Rejected By Alpha Kaelen: My Silver Twins' Revenge

The Moon Goddess was supposed to give me the best night of my life. Instead, she gave me the mate who would destroy it. Midnight struck. The entire Blackwood ballroom erupted. Silver chandeliers, black and gold gowns, music so loud the marble floor vibrated. Hundreds of wolves. And I couldn't hear any of it. My fingers were shaking so hard I was about to drop my glass. "You're going to spill that all over yourself," Mira whispered next to me. "And then your mate will find you smelling like champagne." "I am nervous, okay?" "You are Ariana Vale. You could wear a sack and they'd still stare." I tried to laugh. It came out as a breath. Then the music stopped. Dead silence. Alpha Kaelen had entered. I forgot how to breathe. Twenty-four. Black suit stretched over broad shoulders. Dark hair pushed back. A face that was too sharp to be handsome and too handsome to look away from. He wasn't just an Alpha. He was _the_ Alpha. The one other Alphas whispered about. I'd seen him before from far away. I never let myself look longer than a second. Because a man like him would never look at a girl like me. A disgraced Beta's daughter. No title. No money. No wolf that was strong enough to matter. I tugged at my simple silver dress. My wolf suddenly moved. Not a stir. A _surge_. Heat ripped through my veins. My heart slammed so hard it hurt. _MATE._ The word wasn't a thought. It was a scream inside my head. No. No, it couldn't be. Slowly, I lifted my eyes. Kaelen was already looking at me. Across the whole ballroom, through hundreds of people — his eyes locked on mine. Blue. Ice blue. And they were fixed on me. The world just... vanished. The noise, the crowd, the music. Gone. There was only the pull. That impossible, painful, beautiful pull between us. He was my mate. The Moon Goddess actually chose _him_ for me. I smiled before I could stop myself and took a step forward. Then another, into the middle of the ballroom. "Kaelen..." His jaw tightened. So tight I saw the muscle jump. Something was wrong. He started walking toward me. Slow. Controlled. The crowd split for him like water. My heart was flying. He stopped right in front of me. Close enough that I could smell him — winter and smoke. For one second, I thought he would touch me. He didn't. His eyes dragged over me, cold. So cold. "I know what the Goddess has chosen," he said, voice low. My smile grew. "So do I." His face didn't change. "And I reject it." My smile died. "What?" "I, Alpha Kaelen Blackwood, reject you, Ariana Vale, as my mate and Luna." It wasn't loud. He didn't need to shout. Every single person heard it. My wolf made a sound inside me I'd never heard before. A whimper that turned into a c***k. I stared at him. "Kaelen... we're mates." "I know exactly what we are." "Then why?" "Because I don't want you." A few laughs broke out in the crowd. Whispers. My cheeks burned like fire. "Did I— did I do something?" He didn't answer. He looked past me, toward the entrance. I turned. Chloe. His childhood friend. The perfect future Luna everyone wanted for him. Crimson dress, tears on her cheeks, looking shattered. My stomach dropped. Kaelen walked right past me. Straight to her. "Kaelen?" My voice cracked. He didn't turn. Chloe stumbled. He caught her instantly, pulling her against his chest. "I tried to warn you," she whispered, loud enough for the front row to hear. "Warn me about what?" he asked. Her eyes flicked to me. For half a second, behind the tears, I saw it. Satisfaction. Then it was gone. "I saw Ariana near your office last night. In the restricted wing." Blood went cold. "No," I said. "That's not true." Chloe flinched like I'd hit her. "She was there. I swear." "You're lying!" Kaelen's eyes flashed gold. His wolf. "Watch your mouth," he growled at me. "Kaelen, I swear I wasn't near your office. I would never—" "Your scent was found outside my door," he cut me off. "And this was found inside." He reached into his jacket and pulled something out. My pendant. My mother's silver pendant. The one she'd given me before she died. I touched my neck. Empty. "This was in my office, Ariana." "I lost it yesterday! Someone must have taken it—" "Who?" I looked at Chloe. She looked down, playing innocent. And I finally understood. She set me up. "Please, you have to believe me. I didn't—" "You haven't been my Luna for five minutes," he said quietly, and that was crueler than shouting, "and you've already given me a reason to regret the bond." My eyes burned but I refused to cry. "Then don't believe her. Believe _me_. Your mate." "I believe evidence." He lifted his hand. "Guards." Two warriors stepped forward and grabbed my arms. My heart stopped. "What are you doing?" "Until we figure out what you were stealing, you will be detained." "You're arresting me? Your own mate?" His voice dropped so only I could hear. "You stopped being my mate the moment you chose betrayal. Take her to Black Thorn." Black Thorn. The prison for traitors. Where wolves go in and don't come out. "No! Kaelen, please!" He didn't move. He just stood there, holding Chloe, while they dragged me toward the doors. I looked back one last time. Chloe was smiling. Not sad. Not scared. Triumphant. Like she'd just won a war. Then my pendant slipped from Kaelen's fingers. It hit the marble and cracked open. A tiny folded piece of paper fell out. Silence fell. Kaelen bent down and picked it up. He unfolded it. And his entire face changed. Shock. Real shock. For the first time tonight, the untouchable Alpha looked... afraid. His eyes snapped to mine. "Ariana... who gave you this?" I had no idea what he was talking about. He stared at the paper, his hand shaking, his wolf growling — but not at me this time. At someone else. I didn't know what was written on it. I didn't know why Kaelen suddenly looked like he'd seen a ghost. I only knew that before sunrise, I would be locked in Black Thorn Prison. Where I would discover the secret that would change both our lives forever. Because the Moon Goddess hadn't made a mistake. She chose him for a reason. And our bloodlines were hiding a secret neither of us was supposed to know. I should have known this would happen. Girls like me don't get happy endings. Not in Blackwood. My father used to tell me the Goddess is fair. That she gives everyone a mate who loves them exactly how they need. He told me that when I was ten. Before they called him traitor. For three years I lived at the edge in a cold cottage. For three years I heard whispers at the market. Daughter of a traitor. She'll never find a mate. Mira was the only one who never said it. She held my hand tonight like a sister. For a second, when Kaelen looked at me, I believed too. The bond snapped like a chain waiting my whole life. Golden and warm. My silent wolf howled so loud I thought my chest would split. That's how I knew it was real. So why did he look at me like a disease? Like the Goddess cursed him? His scent hit me from five feet. Pine and snow and Alpha. It made my knees weak. But his eyes were ice. No warmth. Only disgust. I'd seen that look before. When my father was dragged out. When the Luna told me I couldn't sit with the others. But never from my mate. Your mate should look at you like you hung the moon. Kaelen looked at me like he wanted to erase me. The pendant was all my mother left me. She pressed it in my hand that last night. Promised it would keep me safe. Eight years I wore it. Losing it yesterday felt like losing her again. Now it was here, proof I was a thief. Chloe's tears were perfect. Too perfect. No smudged mascara. No real sob. She planned this. She wanted to be Luna since childhood. She grew up in the Alpha house. She thought the title was already hers. And I was in her way.