The Alpha’s Forgotten Daughter

Chapter One — The Night He Rejected Me

The moon was supposed to be a blessing.

Tonight, it felt like a curse.

I stood in the center of the Bloodmoon Pack’s ceremonial grounds, surrounded by hundreds of wolves wearing their finest clothes, while cold rain soaked through my silver dress.

Nobody looked at me with sympathy.

They looked at me with disgust.

Some whispered.

Some laughed.

Others simply stared as if they were waiting for the show to begin.

I kept my chin raised.

I refused to cry.

Not tonight.

Tonight was supposed to be the most important night of my life.

My eighteenth birthday.

The night I would finally discover my mate.

The one person who was supposed to love me regardless of what everyone else thought.

My wolf, Lyra, had been restless since sunset.

He is close, she whispered inside my mind.

I swallowed nervously.

How do you know?

I can feel him.

My heart began pounding.

For eighteen years, I had been the unwanted daughter of Alpha Darius Blackwood.

The Alpha's blood ran through my veins, but I had never been treated like his daughter.

My older sister, Seraphina, was everything he wanted.

Beautiful.

Graceful.

Powerful.

A perfect future Luna.

And then there was me.

Elara.

The weak daughter.

The embarrassment.

The girl who had inherited almost none of her father's strength.

At least, that was what everyone believed.

"Stop looking so nervous."

My sister's voice came from behind me.

I turned.

Seraphina stood beneath the stone archway, looking breathtaking in a white gown decorated with silver embroidery.

Her golden hair fell perfectly around her shoulders.

She smiled.

But there was no warmth in it.

"You're embarrassing yourself," she said.

"I wasn't aware you were watching me."

Her smile disappeared.

"Don't get clever with me, Elara."

I looked away.

Seraphina stepped closer.

"You should pray the Moon Goddess gives you a decent mate tonight."

"Why?"

"Because if she doesn't, Father might finally have a reason to send you away."

My fingers tightened around my dress.

She knew exactly where to hurt me.

For years, my father had threatened to exile me.

I'd heard it whenever I failed a training test.

Whenever I became sick after a run.

Whenever my wolf struggled to shift.

Whenever someone compared me to Seraphina.

Why can't you be more like your sister?

That sentence had become the soundtrack of my childhood.

I forced myself to smile.

"Maybe my mate will be stronger than yours."

Seraphina's eyes narrowed.

Then she laughed.

"Keep dreaming."

Before I could answer, the crowd suddenly fell silent.

I felt it.

A strange pressure in the air.

Lyra lifted her head inside me.

Elara.

What?

He's here.

My breath caught.

I slowly turned toward the entrance of the ceremonial grounds.

And then I saw him.

The man walking toward us made the entire crowd move aside.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Black hair.

Sharp jaw.

A scar crossed his left eyebrow, giving his handsome face an intimidating edge.

He wore a black shirt beneath a dark Alpha's coat.

Every step he took carried authority.

Dominance.

Power.

I didn't know who he was.

But Lyra did.

She practically screamed inside my head.

Mate.

My heart stopped.

"No," I whispered.

The stranger's eyes suddenly found mine.

Dark blue.

Cold.

Beautiful.

Our eyes locked.

Something inside me shattered and came alive at the same time.

My body reacted before my mind could understand.

The scent of pine and rain filled my lungs.

My wolf howled.

Mate!

I almost stumbled.

The man stopped walking.

His expression changed.

For one brief second, I saw shock in his eyes.

Then recognition.

He knew it too.

My mate.

The person I'd spent eighteen years waiting for.

My hands trembled.

"Elara."

My father's voice dragged my attention away.

I looked at him.

Alpha Darius stood beside the ceremonial altar, his expression unusually serious.

"Come forward."

I obeyed.

My legs felt weightless as I walked toward my mate.

Every step brought his scent closer.

My heart raced.

Maybe this was it.

Maybe the Moon Goddess had finally decided I deserved something beautiful.

Maybe I wouldn't always be the unwanted daughter.

Maybe—

I stopped.

My mate stared at me.

His face had become unreadable.

"What's your name?" I asked softly.

He didn't answer.

My father stepped forward.

"Alpha Kael."

The entire crowd bowed.

My stomach dropped.

Alpha Kael.

The Alpha of the Black Ridge Pack.

One of the youngest and most powerful Alphas in the region.

And apparently...

My mate.

I stared at him in disbelief.

He looked at my father.

Then at me.

"You're his daughter?"

The question was strange.

I nodded.

"Yes."

Something dark flashed through his eyes.

Before I could ask why, Seraphina stepped forward.

"Alpha Kael, welcome to Bloodmoon."

He looked at her.

Her entire expression changed.

She became softer.

More confident.

"Seraphina," he said.

My heart sank.

He knew her name.

"Have you met before?" I asked.

Seraphina's lips curled.

"Of course we have."

I looked at Kael.

He didn't deny it.

Something cold settled in my chest.

My father cleared his throat.

"Tonight isn't about old acquaintances. The Moon Ceremony must continue."

Everyone turned toward us.

The priestess stepped forward.

She was an elderly woman with silver hair and cloudy eyes.

"Elara Blackwood."

I stepped forward.

"Yes?"

"Place your hand upon the Moonstone."

I walked to the altar.

The stone sat beneath the open sky, glowing faintly under the full moon.

I placed my palm against it.

Cold.

Then burning.

I gasped.

A sharp pain shot through my arm.

The moonstone suddenly flashed.

The crowd erupted in whispers.

The priestess stared at the stone.

Her face went pale.

"What happened?" my father demanded.

The priestess didn't answer.

She looked at me as if she had seen a ghost.

"Remove your hand."

I did.

The glowing vanished.

"What does it mean?" Kael asked.

The priestess stared at him.

"I don't know."

My father's expression hardened.

"Try again."

She shook her head.

"There is nothing to interpret."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

Then Lyra suddenly growled.

Something is wrong.

Before I could respond, Kael stepped toward me.

The mark on my wrist began burning.

His eyes dropped to it.

Then his face went cold.

He had seen something.

"Show me your wrist."

I instinctively pulled my arm behind me.

"What?"

"Your wrist."

His Alpha command struck my body.

My knees nearly buckled.

I hated the feeling.

Still, I slowly brought my wrist forward.

Kael grabbed it.

The moment his fingers touched my skin, a burst of energy traveled through me.

He jerked back.

His expression was no longer confused.

It was horrified.

"What are you?" he whispered.

My heart cracked.

"What?"

He looked at my father.

"Did you know?"

My father went completely still.

"Know what?"

Kael's eyes returned to me.

Then he said the words that would destroy everything I had ever believed.

"I reject you."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.

Lyra stopped moving.

My heart seemed to forget how to beat.

I stared at him.

"What did you say?"

Kael's jaw tightened.

"I, Alpha Kael of Black Ridge, reject you, Elara Blackwood, as my mate."

The words echoed through the ceremonial grounds.

Someone gasped.

Then another.

My eyes burned.

"No."

It came out barely audible.

Kael's face remained emotionless.

"Accept the rejection."

"Why?"

His eyes hardened.

"Because I don't want you."

A tear escaped before I could stop it.

I hated myself for crying.

I hated him for seeing it.

Most of all, I hated the Moon Goddess for bringing him to me only to have him tear my heart apart in front of everyone.

I looked toward my father.

He wasn't looking at me.

He was staring at Kael.

"Alpha Kael," he said carefully, "perhaps this decision should be discussed privately."

"No."

Kael didn't even look at him.

"The rejection stands."

My chest felt like it was being crushed.

Seraphina suddenly stepped forward.

"Elara, don't make this worse."

I looked at her.

She was smiling.

Not openly.

But enough.

She was enjoying this.

Something inside me snapped.

"For once, stay out of my business."

Her eyes widened.

The entire crowd went silent.

My father thundered, "Elara!"

I flinched.

Kael looked at me.

His expression remained cold.

Then he said something that hurt even more.

"Now I understand why."

"Why what?"

"Why you were never worthy of the Blackwood name."

The crowd went silent.

My breath caught.

He turned away.

That was when I saw her.

A woman standing behind him.

Beautiful.

Elegant.

And wearing the same silver wolf pendant my mother had worn before she died.

My eyes narrowed.

I stared at the pendant.

Something about it felt familiar.

Too familiar.

"Where did you get that?"

The woman looked at me.

For the first time, fear crossed her face.

Kael turned.

"What?"

I pointed at her necklace.

"That pendant."

The woman immediately covered it.

Kael's expression changed.

"Elara, go home."

"No."

My voice shook.

"That belonged to my mother."

My father suddenly stepped between us.

"Enough."

I stared at him.

"How does she have Mother's necklace?"

He didn't answer.

"Father?"

His face had gone pale.

And that frightened me more than anything else tonight.

Because my father wasn't afraid of me.

He wasn't afraid of Kael.

He was afraid of the necklace.

The woman suddenly whispered something into Kael's ear.

His eyes snapped toward me.

Then he looked at my father.

"She doesn't know?"

My father said nothing.

Kael's expression darkened.

"How convenient."

"What don't I know?" I demanded.

Nobody answered.

I stepped toward my father.

"What are you hiding from me?"

"Elara, go to your room."

"No!"

My voice echoed across the grounds.

For the first time in my life, I didn't care about his Alpha command.

I looked around at the people who had spent years laughing at me.

Then I looked at Kael.

He had rejected me.

My own father wanted to silence me.

My sister was smiling.

And a stranger possessed my dead mother's necklace.

Something inside me changed.

The pain was still there.

But underneath it was something else.

Anger.

I wiped my tears.

"Fine."

My father looked relieved.

I smiled bitterly.

"I'll go."

I turned away.

Then Kael spoke.

"Elara."

I stopped.

I didn't turn around.

"What?"

His voice was different.

Not cold.

Uncertain.

"Where did you get that mark?"

I looked down at my wrist.

A strange silver crescent had appeared on my skin.

I had never seen it before.

"I was born with it."

Silence.

Then I heard the priestess whisper:

"Impossible."

I turned.

She was staring at my wrist.

Her face had lost all color.

"What?" I asked.

She stepped backward.

"That mark..."

Her voice trembled.

"That mark belongs to the ancient Moonblood."

The crowd erupted.

Kael went completely still.

My father's face became white.

Seraphina's smile vanished.

I looked from one face to another.

"What's Moonblood?"

Nobody answered.

The priestess stared at me as if I were something that should have died centuries ago.

Then she whispered:

"The last Moonblood heir was murdered twenty years ago."

My heart pounded.

"Twenty years ago?"

She nodded.

"And the bloodline was believed to have ended with her."

I looked at my father.

He wouldn't meet my eyes.

Suddenly, every strange thing from my childhood came rushing back.

Why was I f*******n from asking about my mother?

Why had I never been allowed to see her belongings?

Why did my father hate the mark on my wrist?

Why did everyone look at me like I was a mistake?

I took one step toward him.

"Father..."

He finally looked at me.

And the expression in his eyes told me everything.

He knew.

He had always known.

My voice broke.

"Who was my mother?"

My father's lips parted.

But before he could answer, a howl tore through the night.

Not a normal wolf howl.

It was deep.

Ancient.

Powerful enough to make every wolf in the ceremonial grounds drop to their knees.

Kael's eyes widened.

The priestess fell backward.

And Lyra screamed inside my mind.

Elara...

What?

Run.

I stared at the dark forest beyond the ceremonial grounds.

Two enormous golden eyes appeared between the trees.

Then a voice entered my mind.

A voice that wasn't Lyra's.

Daughter of the Moonblood...

I stopped breathing.

They lied to you.

The golden eyes moved closer.

And now they know you're alive.