Mate He Never Wanted

Arielle Thorn has spent her whole life paying for a betrayal she never committed.As the daughter of a disgraced bloodline, she is tolerated by Briarfall Pack only because her healer's hands are useful. She knows better than to dream of honor, safety, or love. But when the Moon Claiming Rite reveals Alpha Kaelen Voss as her fated mate, one impossible moment gives her the belonging she has always craved.Then he rejects her before the entire pack.Kaelen claims duty forced his hand. The elders call Ari cursed. The pack calls her unwanted. But the broken bond on her wrist does not fade, and the pain it leaves behind carries a secret older than the lies written into Briarfall's sacred records.When Ari uncovers clues hidden by her vanished mother, she is pulled into a dangerous truth about Ash Creek, altered bloodlines, false prophecy, and an elder who has controlled the pack through fear for years. To clear her mother's name and reclaim her own, Ari must face the Alpha who wounded her, the pack that shamed her, and the power waking in her blood.Kaelen wants to protect her now.Ari wants the truth.And if he wants her forgiveness, he will have to learn that a mate is not claimed by fate, power, or regret.She must be chosen with honesty.And this time, she will choose herself first.