Rejected by the Alpha King

Chapter 6: The King's Regret

The glass had been a gift from the Silver Moon pack.

Kael Blackthorn stared at the shattered pieces on the floor of his throne room and could not remember picking it up. One moment he had been reading a report from his scouts. The next moment the glass was falling and his hand was pressed against his chest and his wolf was screaming inside his skull.

The pain had come out of nowhere.

Not physical pain. He could handle physical pain. He had been trained to withstand torture before he could shift. This was something else. Something deeper. Something that lived in the space where his heart used to be before he learned to lock it away.

His beta, Darius, appeared in the doorway. His dark hair was disheveled and his sword was drawn, the way it always was when he sensed danger.

"Alpha? What happened?"

Kael did not answer immediately. He was still trying to breathe. The howl he had heard echoed in his ears, though he knew it had not been a real sound. It had been inside his head. Inside his wolf. A howl from somewhere far away, somewhere east, somewhere he could not see but could somehow feel.

"I am fine," he said finally. His voice came out rougher than he intended.

Darius stepped into the room, his boots crunching on the broken glass. He sheathed his sword but kept his hand on the hilt. He had been Kael's beta for six years, and in that time he had learned to read the small tells that other wolves missed. The tension in Kael's jaw. The way his golden eyes kept drifting toward the eastern window.

"The scouts returned from the border of the forbidden lands," Darius said carefully. "They have nothing to report. The ancient wolves did not respond to their presence."

Kael turned away from the window. "Then send more scouts."

"Alpha, the forbidden lands are"

"I know what the forbidden lands are." Kael's voice was sharp enough to cut. "I know the stories. I know the warnings. I also know that something is happening out there. Something that should not be possible."

Darius hesitated. He was not a wolf who hesitated. That was how Kael knew he was about to say something he did not want to hear.

"The night of the mating ceremony," Darius said slowly. "The fire. The explosion of power that damaged the capital. The scouts found no trace of an attacker. No evidence of rogue wolves. No sign of any known enemy."

Kael's jaw tightened. "Are you suggesting the fire was not an attack?"

"I am suggesting that we do not know what it was. And I am suggesting that whatever it is may be connected to the wolf you rejected."

Kael felt something cold slide down his spine. He had been trying not to think about that night. About the girl with the gray eyes and the muddy dress. About the way his wolf had surged inside him when he first saw her, desperate and hungry and certain.

About the way he had crushed that certainty beneath his boot.

He had rejected her because he had to. That was what he told himself. She was wolfless. Weak. A liability. The Alpha King could not mate with someone who would bring shame to the throne. The packs would never accept her. The other Alphas would use her as a weakness to exploit.

He had done the right thing.

He had done the only thing.

Then why did it feel like he had made a mistake?

"The girl," Kael said. The words tasted strange in his mouth. "What was her name?"

Darius blinked. "I do not know, Alpha. No one thought to record it. She was from Shadow Creek, I believe. A low ranking wolf. Possibly without a pack family."

Kael walked to the eastern window. The sun was rising over the mountains, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. Somewhere out there, beyond those peaks, was the forbidden lands. And somewhere out there, he could feel a pull. A tug. A thread connecting him to something he could not name.

"Find her name," he said quietly. "Find out everything about her. Her bloodline. Her history. Her current location."

Darius was silent for a long moment. Then he said, "Alpha, the rejection was final. The bond is broken. She is nothing to you now."

Kael turned. His golden eyes burned with something that looked almost like anger but felt more like fear.

"I know what the rejection was," he said. "I was there. But something is wrong. My wolf will not stop howling. I can feel her. Not the bond. Something else. Something that should not exist after a rejection."

Darius studied his face for a long moment. Whatever he saw there made him nod slowly.

"I will find her," Darius said. "But Alpha, if she truly caused the fire that damaged the capital, she may be dangerous."

Kael looked back at the mountains.

"Dangerous," he repeated. The word felt inadequate. Whatever was happening in the east, whatever power had awakened on the night he broke the bond, it was more than dangerous.

It was the beginning of something he did not understand.

And for the first time in his life, Kael Blackthorn was afraid.

The throne room felt empty after Darius left.

Kael walked through it slowly, his boots echoing on the stone floor. The damage from the fire was mostly repaired now. New tapestries covered the scorched walls. New torches burned in the iron sconces. New rushes covered the floor where the old ones had turned to ash.

But he could still smell the smoke.

He could still feel the heat.

He could still hear the screams of wolves who had been caught in the blast.

It had not been an ordinary fire. The healers had confirmed that much. The flames had not spread the way normal flames spread. They had appeared simultaneously in a dozen different locations, burning hot and fast and then extinguishing themselves the moment the damage was done.

It was as if the fire had been controlled. Directed. Focused with an intelligence that should not exist.

Kael stopped in front of the throne. The skull of the ancient beast gleamed in the torchlight. He had sat in this throne for six years, since his father died in the rogue wars. He had ruled with an iron fist and a cold heart. He had never doubted himself. Never questioned his decisions. Never looked back at the wolves he had stepped on to reach the top.

Until now.

He sat down heavily, the weight of the crown pressing against his temples. The howl was still echoing in his skull. His wolf was still pacing, restless, furious.

Mine, the wolf growled. She is mine.

Kael closed his eyes. "She is not ours. I rejected her. The bond is gone."

The wolf did not care. The wolf had never cared about politics or power or the opinions of other wolves. The wolf only cared about the mate. The mate who had been standing right there, close enough to touch, and Kael had thrown her away.

You felt it, the wolf snarled. When she left. The power. The fire. She is not weak. She was never weak. And now she is gone and we cannot find her and it is your fault.

Kael pressed his palms against his eyes. "I know."

The door opened again. Kael did not bother to look up. He assumed it was Darius, returning with more questions he did not want to answer.

But the footsteps were lighter. Deliberate. Accompanied by the soft rustle of silk.

"Alpha King." Selene's voice was honey and smoke. "You look tired."

Kael opened his eyes. Selene stood at the foot of the throne, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders, her blue eyes wide and innocent. She wore a gown of deep green that matched her eyes, and she had painted her lips the color of blood.

He had known Selene for years. She was the daughter of a powerful Alpha, beautiful and charming and endlessly ambitious. She had made it clear on multiple occasions that she wished to be his Luna.

He had never been interested.

But lately, she had been everywhere. In the war rooms. At the councils. Standing just close enough to whisper in his ear.

"The attack on the capital," Selene said. "I have been thinking about it. About what could have caused such destruction."

Kael leaned back in the throne. "And what conclusion have you reached?"

Selene climbed the steps of the dais. She stopped just beside the throne, close enough that he could smell her perfume. Roses and something darker underneath.

"I think you know," she said softly. "The girl. The one you rejected. She was not what she seemed."

Kael's eyes narrowed. "What do you know about her?"

Selene smiled. It was a beautiful smile. It did not reach her eyes.

"I know that she came from Shadow Creek. I know that the Alpha of that pack has been hiding something for eighteen years. I know that the night you rejected her, something woke up. Something old. Something that should have stayed buried."

Kael stood abruptly. Selene did not flinch. She simply looked up at him with those innocent blue eyes, and for the first time, he saw something cold behind them.

"Tell me what you know," he said. His voice was quiet. Dangerous.

Selene stepped closer. She reached up and placed her hand on his chest, over his heart.

"I know that the girl you rejected is the daughter of Elara Nightshade," she said. "The most powerful wolf in history. The wolf who nearly destroyed the throne three hundred years ago."

Kael went still.

"Elara Nightshade is a myth," he said. "A story told to scare young wolves."

Selene shook her head slowly. "She was real. And her bloodline survived. Hidden. Sealed away. Waiting." She pressed her palm harder against his chest. "You broke the seal when you rejected her daughter. The power is awake now. And if we do not stop her, she will destroy everything you have built."

Kael grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from his chest. His grip was tight enough to bruise.

"We?" he said coldly. "There is no we. There is only the throne. And I do not know you well enough to trust you."

Selene did not pull away. She held his gaze, her smile never wavering.

"Then get to know me," she said. "Because I am the only one in this kingdom telling you the truth. The girl you rejected is coming for you. And when she arrives, you will regret letting her go."

She turned and walked out of the throne room, her silk gown trailing behind her like a shadow.

Kael watched her go.

His hand was still pressed against his chest, where the broken mate bond burned like a brand.

He looked east.

And for the first time, he wondered if Selene was right. If the girl with the gray eyes was coming for him. If he would live to regret the night he called her nothing.

The howl echoed in his skull again.

Mine, his wolf whispered.

Kael closed his eyes.

And said nothing.