REJECTED BY THE MATE

You’ve Been Sold to the Richest Alpha

Eila Holden POV

I’m Eila, and I’ve always dreamed of the day I would meet my mate.

I come from the Blue Moon Pack, once the most peaceful pack… until Marcus brought war upon us.

I had been waiting for this moment—my eighteenth birthday. The day chosen by the Moon Goddess. The day my wolf would awaken, and my destiny would begin.

But instead, it turned out to be the worst day of my life.

I woke up to the sound of my stepsister, Ria, screaming. She threw a cup of ice water at me while I was still in bed.

“When did you sneak in here, you little brat?” she snapped.

I flinched, almost bursting into tears from her cruelty. But I held myself together.

“I finished all the chores. I came to rest. Today is my birthday.”

“Who cares about your stupid birthday? You want people to celebrate the day you cursed us by being born?”

“What do you want, Ria?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“You’ve been sold to the richest Alpha. He wants you badly. I agreed… in exchange for a few million.” Her tone was cold. Cruel. Like my life meant nothing.

My heart stopped. Sold? To an Alpha I had never met? This was supposed to be my day. The day I finally met the mate chosen for me.

Ria has always been hateful. Bitter. She’s my half-sister, the daughter of my father’s first wife. Ever since my dad died two years ago, she’s owned the house and threatened to throw me onto the streets. Maybe she hates me because Father married my mother after her mom was killed by hunters. Or maybe because Father always loved me more.

I jumped off the bed, fire burning inside me. I pointed a finger at her face and shouted, “I won’t marry anyone, Ria! I’ll only be with the mate the Moon Goddess chooses for me.”

She brushed my hand away and leaned close, eyes flashing with rage. “You’ll do what I say. Do you have any idea who this Alpha is? He’s rich. He’s powerful. He’ll make you live in palaces and give you anything you want.”

I sank back onto the bed, curling up as tears ran down my face. Because I knew the truth. That Alpha didn’t want a Luna. He only wanted a mistress. He would break me, humiliate me, use me until nothing was left.

His name was Marcus. Alpha of the Golden Sun Pack. The strongest. The cruelest.

Why was Ria like this? Why was her heart made of stone?

If I refused, I would be homeless, abandoned.

If I agreed, I would lose the chance to meet my true mate.

All my life, I had been a dutiful wolf. Waiting. Obeying. Hoping. Today should have been my first shift, the start of my training to protect myself from hunters and rogues. My father had promised me that. But instead, all I felt was a crushing pain in my chest.

Ria yanked my hair, dragging me up from the bed. “You don’t get to choose, Eila. You’re nothing. You’ll do as you’re told!”

“Please, Ria… let me go. You’re hurting me. Why are you doing this to me?”

Every pack has its traditions. In ours, we chose someone to witness our first shift. But I had no one. No one left to stand with me. And Ria—of course—would never agree. She hated this day. She hated the idea of mates. She had been rejected by hers, and ever since, she’d been hollow. Empty. Bitter. Maybe that’s why she despised me. Because I still had a chance at love, while hers had been stolen.

I refused to let her see me weak. I walked into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and tied my black hair into a ponytail. I put on my best bra, a white cotton dress, and touched up my makeup—just a little lipstick, enough to make me feel alive. I wanted to look beautiful, even if no one cared. Maybe… just maybe… someone out there could love me enough to save me from this nightmare.

When I came downstairs, Ria was lounging on the couch with a cup of coffee, one leg crossed over the other. She looked at me with a sly smile.

“You really didn’t get it, did you? You won’t meet your mate today. Tonight, you’ll spend the night with Marcus. You’ll be his little whore.”

Her beauty was venom. Her words, a knife.

I snapped back, unable to hold it in. “You’re just going to throw me out like garbage if I refuse, aren’t you? Fine. I’ll leave on my own. You can’t sell me like some object. If all you want is for me to be Marcus’s w***e, then I’d rather walk away.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled through the pain, but my defiance shocked her. She hurled her coffee cup at the wall, shattering it into pieces, and stormed toward me.

“Do you really think Marcus will let you go? Who are you to reject him? He’s the strongest Alpha alive. You’re nothing.”

Fear clawed at my chest. Marcus. Everyone knew his name. Ruthless. Merciless. A beast in human form.

I had never met him, but the stories were enough to make my blood run cold.

I wasn’t strong enough to fight Ria. I wasn’t strong enough to fight Marcus. I wasn’t even strong enough to survive alone in the world.

So where could I go? How could I escape this hell?