The Vow of the Unwanted Luna

I was thirty years old at a pack bonding ceremony with a spreadsheet in my head and no mate in my future, and then West Coyle walked through the door and the bond hit me so hard I dropped my glass. He looked at me across the room. He said he wasn't staying. I left the hall first, and I packed my office at the mill that night, and I didn't cry until I got to the parking lot. Six months later he's the alpha, the town's mill is being sold to strangers, and I'm the only person in Highmoor who can read the paperwork. He's offering a contract, a fee, and one promise. I'm taking the contract and keeping my own promise: I will not be someone's luna because a ritual said so. If I take the seat, it will be because a town voted for me. And if I take him, it will be because I chose to, on a night he doesn't get to plan.