Rejected by the Alpha's Son

Every wolf on Ninebark ground knows my place: pack-debt, salt-girl, the daughter of a woman who walked into the lake and never came back.

Tonight I stand at the foot of the Alphas chair and swear I have no fated mate. Its a lie the whole pack is meant to believe — until the bond snaps into place under the ice, and it isnt the Alphas golden heir standing at my side. Its the wolf no one has a name for. The one who was never supposed to want me.

Ninebark law calls a bond forged outside blood and rank a heresy. The Alpha wants it broken. His son wants it broken worse. And the pack that starved me for eighteen years wants me gone before moonrise finishes.

I have one night to choose: kneel and lose the only claim Ive ever owned, or stand beside a stranger with a mark on my skin I never asked for and a debt on my back I cant pay.

He says hell burn Ninebark ground before he lets them take me. I believe him. That might be the most dangerous thing Ive ever done.

A fated-mate rejection, forced-proximity, marked-by-a-stranger slow burn — Book One of The Winterbound Wolves trilogy.