The Alpha's Rejected Mate

Cold. That was the first thing I felt. Not the pain. Not the heartbreak. Just the bone-chilling cold of the Grand Hall floor against my knees. "I, Alpha Killian... reject you." His voice. It used to be my favorite song. Now? It was a dull axe hacking at my neck. I looked up. His face was a mask. Hard. Grey. Dead. Like he was looking at a bug he just crushed under his expensive boots. "Killian," I choked out. My throat was full of dry sand. "Please. Look at me." He didn't. He looked past me. At Sarah. Sarah with her perfect hair and her perfect wolf. She was smiling. Not a big smile. A tiny, poisonous curl of the lip. She’d won. She’d stolen my life before I even got to live it. "You’re an Omega, Elena," he spat. The word hit me like a slap. "A defect. Eighteen and no wolf. You think I’m going to let a human-weakling lead my pack? My warriors? You’re a joke. A mistake of the Moon Goddess." People were whispering. I heard them. Useless. Trash. Shame of the Silver Moon. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell them I’d scrubbed their floors until my knuckles bled. I’d cooked their stews while they slept. I’d given my life to this pack. But the words were stuck. My pride was a pile of grey ash. Killian grabbed Sarah’s waist. Hard. Possessive. The way he was supposed to grab me. "Get out," he growled. It wasn't a suggestion. It was an Alpha Command. My body shivered. My bones felt like they were vibrating into dust. "You’re a rogue now. If you’re still here at dawn... I’ll hunt you myself." I didn't cry. No. Crying was for girls who still had hope. I was empty. A hollow shell. I stood up. My legs were shaking. I felt like a newborn fawn on ice. I didn't look back. I walked. Out of the hall. Out of the lights. Into the dark, wet woods. The forest smelled like damp earth and rot. It felt like home. Then... the fire started. It wasn't in my heart. It was in my spine. A white-hot needle dragging from my skull to my tailbone. I fell. Hard. My face hit the mud. I tasted copper. Blood. My own blood. Snap. My ribs. One. Two. Three. They were breaking. No... they were folding. I screamed. A raw, jagged sound that didn't sound human. It sounded like a dying beast. Or a monster waking up. Elena... It wasn't my wolf, Luna. Luna was small. Luna was quiet. This voice? It was a landslide. A thunderclap. Stand. Up. Daughter of Shadow. I gripped a tree root. My nails tore off. I didn't care. I felt fur. Black. So black it looked blue in the moonlight. I was growing. My skin was ripping. I was becoming something... impossible. I looked at the creek. The water was dark. But I saw her. A beast. Twice the size of an Alpha wolf. Eyes like purple fire. I wasn't an Omega. I wasn't a human. I was an Ancient. A ghost from the old stories. The kind mothers tell their kids to make them behave. I tilted my head back. I let out a howl. It wasn't a cry. It was a roar. The trees shivered. The birds fell dead. "Run, Killian," I whispered, the words a low, vibrating rumble in my new throat. "Run. Because when I come back... I’m not coming for love. I’m coming for everything you took." I was Elena. And I was the nightmare.