Rejected by the Alpha

Questions about her past

"Tell her, Kade," Freya said, smiling like she already knew she had won something. "Or should I do it for you?"

Kade's face turned hard. "Freya, leave. Now."

"Why? Are you afraid she'll hear the truth from someone other than you?" Freya turned to Elena, her voice dripping with false pity. "Cross Pack is arriving in a few days. Alpha Kade is going to marry Vivienne Cross. It's already arranged. Did he forget to mention that part?"

Elena felt like the ground had shifted under her feet. She looked at Kade, waiting for him to say it wasn't true, waiting for some explanation that would make the tightness in her chest go away.

He didn't say anything.

"That's what I thought," Freya said, satisfied. She turned and walked back toward the pack houses, humming softly to herself like she had just won a prize.

The silence after she left felt heavier than anything Elena had felt in days.

"Is it true," Elena asked quietly.

Kade rubbed a hand over his face. "It's complicated."

"That's not an answer."

"My mother arranged talks with Cross Pack months ago," Kade said. "Before I ever met you. Before any of this happened. It was supposed to protect my pack. An alliance against Blackthorn."

"So it is true," Elena said. Her voice came out smaller than she wanted it to.

"Nothing has been finalized," Kade said quickly. "I haven't agreed to anything since finding out about the bond."

"But you haven't said no either," Elena said. "Have you."

Kade didn't answer, and that silence hurt more than any words could have.

"I should go," Elena said, stepping back.

"Elena, wait."

"No." She shook her head, blinking hard so she wouldn't cry in front of him. "You don't have to explain yourself to me. You said it yourself. It's complicated. I understand. I'm just an omega from a small pack. I was never going to be the sensible choice."

She turned and walked away before he could say anything else, and this time, he let her go.

Elena did not sleep much that night. She lay awake staring at the ceiling of the small room she shared with two other girls, her mind replaying Freya's words over and over. Cross Pack. Vivienne Cross. A marriage already being arranged before she even knew Kade's name.

She thought about the mate bond, about how it was supposed to mean something, and wondered if it even mattered at all when duty and politics were involved. Maybe the bond was just a feeling. Maybe feelings were not enough to change what powerful people had already decided.

By morning, she felt worn out in a way that had nothing to do with lack of sleep.

"You look terrible," Mia said bluntly when Elena walked into the kitchen. "What happened last night? Freya's been smirking all morning like she swallowed a canary."

"Nothing happened," Elena said, grabbing a bucket to fill with water so she would have an excuse not to look at Mia directly.

"Elena." Mia grabbed her arm gently, forcing her to stop. "I know something is wrong. You don't have to tell me everything, but please stop saying nothing is happening. I can see it on your face."

Elena's shoulders sagged. She was so tired of carrying this alone.

"Kade is my mate," she whispered finally, the words spilling out before she could stop them. "The mate bond. It's real. But his family already arranged for him to marry someone from Cross Pack. Vivienne Cross. It's supposed to happen soon."

Mia's eyes went wide. "What? Elena, that's... that's huge. Why didn't you tell me?"

"He asked me not to tell anyone," Elena said. "And I don't even know what there is to tell. It doesn't seem like it matters anyway."

"Of course it matters," Mia said fiercely. "A mate bond is not something people just ignore because it's inconvenient."

"Apparently it is, when there's an alliance at stake," Elena said bitterly.

Mia was quiet for a moment, clearly thinking. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing," Elena said. "There's nothing I can do. I'm not going to beg an Alpha to choose me over politics. I have some pride left, even if the rest of the pack doesn't think so."

Later that day, Elena decided to visit Old Marta, the woman who had raised her since she was a baby. She had questions building inside her that she had never had the courage to ask before, questions about her parents, about where she really came from, about why a symbol carried by a Blackthorn scout looked exactly like the mark hidden on her own shoulder.

She found Marta sitting outside her small home, mending a torn shirt with careful, practiced stitches.

"Elena," Marta said, looking up with a warm smile. "Come, sit with me for a while."

Elena sat down beside her, watching the needle move in and out of the fabric for a moment before speaking.

"Marta, can I ask you something about my parents?"

Marta's hands stilled slightly, though she recovered quickly and kept sewing. "Of course, dear. What do you want to know?"

"You've always told me my father died in a border skirmish, and my mother died giving birth to me," Elena said slowly. "But you've never told me much else. Who they were. Where they came from. Anything."

"There isn't much else to tell," Marta said, though her voice sounded tighter than usual. "They were good people. That's all that matters."

"Marta." Elena turned to face her fully. "I have a mark on my shoulder. A crescent moon wrapped in flame. I've always thought it was just a birthmark, or maybe a scar. But yesterday, one of the Blackthorn scouts was found carrying the exact same symbol on a piece of cloth."

The needle slipped from Marta's fingers.

"Marta?"

The old woman's face had gone pale, her hands trembling slightly as she stared down at the fallen needle instead of picking it up.

"Please," Elena said softly. "If you know something, anything at all, I need to hear it. This isn't just curiosity anymore. It might be dangerous."

Marta was silent for a long moment, her eyes distant, like she was seeing something far away in time instead of the yard in front of her.

"There are things I promised never to speak of," Marta finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Things that could put you in more danger than you already are, if the wrong ears heard them."

"Marta, please."

The old woman reached out and took Elena's hand, her grip surprisingly strong despite her age.

"Your mother did not die the way I told you," Marta said quietly. "She was running from something. Someone. And that mark on your shoulder is not a birthmark at all."