The Alpha’s Rejected Mate

Chapter Two: The Escape

The whispers still echoed in my ears as I stumbled out of the grand hall. Faces blurred past me, some pitying, some smirking. My chest ached with every step, my wolf howling in pain inside me.

Rejected.

The word burned like fire in my veins.

“Aria, stop!” someone called behind me, but I didn’t look back. My legs carried me blindly through the forest until the laughter and music of the celebration faded away.

I collapsed against a tree, my knees sinking into the cold earth. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I pressed my hand over my chest as if I could hold the pieces of my heart together.

Why, Selene? I whispered inside my mind. Why would the Moon Goddess choose him for me, only for him to destroy me like this?

My wolf’s voice trembled, but there was steel in it. “Because fate does not make mistakes. You are stronger than you know, Aria. One day, he will regret what he has done.”

I shook my head bitterly. “I don’t want him to regret it. I just… I just want the pain to stop.”

The forest was silent, except for the rustling of leaves and the pounding of my heart. And then — I felt it.

A strange warmth beneath my skin. A pulse of energy, faint but growing. It spread from my chest to my fingertips, like the earth itself was breathing with me.

“What’s happening?” I whispered, staring as a faint silver glow shimmered around my hands.

Selene growled softly. “The power is awakening. The blood of the goddess runs in your veins.”

I gasped, stumbling back. “No… that can’t be true.”

But deep inside, something told me it was.

Before I could make sense of it, twigs snapped nearby. My head jerked up. From the shadows, a pair of glowing red eyes watched me.

A rogue wolf.

It snarled, stepping into the moonlight, its fur matted with blood. My body froze. I had no weapons, no strength left after the rejection.

The rogue lunged.

I screamed, throwing my hands up — and a burst of silver light exploded from my palms, knocking the beast back into the trees.

I stared at my glowing hands, chest heaving.

“What… what am I?” I whispered.

And in the distance, hidden in the shadows, someone else watched. Eyes colder than steel, a clenched jaw, and a heart already beginning to realize its mistake.

Alpha Damien.