REJECTED BY THE ALPHA, CLAIMED BY HIS BROTHER

Episode4

Aria's POV

Read my lips, Aria, I, Damien, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, reject you,” he stated.

My breath hitched in my throat.

It felt like the floor caved under me, like the air had been yanked from my lungs. The bond inside me—warm and steady for so long—suddenly snapped, tearing through me like claws ripping my insides apart. I gasped, clutching at my chest as the pain seared through every nerve, hot and unbearable.

A howl rose from somewhere in the crowd, but it wasn’t for me. It was for him. For the Alpha who had just ripped my world away.

Laughter followed. Mocking, cruel. The sound of my pack—my people—tearing into me like vultures.

“Rejected!”

“She thought she was Luna!”

“The daughter of a w***e, thrown away—just like her mother!”

I stumbled backward, my vision swimming. My body was trembling so badly I couldn’t even steady myself. The tears streamed hot and fast down my cheeks, blurring Damien’s face until he was nothing more than a cruel outline standing tall and proud, Selene draped smugly at his side.

Selene tilted her head, her lips curling into a smile that cut deeper than the rejection. “Told you, sister. You’re nothing. Not even the goddess could save you from being worthless.”

Her words slid into the pack’s laughter, weaving tighter around me until it suffocated me. Every pair of eyes was on me, not with pity anymore, but with ridicule. Disgust.

My knees buckled, and I dropped hard onto the polished floor. Pain shot up my legs, but I barely felt it over the ache clawing inside me. I tried to stand, but the hem of my dress caught beneath my heel, and I tripped again, sprawling like a fool in front of them all.

The laughter grew louder.

“She can’t even stand—how could she ever be Luna?”

“Pathetic!”

“Rejected, and by her own Alpha!”

Their voices crashed over me like waves, each one stealing another piece of me.

I pressed my palms to the floor, blood smearing from the scrapes on my skin, and pushed myself up with what little strength I had left. My hair fell into my face, tangled and wet with tears. My chest heaved, each breath sharp and ragged.

But no one reached for me. No one stopped the jeering. No one cared.

I turned, forcing my shaking legs to move, my eyes locked on the doors at the far end of the hall. I had to get out. If I stayed another second, I would die right there—not from the rejection, but from the shame.

Behind me, Damien’s voice rang out, final and merciless. “You were never worthy, Aria. And you never will be.”

The hall erupted into cheers. Not for me. Never for me.

I ran, stumbling as I made my way out of the pack house, frantic, Solara was running after me, calling out to me, but I didn't listen, didn't wait at all.

I was deaf to whatever pleas she was calling.

My lungs were ripping apart. That’s what it felt like—every breath tearing something loose inside me, burning, shredding. My chest rose and fell so fast I thought it would burst. But I couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop. If I stopped, I’d collapse right there and never get up again.

The trees blurred past in streaks of shadow, branches scratching at my arms and face like claws. My dress snagged on twigs, tearing bit by bit until it hung crooked on me, slipping from one shoulder. My feet pounded the earth, clumsy and uneven, my shoes catching on every root and rock. Still, I pushed forward, driven only by the sound that kept replaying in my head—Damien’s voice, cold and final.

“Read my lips, Aria… I reject you.”

It cut deeper than any blade. And worse than that were the voices that followed, the pack’s laughter. My people. My family. They had cheered as if my pain was a gift from the goddess herself. As if my rejection was a blessing to them.

“Worthless.”

“Just like her mother.”

“Pathetic.”

Every word clung to me like mud, dragging me down, down, down.

I blinked hard, trying to clear the tears, but they just kept coming, hot and endless. My vision was a watery mess, lights of the pack house fading behind me as I ran deeper into the forest. My body was trembling so violently I could hardly keep balance. My legs screamed with every step, but I didn’t dare stop.

Then it happened.

My foot caught on a thick root jutting out of the ground, and my body pitched forward. The impact was brutal—I landed hard on my knees, sharp rocks tearing open my skin. Pain shot up my legs, but before I could even cry out, my body lurched forward again. My forehead slammed into the ground, right against a buried stone.

White light exploded behind my eyes. For a second, I didn’t know where I was. I just lay there, dazed, my ears ringing, blood trickling warm down the side of my face.

The taste of iron filled my mouth.

I tried to push myself up, but my arms shook so badly I collapsed again, palms scraping open against gravel. My dress dragged heavy with dirt, the once-beautiful fabric ruined and clinging to me like a weight.

“Get up,” I whispered hoarsely to myself, teeth clenched. My voice cracked. “Aria, get up. Don’t stay here. Not here.”

I clawed at the ground, forcing myself onto unsteady feet. My knees buckled immediately, and I staggered forward, half-running, half-limping. My breaths came ragged, each inhale like knives cutting through my throat.

That’s when I heard it.

A sound that froze my blood in my veins.

Low. Guttural. A growl.

It echoed through the trees, too close, vibrating in my chest. My eyes flew wide as I spun, scanning the dark. Shadows bent in every direction, twisting shapes between the trees.

Another growl—closer this time, deeper. A sound of hunger. Of death.

My heart jumped into my throat. My whole body went cold.

“No…” The word slipped from my lips, broken, panicked. I stumbled forward faster, dragging my injured leg, forcing it to move. My ankle twisted, pain lancing up my leg, but I kept going.

The growl turned into a snarl, sharp and vicious.

I could hear it moving now. Heavy paws crushing the leaves. The snap of branches. It was following me.

My breaths turned frantic, too quick, too shallow. I couldn’t get enough air. My head spun, black dots flickering in my vision. I tried to run faster, but my legs refused. Every step was a fight, my body too broken from the rejection and the fall.

I tripped again, crashing into the dirt. My arms scraped raw, blood streaking down to my elbows. I clawed forward, nails splitting, breath ripping out of me in sobs.

“Please…” My voice broke into the night. “Please, not like this…”

The sound of the rogue’s growl rumbled again, right behind me now, so close I could feel it in my bones. I didn’t even have the strength to look back.

I dragged myself to my knees, tried to stand, but my legs folded instantly. I crumpled, helpless.

That was it. This was how I was going to die. Rejected. Alone. Humiliated. And now, ripped apart by a rogue in the dirt.

I closed my eyes, tears streaming down my cheeks. My body shook with every sob, too weak to do anything else.

Then the ground shifted.

Heavy paws thudded against the earth, so close they sent vibrations through me. A shadow fell over my body, blocking out the faint silver glow of the moon above.

I froze.

Through the blur of tears, I saw it. Massive. Dark. Its silhouette towering above me. My breath hitched, my throat locked. The rogue. It had caught me.

I curled into myself, covering my head with my arms, waiting for teeth to sink into me.

But then—

The sound I expected never came. No snapping jaws. No tearing flesh.

Instead, another sound split the air. A snarl. But not from behind me. From in front of me.

I forced my head up, my vision swimming.

And I saw it.

A wolf. Huge. Dark as the shadows themselves. Its fur shimmered faintly under the moonlight, a beast carved out of night itself. Its eyes burned—glowing, fierce, unearthly. Not the dull hunger of a rogue, but something far sharper. Something alive.

It stood between me and the rogue, broad shoulders tense, teeth bared in a warning that shook the forest.

The rogue that had been chasing me growled once more, but this time, there was hesitation in the sound. A step back.

I could only stare, broken and shaking, as this stranger wolf—this savior I hadn’t asked for—held the line in front of me, its massive frame blocking me completely from sight.

The world blurred. My body slumped, too weak to hold itself up anymore. My vision tunneled, but the last thing I saw before the dark pulled me under was those eyes. Burning. Watching me.

The wolf stood guard.

And I wasn’t alone anymore.