THE ALPHA'S REJECTED MATE.

FIGHT

Lyra stirred awake during the transit from the alpha chambers to her soon to be room,the experience was a blur of cold air and hushed voices,Lyra peepingly scanned her surroundings,the one carrying her was a tall dark man,he carried her like one would a baby or a little child and he reminded Lyra of her father; Lyra imagined what his wolf form would look like.

Lyra was fully conscious,but remained in place as Mama Agnes’s attendants ushered her to a small but clean stone room in the girls' quarters. It was far more comfortable than her bunk in Stonefang, but the heavy oak door and the lack of a window made it feel like a cell nonetheless.

After they placed her on the bed,Lyra waited till they had left before she moved,she sat on the bed staring into the distance,her eyes meeting the long dresser with just a vase that looked like it was carved from broken pieces of glass,Lyra sighed and couldn't help but wonder how the vase was very much alike to her life right now.

She didn't sleep for the rest of the night. She sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers tracing the soft charcoal velvet of the gown they had dressed her in. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the flash of Jaxon’s rejection, then the emerald-green glow of Alpha Devel’s gaze. She was a leaf caught in a storm between two giants.

At dawn, the door creaked open. Mama Agnes stood there, her obsidian beads clicking as she leaned on her wolf-skull staff.

"Get up, child," the Godmother commanded. "The Alpha has a peculiar sense of humor. He has enrolled you in the Elite Training Cycle,I must say that alone is a privilege not many gets talks less of a runaway service girl,You have ten minutes to present yourself at the training grounds."

Lyra’s heart plummeted. "Training? But I am... I was a service girl. I don't know how to fight."

"Then you had better learn quickly," Agnes snapped, her eyes sharp. "In the Whisperwind Pack, those who cannot stand on their own are crushed. The Alpha has given you a chance; do not make him look like a fool for taking it.",”the guard at the door will take you,don't keep the instructors waiting”.

The training grounds were a vast, sand-covered arena carved into a natural bowl in the mountainside. The morning air was biting, and the sun was a pale, weak disc struggling against the fog.

As Lyra entered, a hush fell over the gathered students. There were about thirty of them—all young, high-born Betas and Alphas from the Whisperwind’s most prestigious families. They were dressed in tight-fitting leather sparring gear, their bodies toned and their faces hard with ambition.

"Is that her?" a tall, blonde girl whispered, her voice carrying easily across the sand. "The Stonefang reject?"

"Look at her," a boy laughed, nudging his friend. "She looks like a stiff breeze would knock her over. Why is an Omega in the Elite Cycle?"

Lyra kept her head down, her face burning. She felt the weight of their judgment, a familiar pressure that brought back memories of Cliara’s bullying.

The head instructor, a scarred warrior named Commander Torin, stepped forward. He looked at Lyra with a mixture of skepticism and grim duty.

"The Alpha has commanded that Lyra of Stonefang join this cycle," Torin announced, his voice like grinding gravel. "Rank does not matter here. Only strength and strategy. And Today we begin with basic combat evaluation. Pair up."

The students scrambled to find partners, leaving Lyra standing alone in the center of the arena. No one wanted to touch her. To them, she was a stain on their prestige.

"I'll take the Omega," the blonde girl from earlier stepped forward, a cruel smirk playing on her lips. She was Kasha, the daughter of a prominent Whisperwind General. "I could use a warm-up that doesn't require me to break a sweat."

The other students snickered as Kasha took her place opposite Lyra.

"Evaluation starts now!" Torin barked.

Kasha didn't wait. She moved with a speed that Lyra’s eyes could barely track. Before Lyra could even raise her hands in defense, Kasha’s foot swept her legs out from under her. Lyra hit the sand with a jarring thud, the wind knocked out of her.

"Get up, Stonefang," Kasha taunted, circling her like a predator. "Is this all you have? No wonder your Alpha threw you away."

Lyra didn't know that they had to fight,she had never had to do that,Lyra didn't think she had fought before she only cried,she cried when her parents died, cried when she had to leave their beautiful house,she cried when Cliara bullied her and now; she felt like crying some more,Lyra hated herself at this moment,she was nothing but a weakling,’An omega’.

Lyra’s vision blurred with tears of pain and humiliation, but beneath the hurt, a spark of that unfamiliar defiance flickered. She thought of Jaxon’s cold face. She thought of Devel’s mysterious emerald eyes. She thought of her parents, who had left her with nothing but her own will to survive.

She forced herself to her feet, her hands shaking.

Kasha lunged again, a sharp jab aimed at Lyra’s shoulder. This time, Lyra didn't just freeze. She saw the movement—it felt slow, as if the air itself had thickened. She stepped to the side, the blow glancing off her arm instead of hitting her chest.

Kasha’s eyes widened in surprise. The crowd went silent.

"A fluke," Kasha hissed, her face reddening. She prepared for a more serious strike, her wolf-spirit beginning to hum beneath her skin.

But before she could move, a sudden, heavy pressure descended on the arena. It was like a physical weight, cold and absolute.

Every head turned toward the high balcony overlooking the grounds.

Alpha Devel stood there, his black cloak billowing in the mountain wind. He didn't say a word. He simply watched, his emerald eyes fixed on Lyra.

The air in the arena grew deathly still. Under the gaze of the Beast, the bullying stopped. The students stood straighter, their arrogance replaced by a frantic desire to prove themselves.

Lyra looked up at the balcony. For a fleeting second, her hazel eyes met his green ones. She saw no pity there, only a cold, expectant challenge.

‘Fight’, his gaze seemed to say. Prove them wrong.

Lyra turned back to Kasha, her jaw tightening. She didn't know how to fight, but for the first time in her life, she realized she wasn't just an Omega waiting to be served. She was a survivor. And if the Shadow Alpha was watching, she would not fall again.