The Alpha Rejected A Moon Goddess

The first time my mate touched me, I thought the Moon Goddess had finally decided to stop laughing at my life, which was honestly a stupid conclusion because the woman had a sense of humor cruel enough to make a bastard Omega believe she had finally been chosen before ripping the entire thing apart in front of the people who had spent twenty-one years reminding her that she was never supposed to be here. I was carrying a tray of wine when it happened, because apparently being the Alpha’s daughter did not save me from being used as a servant, and my fingers were already aching from the work I had been doing since before sunrise, with a cut across my palm from the kitchen knife that the cook had wrapped in a dirty strip of cloth and told me not to drip blood on the floor because nobody wanted to clean up after me. The Alpha’s hall was packed that evening, filled with warriors, visiting Alphas, ranked wolves, servants moving between tables, and people dressed in clothes that probably cost more than everything I owned put together, while I stood near the entrance with my head lowered because my father had made it very clear that I was only allowed inside because the Luna had ordered every servant to attend to the guests. Then the doors opened. Every conversation in the hall changed at once, and I didn't even need to look up to know who had entered because the entire room suddenly smelled like cold rain, cedar, and something dangerously masculine that made my wolf slam against my ribs so violently that the tray almost slipped from my hands. Alpha Asher Kane walked into the hall. He was taller than I expected, dressed completely in black, with dark hair pushed away from his forehead and an expression that made it obvious he had never needed to ask anyone for permission to enter a room, because rooms simply seemed to understand that he belonged to him. My wolf went insane. A full-body explosion that made my knees weaken and my lungs forget how breathing worked, and before I could stop myself, I lifted my head and stared directly at him. His eyes found mine. The tray fell. Wine splashed across the polished floor, glass shattered around my shoes, and somebody laughed loudly enough that my face burned, but I couldn't move because Asher was already walking toward me, and every step he took made the bond inside my chest pull tighter until I could barely stand. My wolf whispered his name. My mate. I should have been happy. Instead, the moment he stopped in front of me, his face changed. He looked at my torn dress, my bruised wrist, the old scar beneath my jaw, the blood soaking through the cloth around my palm, and then his eyes moved back to my face with something so close to disgust that the little hope forming inside me started dying before he even opened his mouth. “You're the one my wolf chose,” he said, and his voice carried through the hall because apparently fate had decided my humiliation needed an audience, while several wolves exchanged confused looks and my father went completely still at the other end of the room. I swallowed hard and tried to answer him, but my throat had closed around the words, so I simply nodded while my wolf pushed against the bond again, desperate to get closer to him. Asher reached for me. His fingers closed around my wrist. The bond exploded. Heat tore through my body so violently that I gasped, my knees buckled, and for one ridiculous second I forgot every horrible thing anyone had ever said about me because his touch felt like coming home to somewhere I had never been before, and I actually smiled at him. That smile lasted approximately three seconds. Asher released my wrist as though he had touched something filthy. His jaw tightened, his eyes hardened, and the entire hall went silent when he stepped backward. “You are an Omega,” he said, staring at me like the answer offended him, and I looked down at myself as though perhaps I had somehow become an entirely different person in the last few seconds, because yes, I was an Omega, but I had never expected my mate to look at me like that for it. “I can explain,” I whispered, although I didn't even know what I was trying to explain, because there was nothing wrong with being an Omega and I had not chosen my birth or my rank or the family that spent every day making sure I remembered both. His mouth twisted. “You don't need to explain anything, Aria Vale, because there is nothing you could possibly say that would make me accept this.” The words hit harder than the rejection itself, and somewhere behind me someone snorted with laughter. I turned toward the sound and saw one of the younger warriors covering his mouth while the Luna sat perfectly still beside my father, her expression almost peaceful, as if this was exactly the entertainment she had been waiting for all evening. My father did not defend me. He didn't even look ashamed. Asher's gaze returned to mine, and the anger in his face was no longer confusion but embarrassment, as if fate had personally insulted him by choosing me. “I reject you as my mate, Aria Vale, because I will not allow a weak Omega with no status, no reputation, and no place beside an Alpha to become my Luna, and I refuse to spend the rest of my life being laughed at because the Moon Goddess decided someone like you belonged to me.” Something inside my chest snapped. My wolf screamed and couldn't breathe. The room blurred around me, but I could still hear the laughter beginning again, spreading from one person to another until it sounded like the entire pack had decided my heartbreak was the funniest thing they had ever witnessed. Then my father finally stood. I stupidly looked at him. Maybe he would stop this. Maybe, just once, he would remember that I was his daughter. Instead, he looked at the broken glass around my feet and said, “Clean that mess before you embarrass this family any further.” My eyes filled immediately, and I bent down because my body still knew how to obey even when my heart had stopped functioning, but before my fingers could touch the first piece of glass, Asher turned toward his guards. “Get her out of my territory before she creates another scene.” I froze. The guards came toward me. I scrambled backward, shaking my head as tears finally spilled down my face, but one grabbed my arm while another caught my shoulder, and when I tried to pull away, the cut on my palm opened again, blood running down my fingers and dripping onto the floor beneath me. The Luna smiled. Then she looked at the servants standing near the wall and said, loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Since she has spent twenty-one years pretending her father's blood makes her special, perhaps tonight she can finally learn exactly what a bastard is worth.” The guard twisted my arm behind my back. Pain shot through my shoulder. I cried out, and the entire hall erupted in laughter. Then the Luna pointed at the blood spreading beneath my feet. “Make her clean that before you drag her out.” And Asher Kane, my mate who had just rejected me, turned his back and walked away while his guards forced me down onto my bleeding knees in front of everyone.