MATED TO THE THREE ALPHA KINGS

MATED TO THE THREE ALPHA KINGS

Chapter 1: The Night Everything Changed

"Get on your knees."

The command cracked through the ballroom, silencing every conversation.

I stood frozen beneath the golden chandeliers, my fingers trembling around the broken tray in my hands. Champagne dripped onto the marble floor, forming a sparkling puddle around my worn shoes.

Hundreds of werewolves stared at me.

Some laughed. Others whispered behind their jeweled fingers. A few looked away, pretending not to witness the humiliation.

I knew those expressions.

Pity. Disgust. Satisfaction.

To them, I was nothing more than a wolfless servant who had forgotten her place.

"I'm talking to you, girl." Alpha Victor Blackwood stepped closer, his expensive shoes crushing a shard of glass. "Kneel and apologize for ruining my daughter's celebration."

I swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry about the tray, Alpha. Someone pushed me."

His hand struck my cheek before I finished speaking.

Pain exploded across my face. I stumbled sideways, catching myself against a table.

Laughter erupted around me.

"Did you hear that?" Victor sneered. "The little wolfless rat thinks she can blame someone else."

I pressed my palm against my burning cheek.

I wanted to fight back. I wanted to scream that I had done nothing wrong.

But I had learned a long time ago that people like me didn't get to defend themselves.

My name is Aria Moon. I was twenty-one years old, and I had spent my entire life being reminded that I was a mistake.

Every werewolf received a wolf when they came of age. Mine had never awakened. The pack healer called it an unfortunate defect. My stepmother called it proof that my mother had been cursed before giving birth to me.

My father had simply stopped looking me in the eyes.

After he died, my stepmother sold almost everything he had left behind and forced me into servitude.

Tonight, she had ordered me to serve drinks at the annual Alpha Gathering.

I had no idea it would become the worst night of my life.

"Apologize properly," Victor demanded.

I lowered my head.

"I'm sorry, Alpha."

"Not to me." He pointed toward his daughter, Isabella, who stood beside him in a silver dress. "Apologize to Isabella. You ruined the moment she was supposed to announce her engagement."

Isabella smiled sweetly.

"Don't be too hard on her, Father. She probably doesn't understand how important tonight is. After all, a girl without a wolf has nothing worth celebrating."

The crowd laughed again.

I clenched my fists.

Then the enormous ballroom doors swung open.

The laughter stopped.

One by one, the werewolves turned toward the entrance. Even Alpha Victor straightened, his arrogance disappearing beneath an expression of sudden respect.

Three men entered the ballroom.

I had heard stories about them since childhood.

Everyone had.

King Kael Draven walked in front. Tall, broad-shouldered, and dressed in a black suit, he carried himself like a man who had never needed to ask for anything. His dark hair was neatly styled, and his cold gray eyes seemed capable of freezing anyone who dared to meet them.

Beside him was King Damon Draven, whose handsome face wore a lazy smile. His dark eyes moved across the room with effortless confidence, as though he already knew every secret hidden within it.

The third man followed a step behind.

King Lucien Draven.

He was the youngest, but there was nothing youthful about the danger in his expression. His black hair fell slightly across his forehead, and his sharp eyes revealed no warmth whatsoever.

The three Alpha kings.

Brothers born minutes apart.

Rulers of the three most powerful territories in the werewolf kingdom.

People said their combined strength was enough to bring an entire pack to its knees.

People also said none of them had ever found a woman worthy of becoming their queen.

"Your Majesties." Alpha Victor hurried forward, bowing so low that his head nearly touched his chest. "What an unexpected honor."

Kael barely glanced at him.

"We received reports of suspicious activity in this territory," he replied. His voice was deep and controlled. "We decided to investigate personally."

"Of course, Your Majesty. You are welcome to inspect anything you wish."

Damon smiled.

"How generous of you."

Lucien said nothing.

His gaze moved over the crowd with unmistakable boredom.

Then, for reasons I couldn't explain, I felt a strange pressure in my chest.

I looked up.

Lucien was staring directly at me.

For one terrifying second, neither of us moved.

Then he looked away.

I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Get out of sight!" Isabella hissed, grabbing my arm. "You're embarrassing us in front of the kings."

She shoved me toward the servants' entrance.

My heel caught on the edge of the carpet.

I stumbled.

The tray slipped from my hands.

It crashed onto the marble floor.

The sound echoed through the ballroom.

Every head turned.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Please, Moon Goddess. Just let me disappear.

Instead, a voice spoke.

"Who did that?"

The question came from Kael.

Nobody answered.

His gaze settled on the shattered glass, then moved to me.

I could feel the entire ballroom holding its breath.

"Come here," he ordered.

My feet refused to move.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

"Do you need me to repeat myself?"

I forced myself forward until I stood a few feet away from him.

"Look at me."

I lifted my head.

The instant our eyes met, something inside my chest snapped.

A wave of heat rushed through my body. My knees weakened, and a strange, unfamiliar scent filled my lungs. It smelled like winter rain, burning cedar, and something impossibly sweet.

My heart began to pound.

No.

It couldn't be.

I had no wolf. No wolf meant no mate.

Yet my body was reacting as though it had recognized something my mind couldn't understand.

Kael's expression changed.

The cold ruler suddenly looked like a man who had seen a ghost.

His nostrils flared.

His fingers curled into fists.

Then he whispered a single word.

"Mate."

The ballroom erupted into shocked murmurs.

I stared at him, unable to breathe.

Before I could speak, Damon stepped forward.

His smile had vanished.

He looked at me with wide eyes, his chest rising sharply as though he had just run a great distance.

"No," he muttered.

He took another step toward me.

"That's impossible."

Lucien, who had remained silent since entering the room, suddenly went rigid.

His eyes flashed gold.

A low growl vibrated through the ballroom.

Every werewolf present immediately lowered their head.

Except me.

I couldn't move.

Lucien approached slowly, his gaze locked on my face. When he stopped in front of me, something fierce flickered behind his eyes.

"Tell me you can smell her too," Damon said, his voice strained.

Lucien's jaw tightened.

Kael looked between his brothers.

For the first time in my life, I watched three powerful kings appear completely shaken.

Then all three spoke at once.

"She's our mate."

Silence swallowed the ballroom.

Someone dropped a glass.

It shattered against the floor.

I stared at the three men standing before me, desperately searching for an explanation.

Three mates.

Three Alpha kings.

One wolfless girl.

It was impossible. It violated everything I had ever been taught about the mate bond.

And yet, the warmth spreading through my body told me that something extraordinary had happened.

Kael reached for my wrist.

The moment his fingers touched my skin, a silver mark appeared beneath my wrist, glowing like moonlight beneath water.

Damon caught my other hand.

A second mark formed.

Lucien stared at the symbols appearing across my skin, and for the first time, genuine fear crossed his face.

"No," he whispered. "Not her."

My stomach twisted.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Nobody answered.

Kael's expression hardened as he turned toward the crowd.

"Everyone out."

Nobody dared question him.

Within seconds, the ballroom emptied, leaving only the three kings, Alpha Victor, Isabella, and me.

Victor looked as though he might faint.

"Your Majesties, there must be some mistake. That girl is wolfless. She has no family, no rank, and no standing in any pack. Surely the Moon Goddess would never-"

Kael turned his head.

Victor immediately fell silent.

"Speak about her that way again," Kael said softly, "and you will lose your tongue."

Victor went pale.

Damon released my hand and paced across the ballroom.

"This cannot be a normal mate bond. Three separate bonds forming around one woman? I've never heard of such a thing."

"Because it has never happened before," Lucien replied.

His voice was strangely bitter.

I looked at him.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

His eyes snapped toward mine.

"Like what?"

"Like you know me."

For a moment, something almost like pain crossed his face.

Then it disappeared.

"You should pray that I don't."

Before I could respond, a sharp pain tore through my chest.

I gasped and grabbed the front of my dress.

The ballroom lights flickered.

A strange sound echoed inside my head, like distant howling beneath a blood-red moon.

Then a voice whispered from somewhere deep within me.

Finally.

I froze.

The voice sounded female, ancient, and furious.

After all these years, you've found them.

My vision blurred.

I saw three enormous wolves standing beneath a dark sky. One had silver-gray eyes. Another had golden eyes. The third had eyes as black as midnight.

Behind them stood a fourth figure.

A woman wearing a crown of bones.

Her face was hidden, but I could feel her hatred.

Run, little queen, the voice whispered.

They will either make you their queen or become the reason you die.

The vision vanished.

I collapsed.

Three pairs of arms reached for me at once.

"Aria!"

It was the first time any of them had spoken my name.

I had never told them what it was.

As darkness swallowed my vision, I heard Lucien whisper something that made the blood in my veins turn cold.

"The prophecy was real."

And then Kael answered.

"Then we have to kill her before the others find out."