The True Alpha

They called her runoff. Brisa Holt has spent her life kneeling in the cold channels of Hawthorn Vale, cutting cress, clearing springs, and believing she was born to serve the pack from the bottom. The high seat belongs to the Merest line. The Deepwell answers only the one the Vale accepts. And Brisa is nothing but a forgotten cress-cutter with a rejected bond and a name the pack barely bothers to speak. Then the water refuses Coven Merest. For nine years, Coven has ruled as pack leader, hiding behind a false Welling and a Court too afraid to expose him. But when Brisa touches the Deepwell in secret, the impossible happens. The water rises for her. Aldric Merest, the heir who rejected her years ago and vanished from her life, returns to claim the seat his uncle stole. But the Deepwell will not answer him either. As old wounds, buried betrayals, and dangerous truths rise from beneath the Vale, Brisa discovers the spring never honored blood. It honors the keeper. And the keeper is her. Now Coven will do anything to control the one woman the water has chosen. Aldric must prove he is no longer the boy who broke her. And Brisa must decide whether to stay hidden at the bottom of the Vale or step into the light as the one no one saw coming. A rejected mate. A stolen throne. A second chance forged in truth, sacrifice, and a love that refuses to stay buried. Read this book before the water rises and the whole Vale learns who should have ruled all along.