They Bet I’d Never Shift, Then the Alpha King Called Me His Mate

My mother was waiting for me at the doors of the Moonridge celebration hall.

For three years, she'd barely answered my texts. Now she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me before I could say a word. She smelled like the same lavender lotion she'd used my whole childhood.

"You look tired," she said, pulling back to smooth my collar with both hands. "You should've let your father pick you up from the station."

"I didn't want to bother anyone."

"Aria." She tugged the fabric straight one last time. "You're home. That's what matters."

For one stupid second, I believed her.

I'd come back to sign the handover papers for Grandma's clinic, the little stone building on Birch Street where she'd set broken bones and stitched up pups for forty years. Her will had left it to me. I'd spent the whole train ride telling myself my family might finally be glad to see me.

Then I walked into the hall.

The room was packed. String lights hung from the rafters, and a livestream camera sat on a tripod near the stage. Up front, under a spotlight, Cole Maddox knelt on one knee.

Cole. The boy I'd loved from the age of fourteen. The boy who'd promised to stand beside me the night of my first shift.

He slid a diamond ring onto Vanessa Price's finger, and the room erupted.

Vanessa pressed a hand to her chest and laughed, blond hair bouncing, looking every bit the surprised bride-to-be. Behind them, a massive screen glowed with a photo of Grandma's clinic, its green door and window boxes of marigolds.

Across the bottom, in looping gold letters: *A new beginning for my future wife.*

My hands went cold.

"Mom," I said quietly. "Why is Grandma's clinic on that screen?"

She didn't answer. She was clapping.

---

Vanessa spotted me before I could reach the stage. Her smile widened.

"Oh my God, Aria's here!" She grabbed the microphone from the MC. "Everyone, we have a special guest tonight. You all remember Aria, right?"

Heads turned toward me. A few people whispered.

"I thought it'd be fun to show everyone how far our old friend has come," Vanessa said sweetly. "Hit it, Josh."

The screen changed.

My heart stopped when I saw the forest clearing and the full moon. And me, nineteen years old, on my hands and knees in the dirt.

I remembered the pain. Bones shifting halfway and then locking, my spine bent wrong, fur sprouting in patches on my arms before sinking back into skin. On the screen, I collapsed onto my side and reached toward the edge of the clearing.

"Cole," my younger self sobbed. "Cole, please. Help me."

The camera had caught him standing twenty feet away, his hands in his pockets.

He hadn't moved then.

He was laughing now.

"Okay, okay." Cole took the mic from Vanessa, grinning. "Since Aria's back just in time for tomorrow's Moon Hunt, let's make it interesting. Drop your bets in the chat. Does she finish the course, or does she face-plant before the first checkpoint?"

The comments on the side monitor exploded with laughing emojis.

*Face-plant. Easy money.*

*Does she still crawl like that lol*

I turned toward the doors. I didn't need to stay and watch myself break on a loop.

My mother caught my wrist.

Her grip was gentle, but she didn't let go. She leaned in close, still smiling for anyone watching.

"Don't," she whispered. "It's their engagement. Don't make a scene."

"They're playing that video, Mom. In front of everyone."

"It's a joke, sweetheart. Everyone knows it's a joke. Just smile."

I stared at her. She squeezed my wrist once, as if we'd agreed on something.

Onstage, Cole leaned toward the livestream camera, his voice warm and generous.

"And hey, no hard feelings. If she can't finish, I'll carry her back myself."

The room cooed like he'd said something sweet.

Three years ago, he wouldn't even take his hands out of his pockets. Now he was offering to carry me for an audience.

---

My father appeared at my other side before I'd pulled my wrist free. He had a leather folder tucked under his arm, and he set it on the cocktail table in front of me like he'd been waiting all night for this moment.

"Since you're here," he said, "let's take care of this."

I opened the folder. *Deed of Gift.* The address on Birch Street. Grandma's clinic.

"You told me I was coming home to sign the handover," I said.

"You are. You sign it over to Vanessa." He tapped the signature line. "Be reasonable, Aria. You don't even live here anymore. Vanessa's got plans. She'll renovate, bring in real equipment, make it something the pack can be proud of. Something respectable."

"Grandma's clinic was respectable."

"It's a relic." He lowered his voice. "I already told Cole you'd agree. He's announced it. Don't embarrass this family."

I scanned the page again, slowly, because I needed to be sure.

*Recipient: Vanessa Price.*

Not *transfer pending.* Not *under discussion.* Her name was printed in clean black ink, like the decision had been made the day they'd typed it.

I closed the folder.

"Aria," my father warned.

I walked to the stage. Beside the steps stood a display board with an architect's drawing of the clinic, all glass and white paint. A cream-colored card was pinned to the corner, tied with ribbon. *Vanessa's Wellness Studio.*

I pulled the card off.

The ribbon snapped. The music faded as the room went quiet.

Vanessa's smile faltered. "Aria, what are you—"

I turned to the livestream camera and held up the card.

"My grandmother's clinic is not your wedding gift."

The chat froze for a second, then flooded.

Cole stepped forward, jaw tight. "Seriously? Tonight?"

"You picked tonight," I said. "Not me."

---

I pulled out my phone and screen-recorded the livestream replay. The video of me, Cole's joke, the betting poll, and the gold caption over Grandma's clinic. I saved it and backed it up to the cloud.

Then I looked at Vanessa.

"I want the original footage of that night. The full file. Everything with me in it."

She blinked, too quickly. "Oh, that? It got deleted ages ago. This clip is all that's left."

"Somebody edited it together from something."

"Well, it's gone." She tucked her hair behind her ear, the diamond flashing. "Sorry."

Nobody looked convinced. Nobody pushed back either.

Behind me, I could feel my parents waiting. My mother would want an apology, and my father would expect me to take the pen and sign. For three years I'd waited for one of them to say *that's enough.*

They weren't going to.

So I stopped waiting.

A registration table sat by the side door, with a banner above it reading *MOON HUNT — SIGN-UPS CLOSE AT MIDNIGHT.* I walked over, took a form from the stack, and started writing.

Name. Age. Pack affiliation.

Previous shift status. I hesitated only a moment before writing *Incomplete.*

Footsteps followed me. Cole's cologne reached me before he did.

"What is this?" He looked down at the form, then at me, and a slow, knowing smile spread across his face. "Come on, Aria. You come back, make a scene, and now you're signing up for the Hunt? Is this about me? Are you trying to get me back?"

Beside the table, the staff volunteer froze with her pen in the air.

I signed my name at the bottom and held the form out to her.

"I'm entering a race, Cole." I didn't look at him. "Not asking you to take me back."

She took the paper. Behind me, I heard Cole's breath catch, then the murmur spreading through the hall.

On the livestream monitor, the betting poll ticked upward.

*Face-plant: 94%.*