FROZEN BONDS: THE HALF-BLOOD'S MATE

The night air smelled of pine, blood, and contempt.

I stood in the center of the Red River Pack's gathering grounds, my bare feet sinking into the cold, damp earth. Torches flickered all around me, casting dancing shadows on the faces of strangers who would soon become my captors. My wedding dress-if you could call it that-was a simple white linen garment, too thin for the mountain chill, too fine for a bride who had been bought and sold like livestock.

"Half-blood."

The whisper came from somewhere to my left. I didn't turn to see who spoke. I didn't need to.

"Dirty blood."

Another whisper, this time from behind. The words slithered through the crowd like snakes, wrapping around me, squeezing the air from my lungs. I kept my eyes forward, my chin raised, even as my heart hammered against my ribs like a caged bird.

Don't show weakness. Never show weakness.

That's what my mother had told me before she died. Before my father followed her to the grave, leaving me alone in a world that saw me as nothing more than a mistake. A mongrel. A creature not worthy of pack or family or love.

The crowd parted, and I saw him.

Ronan.

Alpha of the Red River Pack. My future husband. My owner.

He was massive-easily six and a half feet of muscle and arrogance. His reddish-brown hair caught the firelight like flames, and his golden eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of a predator who had just cornered his prey. He wore no shirt, only leather pants, and his chest was covered in the scars of countless battles. Battle wounds. Alpha marks. Trophies.

He climbed onto the raised platform where I stood, his movements fluid and powerful. When he reached me, he didn't take my hand. He didn't smile. He simply turned to face the pack and raised his arms.

"Tonight!" His voice boomed across the clearing, silencing every whisper, every rustle of leaves. "Tonight, Red River welcomes its newest member!"

The crowd cheered, but I heard the hesitation beneath it. The doubt.

Ronan continued, "For too long, our bloodline has remained unchanged. Pure, yes. Strong, yes. But purity without evolution is stagnation!" He paced the platform like a caged wolf, feeding off the crowd's energy. "I have brought us a new mare. A half-blood whose veins carry the blood of two packs-the weak Turkish Bozkurt line and a forgotten American lineage."

Mare.

He called me a mare. Like I was a horse to be bred.

"Her blood is tainted," Ronan said, and the crowd murmured agreement. "But tainted blood can be useful. It can create new warriors. Stronger warriors. Her children will carry my strength and her... unique genetics."

He looked at me then, really looked at me, and I saw nothing in his golden eyes but hunger. Not hunger for me-hunger for what my body could produce. Puppies. Warriors. Weapons.

"From tonight, she is your Luna," Ronan declared. "You will obey her as you obey