A cursed cup. A sleeping king. A servant who refuses to stay invisible.At Moonspire's Hundred Moons Ball, Alpha King Kaden Thorne is meant to dazzle his guests and steady a fragile kingdom. One ceremonial toast later, he collapses in front of the entire court-caught in an illegal Dawnhollow love-working that pulls him into enchanted sleep and will only break for a kiss born of truth, not ambition.In the servants' hall below, Mara Ashwood has made a life out of quiet control. A border-pack wolf and the unseen backbone of the palace, she keeps disasters from spilling into view and knows exactly how power uses people like her. When she's ordered to keep vigil over the unconscious king and record every "true love's kiss," Mara finds herself trapped in the room where fear, myth, and politics all tighten their grip.Princesses, nobles, and hopeful beauties line up to press their lips to the king-and fail. The Dawnhollow witch names the binding for what it is: a spell shaped around fated mates, a curse that judges what each suitor truly is to Kaden and rejects anything less than the one heart that fits. In the silence by the bed, the magic hums whenever Mara draws near... and that is the one possibility she refuses to look at.Beyond the sealed wing, the sea-empire Ravenscar squeezes Silvercrest's trade routes, turning "administrative delays" into hunger, using rumor as leverage and sympathy as a knife. Courtiers smile while calculating how a sleeping symbol can be more useful than a waking king. What begins as duty pulls Mara into the teeth of royal court intrigue, where every list she makes and corridor she walks may save the kingdom-or help sell it.This opening volume in a dark fantasy romance series offers a fiercely emotional wolf shifter romance with a deliberately slow burn romance at its core. Expect love-based magic with rules and consequences, a palace that treats servants like furniture until they fight back, and a story that asks what happens when an ordinary woman becomes the one person the curse might be listening to. This is political fantasy that cares about who cleans up after the ball, the weight of a crown, and the price of being chosen.Readers will find the bruised beginnings of found family in the servants' hall-Mara, sharp-tongued Isla, winter-hard Agnes Bramble, exhausted Captain Rowan Hale-holding Moonspire together while their betters panic. And far from the palace, an exiled girl reads a plain-letter plea from the kingdom she once loved, forcing the question: when the state only remembers you in crisis, what do you owe it?This novel contains no images-only immersive, cinematic prose.This Book Is For Readers Who...Want political fantasy wrapped around a curse that actually tests motives, not just bloodlines.Love palace stories told from the servants' side of the door.Crave wolf shifter romance where the beast is never an excuse to ignore the cost of power.Enjoy slow burn romance threaded with banter, restraint, and inconvenient feelings that refuse to stay quiet.Are drawn to found family built from maids, guards, and witches who keep the world from breaking.Want their fated mates stories to cut deep, asking what "destiny" means when class and duty say no.Perfect For Fans Of...Sarah J. MaasCarissa BroadbentDanielle L. JensenNalini SinghGrace DravenStep into Book One of The Alpha King's True Mate series and let Moonspire decide what your heart is willing to risk.