REJECTED BY MY MATE, CLAIMED BY THE ALPHA KING.

CHAPTER 5: THE FIRST ATTACK

I didn’t sleep.

Not with the howling. Not with the way the walls shook every time another wolf hit the gates.

Not with Xavier sitting in the chair across from my bed, watching me like I might disappear.

“Go to sleep, Selena,” he said for the third time that night.

“I can’t,” I whispered. “They’re out there.”

“They’re out there because of you,” he said, but there was no anger in it. Only truth. “And they’ll stay out there until I’m done with them.”

Dawn came gray and cold.

The maids brought armor. Not for me. For him.

Black plates. Silver edges. A sword that looked older than the kingdom.

Xavier let them dress him in silence. When they left, he turned to me.

“Stay in this room today. No matter what you hear. No matter what you see.”

“What if—”

“No.” His voice cut me off. “You are not a soldier. You are my mate. And I will not lose you.”

He walked to me and cupped my face. His hands were rough. Warm.

“If anything happens to me—”

“Don’t.” Tears burned my eyes. “Don’t say that.”

He smiled, but it was sad. “The girl with no wolf has more power than all of them combined. Don’t forget that.”

Then he kissed me.

Not on the forehead this time. On the mouth.

Hard. Desperate. Like he was memorizing me.

When he pulled away, my lips were shaking.

“Stay alive,” I whispered.

“For you,” he said. “Always.”

The door closed. And the palace went to war.

---

I lasted ten minutes.

The screaming started first. Wolves. Men. Magic.

Then the smell of blood drifted under the door.

Then the first explosion shook the entire west wing.

I couldn’t stay.

I ran. Barefoot. In the black dress. Down the hallways while guards ran past me with swords.

“Get back to your room!” one shouted.

“My mate is out there!” I screamed back.

The courtyard was chaos.

50 wolves against 500.

Xavier was in the center. A blur of black and silver. Every time his sword moved, someone fell.

But there were too many.

Damien was there too. Leading them. His gold wolf was huge, snarling, with blood on its teeth.

“Kill the omega!” Damien howled. “That’s the order!”

10 wolves turned and ran straight at me.

I froze.

I had no wolf. No claws. No teeth.

I was going to die.

And then the light came again.

It burst from my chest. Gold and white and so bright it burned my eyes.

The wolves screeched and stumbled back.

The light hit them and threw them across the courtyard.

Silence.

For one second.

Then all fighting stopped.

500 wolves turned to look at me.

Xavier turned too. Blood on his face. His chest heaving.

“What are you?” Damien breathed.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

Xavier was at my side in one second. He pulled me behind him.

“Back off,” he growled at the army. “All of you.”

The oldest King, Marcus, stepped forward. “That power. It’s not werewolf magic. What is she?”

“She’s mine,” Xavier said. “And if any of you touch her again, I will burn your territories to the ground.”

Marcus laughed. “You can’t protect her forever, boy. The prophecy—”

“The prophecy says she will end kings,” Xavier interrupted. “Not that she will die by them.”

He looked at me. “Is that right, Selena?”

Everyone was waiting for my answer.

My hands were still glowing faintly.

“I... I don’t want to hurt anyone,” I said. My voice was shaking. “I just want to be left alone.”

“Liar,” Damien spat. “You’ve always been a liar. Barren. Useless. Now suddenly you’re a weapon?”

Something in me snapped.

Three years of scrubbing floors. Of insults. Of being called worthless.

“Don’t talk to me about useless,” I said. And my voice didn’t shake. “You rejected me in front of 200 people because I had no wolf. You called me barren. You threw me in the kitchens.”

I stepped out from behind Xavier.

“But I’m not barren. And I’m not useless. And I’m not yours anymore.”

The gold light flared.

Damien stumbled back like I’d hit him.

Marcus’s eyes went wide. “She’s channeling it. Without a wolf.”

“Impossible,” another King whispered.

Xavier looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. Proud. Terrified.

“That’s my girl,” he said softly.

---

We won that battle.

The 6 Kings retreated. But not before Marcus said one last thing:

“This isn’t over. The council will meet. And when we do, we will take her. With or without your permission, Alpha King.”

Now it was night again.

The courtyard was being cleaned. Bodies dragged away.

I sat in Xavier’s bath while he washed blood off his arms.

Neither of us spoke for a long time.

Finally, I said, “What am I?”

Xavier didn’t look at me. “I don’t know.”

“The Seer said I was sealed. The prophecy said I’d have many children. That I’d end kings.” I laughed bitterly. “I can barely make breakfast, Xavier. How am I supposed to do that?”

He turned to me then. Water dripping down his scars.

“You don’t have to be anything,” he said. “Except mine.”

“That’s not enough.”

“It has to be.” He grabbed my face. “Because if you start believing you’re a weapon, they’ll use you. If you start believing you’re a savior, they’ll kill you for it. Just be Selena. The girl who survived. That’s enough for me.”

I cried then.

Not pretty tears. Ugly, sobbing tears.

For the girl in the kitchen. For the girl with no wolf. For the girl who thought she was cursed.

Xavier pulled me into his lap and held me while I shook.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured into my hair. “I’ve got you, little prophetess.”

When I stopped crying, he carried me to bed.

He didn’t try anything. He just held me.

His arms around me. His heartbeat steady under my ear.

In the middle of the night, I woke up to whispering.

Xavier was on the phone. Or whatever Alphas use.

“...I don’t care what the council says,” he was saying, voice low and dangerous. “If they come for her, I will kill them. All of them.”

He saw I was awake and ended the call.

“Go back to sleep,” he said.

“What did they say?”

“That they’re scared of you.” He smiled, but it was cold. “Good.”

---

The next morning, there was a letter.

Delivered by a raven. Black seal.

Xavier read it and his face went dark.

“What is it?” I asked.

“The council. They’re calling a trial.” He crumpled the paper. “In 3 days. In neutral territory. They want you there.”

“A trial for what?”

“For being an abomination.”

My stomach dropped. “I’m not—”

“I know.” He pulled me to him. “You’re not going.”

“They’ll come for me if I don’t.”

“Let them try.”

But we both knew that wasn’t how it worked.

If I didn’t go, it would be war. Real war. Not just one battle.

If I did go... I might not come back.

That night, I snuck out.

Not to run. To pray.

To the small chapel in the palace. The only place that was quiet.

I knelt on the cold floor.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” I whispered. “I don’t know why you sealed me. Or why you unsealed me. But if I’m supposed to do something... give me strength. Because I’m scared.”

The room was silent.

And then... warmth.

Not the gold light. Something softer. Gentler.

Like a hand on my back.

“You are not alone,” a voice said. Not out loud. In my head.

I gasped. “Who—”

“Sing, O barren,” the voice said. “The time of your sorrow is over.”

I fell forward, crying.

When I stood up, I felt different. Lighter.

Xavier was waiting outside the chapel.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough.” He looked at me. “You look... peaceful.”

“I think I got my answer.”

“And?”

I took his hand. “I’m going to the trial.”

His face went hard. “No.”

“Yes.” I squeezed his hand. “Because if I run, they’ll chase me forever. And if I fight, people will die. But if I stand... maybe I can end this.”

“Or maybe you’ll die.”

“Maybe.” I smiled. “But I’m not barren anymore, Xavier. I’m not broken. And I’m not afraid.”

He stared at me for a long time.

Then he pulled me into his arms and held me so tight I couldn’t breathe.

“If you die,” he whispered in my ear, “I will burn the world.”

“Then don’t let me die,” I whispered back.

He kissed me.

Deep. Claiming. Desperate.

Like it was the last time.

When we pulled apart, he said, “3 days. Then we go to war.”

“No,” I said. “Then we go to the trial. And we win.”

Outside, the moon was full again.

Red.

But this time, I wasn’t scared of it.

Because the girl with no wolf was done hiding.

[End Chapter 5]

[To Be Continued: Chapter 6 - "The Trial of the Abomination"]

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