ICE- The Alpha's Unwanted OMEGA

The cold wind of the Kingdom of Valeria bit through the stone walls of the Silvercrest Arena, but it was nothing compared to the chill in my veins.

Today was supposed to be the day I, Collins Parker, the fallen golden boy of the Valeria social scene, was sacrificed. There was no groom waiting for me at the end of the ice. My future husband, Ethan Carter-the most lethal Alpha to ever captain a hockey team-had been a hollow shell, trapped in a coma since his wolf was shattered in a brutal hit six months ago. The healers said his spark would flicker out by the winter solstice.

In a desperate move of lunar pack magic, Margaret Carter had arranged this union. The Carters were the apex predators of the hockey world and the wealthiest pack in Valeria, but no sane male omega or socialite would tether their soul to a dying wolf.

I stood before the locker room mirror, my frame draped in a ceremonial white fur suit. The heavy silver embroidery caught the light, highlighting my pale skin and the sharp, desperate edge in my eyes. I looked like a prize ready for slaughter.

I had twenty minutes. My thumbs blurred over my phone screen, heart hammering against my ribs.

Before the Silvercrest Alphas forced this bond, I had a lover. By a sick twist of the Moon Mother's irony, he was Ethan's own nephew, Mason Carter. We had kept our heat-cycles and our secret trysts hidden from the pack. I had begged Mason to run with me last night-to leave Valeria and the ice behind.

He never texted back.

I couldn't sit still. Grabbing my phone, I slipped out of the dressing room, my boots clicking against the concrete floor. I stopped dead outside a private box when a familiar, shrill laugh pierced the air.

It was Savannah Blake, my sister.

"I bet that idiot Collins is still waiting for you, Mason! You should go play the part of the devoted lover one last time. What if he scents the trap and bolts before the ceremony?"

"You think he has a choice now?" Mason's voice was a low growl I no longer recognized. I heard the rustle of fabric-the sound of him marking her. "Even if he tries to run, the pack guards will collar him and drag him to the center of the rink by his throat."

Savannah giggled, a sound like breaking glass. "Collins will lose his mind when he realizes you've been sharing my bed every night since Ethan fell."

A physical blow couldn't have hurt more. My wolf thrashed inside me, howling in agony. I backed away, my knuckles white as I gripped my ceremonial robes.

When my father, Andrew Parker, collapsed after our family's hockey franchise went bankrupt, my stepfather, Denise Harper, didn't hesitate. He sold me to the Carters to settle the debt, masking the betrayal as "family loyalty." But now I saw the truth: Mason, the man who promised to