Rejected At The Altar, Claimed By The Lycan King

Zara’s POV “Strip her Luna robe.” The command echoed through the ceremonial hall before I could even finish saying my vows and for one heartbeatI thought I had heard wrong. The hall fell silent, every elder, warrior and member of the Crescent Moon Pack turned to look at me. My fingers tightened around the bouquet of white moon lilies as my eyes searched Kael’s face, hoping he would laugh and tell everyone it was some terrible joke. He didn’t Instead he stepped away from me as though standing beside me disgusted him. My stomach twisted. “K-Kael?” I whispered. He didn’t answer but his eyes turned cold, colder than they had ever been during the three years we’d been together. “I’ve changed my mind,” he said loudly making sure everyone heard. “There will be no wedding today.” The words struck harder than any slap as murmurs spread through the crowd. “What?” “What’s happening?” “Why would the Alpha reject his mate on their wedding day?” I felt my wolf what little connection I had to her tremble painfully inside me. “Kael,” I said again my voice shaking. “What are you talking about?” He sighed dramatically as if I were the one embarrassing him. “I can’t marry a woman who can’t even shift.” The whispers grew louder. “There it is.” “I knew it.” “The useless omega.” “The cursed girl.” Heat burned behind my eyes but I refused to cry not here not in front of everyone. “I tried,” Kael continued. “For three years, I waited hoping you would awaken your wolf. Hoping you would become worthy of standing beside me as Luna.” He looked at me with disappointment. “But you never did.” My throat tightened. “You promised…” I whispered. “I know what I promised.” His voice was flat. “But the pack deserves a stronger Luna.” The large doors behind him opened a woman dressed in a silver gown walked into the hall with confidence. Selena. My stepsister. She wore the smile I’d seen too many times before the smile she always had whenever she took something that belonged to me. She walked straight to Kael without hesitation she reached for her hand. The entire hall erupted into shocked gasps. “No…” My lips parted in disbelief. “Kael…” He didn’t even look guilty. “Selena is carrying a powerful Alpha bloodline,” he announced. “She has proven herself worthy of becoming my Luna.” Lies. All lies. Selena had spent years making my life miserable. She spread rumors, spoiltmy friendships and sure everyone believed I was worthless and now she had stolen the man I loved. She stopped in front of me with a victorious smile. “I’m sorry sister,” she said sweetly enough for everyone to hear. “Love doesn’t wait forever.” I stared at her unbelievably “You knew.” She shrugged. “We’ve been together for months.” The world tilted beneath my feet. Months? “You cheated on me,” I whispered. Kael rolled his shoulders. “It wasn’t cheating. We were mates!” He says looking completely unbothered. “I was preparing for the future.” Something inside me shattered not the mate bond but my heart. The Alpha of the pack my adoptive father rose from his seat his expression held nothing but disappointment. “Zara Ashthorne.” He called out I turned toward him. For years, I had desperately hoped he would one day see me as his daughter but instead he looked at me as if I were a burden. “You have brought shame upon this family.” My eyes widened. “I… what?” “If you had awakened your wolf none of this would’ve happened.” The words hit deeper than Kael’s betrayal. “I tried,” I whispered. “I tried every day.” “But you failed.” The elders nodded in agreement one by one. As though my entire life could be summed up in a single failure. “You are no longer worthy of carrying this family’s name,” my father declared. A servant stepped toward me. “Remove her Luna robe.” “No…” I instinctively held the robe closed. “This belongs to me.” “It belonged to the woman who was supposed to become Luna,” Selena corrected with a smirk. “And that’s me.” Two female guards grabbed my arms as I struggled. “Stop!” I yelled but they ignored me. The ceremonial robe my mother had sewn before she died was ripped from my shoulders. The sound of tearing fabric echoed through the silent hall. It felt like someone had ripped away the last piece of her I had left. “Please, I beg you don’t do this to me” I begged. The entire hall erupted into applause for Selena as I stood there in my plain white dress humiliated before everyone I’d ever known. Kael walked toward Selena and kissed her, a long, slow and deliberate one as the crowd cheered. My knees nearly gave out. “So this is what my love was worth,” I whispered. Selena leaned close enough that only I could hear. “You were never meant to be Luna and we both know that, you were only keeping my place warm.” She stepped back smiling sweetly once more. My father pointed toward the doors. “Leave.” My body refused to move. “I said…leave this pack.” His voice boomed through the hall. One of the warriors shoved me from behind making me stumble down the marble steps another pushed me again, then another and by the time I reached the courtyard, someone threw a stone. It struck my shoulder, another hit my leg. “Cursed girl!” “Useless omega!” “Weakling!” Their insults chased me all the way to the pack gates blood trickled from my forehead where a rock had cut my skin. My feet were bare and my wedding dress was stained with dirt and blood. When the gates slammed shut behind me I finally allowed myself to cry the sound of my sobs disappeared into the thin air. I fell to my knees. “I didn’t ask to be born this way,” I whispered to the Moon Goddess. “What did I do so wrong?” No answer came. A bitter laugh escaped my lips, maybe the Moon Goddess had abandoned me too. I forced myself to stand though every part of my body ached. I had no home, no family, no mate and no future. I had taken only a few unsteady steps down the lonely forest road when the ground beneath my feet began to tremble. Hoofbeats, hundreds of them… no…thousands. The sound grew louder until the earth itself seemed to shake. I turned slowly. Over the distant hill an army dressed in black armor appeared like a dark wave with massive banners bearing a silver wolf snapped in the wind. At their center rode a man on a towering black horse. Even from a distance his presence stole the air from my lungs with power rolling off him in crushing waves. Every instinct inside me screamed one name. Lycan. The horse stopped a few feet away and the man dismounted with effortless grace. His black cloak flowed behind him as he walked toward me with his face unreadable. Sharp jaw, piercing silver eyes and dark hair that brushed his shoulders. The warriors behind him lowered their heads without being told. I tried to step back but my legs gave out before I hit the ground… Strong arms caught me his scent surrounded me. Winter nights. He looked down into my tear-filled eyes for a long moment he simply stared then shock flashed across his usually emotionless face. Almost as if he’d found something he’d been searching for and without warning the most feared man in the werewolf world slowly lowered himself onto one knee before me his entire army followed with thousands of warriors kneeling in perfect silence. The stranger bowed his head his deep voice broke the stillness. “My Queen…”