They say that there is no creature in the world more fearsome than a Lycan who has lost his mate.

Because when a Lycan loses his mate, he loses himself, too.

His soul drowns into a well of despair, and what swims back to the surface is a monster.

A monster who will kill anyone in his path.

Who will destroy cities and overthrow empires.

Armies will try to stop him, but his terror is greater than the combined force of a thousand werewolves.

They are no match for him, for they do not understand his pain.

How could they?

If a werewolf loses their mate, they can mark another.

But a Lycan only has one…

One mate.

One chance at eternal happiness.

So if he loses her, he will not rest until he has inflicted as much agony as he has endured.

They say that there is no creature in the world more fearsome than a Lycan who has lost his mate.

But, what they don’t tell you is what happens when he finds her…

Oh Goddess, when he finds her…

In the span of a single glance, the Lycan’s universe rearranges.

And there she stands, at the center of it.

His sun.

His moon.

His right.

His wrong.

The person he’ll live for. And the person he’ll die for, too.

No passion is greater.

No connection is stronger.

No ecstasy is more all-consuming.

How do I know, you ask?

Because, against all odds, a Lycan found me.

And he made me his Queen.

***

“He kissed me deeply and I knew in that moment that we would be all right.”

Snapping the now finished book shut, I sighed.

Normally I wasn’t the type of girl who obsessed over romantic stories.

But recently all I’ve been doing is reading these unrealistic romantic stories and obviously imagining myself as the female lead.

Who is the male lead, you might be wondering?

The same guy who stole my heart four years ago, Hunter Hall.

“Aarya, do you want to come grocery shopping with me?” My mom’s unmistakable voice shouted up the stairs.

“No, Mom.” I replied.

Aarya Bedi, that’s my name. I am nineteen years old, and if you can’t already tell from my name, I am Indian, and yes, I am a werewolf.

Currently, I live with my parents, Sid and Tara; they’ve been mated/married for twenty-seven years. My older brother, Sai, is twenty-four and his mate, Zoya, is also twenty-four.

Our pack is called Black Moon; I love our community.

Everyone knows everyone and growing up here was amazing. Right now, I am training to be a pack doctor; it was always something I wanted to do.

I remember when I used to get teased when I said I wanted to become a pack doctor. My skin color and the stereotypes were the cause, of course.

Everyone thought it was the perfect career for me since I am Indian, and we are all apparently doctors, lawyers, or accountants. It used to bother me, but now I embrace it.

Although I can hardly focus on my studies these days. My mind is constantly racing with thoughts about Hunter Hall.

He’s our Beta. He and our alpha, Carter Ward, were sent away for training four years ago, and they were coming back today.

I still remember the day before they left. Hunter came up to me with his gorgeous blue eyes and told me to wait for him. I was only fifteen at the time, but I knew I would.

After all, I was utterly in love with Hunter. He was my first kiss; I can still remember the feeling of his lips against mine.

Most wolves find their mates at eighteen, and since Hunter wasn’t here when I turned eighteen, I didn’t find my mate. So I was excitedly waiting for his return, so I could finally feel that spark. That connection.

A familiar ringtone started playing, pulling me out of my fantasies.

I rolled over to grab my phone, which was on charge. Seeing the name flash up on the screen, I smiled and quickly answered.

“Sophia Butler, long time no speak,” I teased.

“Aarya Bedi, stop teasing me. You know I have been busy,” my best friend Sophia whined.

“Have you really been busy? Or has Luke been keeping you trapped away?” I continued to tease.

Sophia laughed, “You are horrible. You know I have been busy. After all, the Lycan Ball is coming up! Aren’t you excited?”

Ah yes, the Lycan Ball. The kingdom’s way to ensure that all packs get to see the palace and meet the king. I hated it.

Before our current king, the previous king ruled for five hundred years before handing the reins to his son.

While Lycans stop aging at twenty, they go on to live for hundreds of years.

It is said that our old king went travelling with his mate, and no one has heard from them since.

That’s how we ended up with this new guy in power.

Adonis Dimitri Grey.

Apparently everyone called him Dimitri, and only those close enough to him were allowed to call him Adonis.

I was not excited to meet him.

He seemed totally strange; he took over the throne with no mate by his side, which was unheard of. All the lycan kings before him had found their mates before becoming king.

I heard rumors that he often went into terrible rages and needed to be detained by his own guards.

And he also hated pictures apparently. There were only three of him that I could find. One when he was born, another when his siblings were born, and the last one when he took over the throne.

I was only a child when he took over the throne; it has been ten years since them.

No one really knows the king’s real age, and I suspect that he probably doesn’t tell anyone either.

This was our pack’s second time being picked to go to the Lycan’s Ball, but my first time actually going.

The first time we got picked, I was struck down by an awful case of the flu. My grandparents flew from Canada, where they live, to come look after me while the rest of my family went.

I have always hated dances, school dances, wedding receptions. I don’t know why because I love dressing up.

I have a feeling that the reason I hated the Lycan Ball, even though I had never been, was because I was intimidated by the lycans.

That’s how my best friend Sophia met her lycan mate, Luke.

She’s the one I mentioned before. Sophia met Luke at the ball four years ago, and since then, she changed a lot. Like everyone who gets mated to a Lycan, she’s slowly becoming one herself.

Don’t get me wrong, I was very happy when she rang and told me, even if I was puking my guts out. But a part of me knew I would lose my best friend.

After all, now that she was a Lycan, she had very important roles and responsibilities. Her mate, Luke Martin, was head of the warriors, so Sophia remained busy all the time.

Since she loved organizing so much, she was in charge of organizing important events, and the Lycan Ball was the most important one Sophia would ever organize.

“Come on,” Sophia urged again, pulling me from my spiralling thoughts. “Aren’t you excited?”

“Oh yes. I am so looking forward to it,” I sarcastically replied.

“Well the good thing is you’ll get to see me.” Sophia tried cheering me up.

“That’s true. We haven’t seen each other in a year. Not since you came back home to see your little nephew.” I sighed.

“I miss you too. I wish I could come back more often.” Sophia also sighed.

“You’re busy, I get it. Thank God for technology though. We can always talk even if we aren’t together,” I said.

“That’s so true. Oh, Aarya! I just can’t wait to see you! You leave tomorrow, right?” Sophia asked.

“Yep, tomorrow. Bright and early.” I sighed.“Stop sighing! At least try and be a little excited,” Sophia complained.

“Okay, sorry. I will try.” I laughed.

“Well I have to go now. Duty calls, but I can’t wait to see you tomorrow,” Sophia replied.

“See you tomorrow,” I said, hanging up.

It wasn’t long before my mom came into my room with Zoya, carrying a bag. I knew what was in there: my dress for the ball.

“Aarya, you need to pack. You know we leave early tomorrow,” Mom said, shaking her head at me.

Groaning, Zoya laughed and said, “I’ll help her pack.”

Mom nodded and left. Zoya dragged me out of bed and helped me pack. It was a distraction from thinking about Hunter.

Once we were done, I asked Zoya, “So, any news on when Hunter and Carter will be back?”

“Why? Impatient, are we?” Zoya chuckled.

“No, I’m just curious, that’s all.” I rolled my eyes.

Zoya was the only one in my pack who knew that Hunter kissed me and I loved him. Everyone else just thought I had a crush on him.

I didn’t want my parents to know, and especially not my brother. He wouldn’t take the news very well, but I knew I could trust Zoya.

“Well they should be here very soon. Are you nervous?” Zoya asked.

“A little. I just can’t wait to see him,” I admitted.

Zoya and I sat on my bed and chatted for a while. I loved the fact that I could open up to Zoya; she was basically my sister.

Sai said that he loved seeing that his sister and mate had an amazing relationship. I was just lucky Zoya was so cool! After Sophia left, I felt lonely, but Zoya was always there for me.

Before long, my werewolf hearing picked up the sound of cars coming down the path. I jumped up, my heart beating fast as nerves started to get to me.

It was finally time. I was going to see Hunter after four years.

Zoya held my hand as we walked downstairs together. Did I look ok? I ran my hands through my hair. Zoya nodded her head, an amused look on her face.

Deep breaths, Aarya, you’ve got this. It’s okay.

Luckily, our house was near the pack house, where the alpha and beta lived with their families.

Sai was waiting for us downstairs and held Zoya’s hand. “Let’s go and see our alpha and beta.”

Zoya never let go of my hand as we walked the short distance to where the cars were already parked. My heart was beating so fast, I just wanted to see Hunter.

We walked up to the cars, and my wolf was restless.

Was that the sign I had been looking for? My mate was here?

My dreams were coming true. Hunter would step out of that car, and he would know we are mates. Hearing the car door open, my head snapped to the sound.

First, our alpha, Carter Ward, got out. He hadn’t changed a bit. Well, except he got muscular.

His green eyes twinkled with mischief and happiness.

Yep, the same old Carter.

He brushed some of his blond hair out of his face before hugging his parents and younger brother. I watched as he said hello to everyone before stopping at me.

I was lucky that the future alpha wanted to be my friend. Throughout school, Carter was always there for me, and I couldn’t thank him enough.

I considered him to be one of my best friends, along with Sophia.

A contagious smile took over his face, and I found myself smiling also. The next thing I knew, Carter had picked me up and spun me around, causing the adults to laugh.

“Aarya! Oh, how I have missed you! You’ve changed quite a bit. Puberty, hey?” Carter teased.

I rolled my eyes and hugged him. “It’s good to see you too, Carter. You haven’t changed at all. Don’t worry, sometimes people are late bloomers,” I joked, earning a laugh from Carter’s parents.

Carter smiled and hugged me again. “I really did miss you, Smiley.”

“I missed you too,” grinning at Carter’s nickname for me, which he hadn’t forgotten.

Hearing the car door open, I glanced over Carter’s shoulders to see a familiar body get out of the car. His back was facing me, so he didn’t know I was standing behind him.

I wanted to see his blue eyes full of love and adoration for me.

Carter moved out of the way and stood by my side, which I thought was a little weird.

Surely he should have continued saying hello to everyone?

Maybe he wanted to see the moment Hunter and I acknowledged each other as mates.

Yes, that must be it.

My wolf continued to pace, fueling my thoughts that Hunter was indeed my mate.

I watched as his light brown hair blew in the wind. His back was still turned to me; I just wanted him to turn around.

Please turn around.

What is he waiting for?