Fated to the rejected Alpha

Fated To The Rejected Alpha 🖤💀

*Chapter 3: Torches In The Dark*

The torches got closer.

Darius didn’t move. His gold eyes stayed locked on mine, like if he blinked I would disappear again.

"Aria, the council—"

"I know who’s coming," I cut him off. "I can smell them."

Eight of them. Silver Fang elders. The same ones who stood silent when he rejected me. The same ones who let me bleed.

The rain was freezing now. It soaked through my jacket, but I didn’t feel it. My wolf was too close to the surface. Teeth. Claws. Blood.

"Run," Darius said suddenly. Low. Urgent. "If they find you here with me, they’ll—"

"What?" I laughed. "Kill me again?"

His jaw ticked. "They’ll try."

That was the old Darius. The Alpha who thought he could protect me by pushing me away.

I took a step toward him. Then another. Until we were close enough that I could see the scar under his collar. The one I gave him the night he asked me to be his Luna.

"You were wrong," I whispered. "About me. About us. About everything."

"I know." His voice broke. "Let me fix it."

Behind us, a branch snapped.

Torchlight hit the trees.

"Alpha Darius!" Elder Varn’s voice boomed through the rain. "Step away from the rogue!"

Darius didn’t step away.

He shifted, just slightly, putting himself between me and them.

My chest tightened. Three years, and his body still remembered how to shield me.

"She’s not a rogue," he said. Loud enough for all of them to hear. "She’s my mate."

The howling stopped.

Even the rain felt louder.

Elder Varn’s face went red. "You rejected her! The bond is severed! She has no place in this pack!"

"The bond isn’t severed," Darius growled. "It never was."

All eyes turned to me.

I could run now. Into the woods. Disappear like I did three years ago.

Or I could do what I came here to do.

I lifted my chin. Rain dripped down my neck.

"They’re right," I said. My voice didn’t shake. "I don’t have a place in your pack, Darius."

His eyes flared in pain.

I smiled. Slow. Cold.

"Because I’m taking it."

I pulled the dagger from my boot. Not at him. At the ground between us. I drove it into the mud, right where the stone platform used to be.

"I challenge you, Alpha Darius of Silver Fang."

The words echoed. "For the throne."

Gasps. Growls. The elders looked horrified.

You can’t challenge an Alpha unless the moon is red. Unless the bond is still alive.

And the moon was red.

Darius stared at the dagger. Then at me.

"Aria, don’t—"

"You taught me," I said. "That only the strong survive."

Lightning cracked overhead. The red moon watched us.

He rolled his shoulders. His claws came out.

"Then let’s see if you’re strong enough."

The council circled us.

Run, or fight.

I chose fight.