift slightly. "I know." "You... what?" "Father told me after council," she says easily. "It's a smart move." I swallow. "Grace, it's Alpha Gaven. He's dangerous. They say he killed his own father. That he..." "That he rules effectively," she interrupts. "Which is more than can be said for most Alphas who hesitate." I stare at her. "I'm scared. I am not enough for him. We both know that. He will sense it as soon as he meets me." I hate myself for offering it so freely. But she's my sister. If I don't say it to her, I don't know who I could. "I need help," I say. "I can't go to Blackmoor. I don't have a wolf. I don't even know how to..." She cuts me off, "You're not meant to be Luna. You are just meant to warm his bed from time to time. Give him an heir or two." Grace continues, "But I am meant to be Alpha. And this alliance makes that possible. Blackmoor's support will silence any challenges. The elders will fall in line. I can take my rightful place." *** Fern was supposed to be the heir who would secure the pack's future. When she was born a girl and never received a wolf, Fern was cast aside and raised among the Omegas, treated as little more than a servant in her own pack. So when her father trades her in a political marriage to secure an alliance, Fern understands exactly what she is: expendable. Her contracted mate is Alpha Gaven of Blackmoor, the most feared Alpha on the continent. What Fern doesn't know is that Gaven recognizes her as his true mate the moment he scents her. And he refuses her. To Fern, he is a monster forged in blood and power. To Gaven, the bond is a cruel twist of fate he refuses to accept. Bound by contract , they clash at every turn as resentment, obsession, and forbidden desire begin to blur the line between hatred and need.