THE ALPHA'S REJECTED WIFE

Three years was a long time to stay away from home. Long enough for people to forget your face. Long enough for your enemies to believe you were dead. Long enough for a wound to stop bleeding and start becoming something colder. Elara Veyne stood outside the gates of Silvermoon Pack and stared at the place that had once been her entire world. The iron gates were still the same. The stone walls were still covered in climbing ivy. Even the old oak beside the entrance was still there, its branches stretching over the road as if nothing had changed. But Elara had. She tightened her fingers around the handle of her suitcase. A guard approached the gatehouse and looked at her suspiciously. “Name?” Elara paused. For three years, she had practiced answering that question without hesitation. “Evelyn Vale.” The lie came easily now. The guard glanced at the identification card she handed him. “Business?” “I've been summoned by the council.” He studied her for another moment before stepping aside. The gate opened. Elara's heartbeat didn't change. At least, she refused to let it. She walked through. One step. Then another. Silvermoon welcomed her with the same cold mountain air she remembered. The strange part was that she had spent years imagining this moment. She had imagined anger. She had imagined tears. She had imagined herself screaming at the people who had watched her family fall. Instead, she felt almost nothing. Almost. Because the moment she saw the distant silhouette of the Draven estate, something inside her chest tightened. She hated that. She hated that a house could still remind her of a man. Kael. Her first love. Her mate. The man who had looked her in the eyes in front of hundreds of wolves and said the words that had shattered her life. I reject you as my mate. Elara swallowed. That had been three years ago. She had survived it. She had survived the humiliation. She had survived losing her father. She had survived watching her family's name become a curse. She had survived sleeping in places where nobody knew her name. She had even survived learning how to stop loving the man who had destroyed her heart. At least, that was what she told herself. A black SUV suddenly turned onto the road ahead. Elara stopped walking. The vehicle moved slowly through the gates before stopping near the council building. Several guards immediately straightened. A moment later, the rear door opened. A tall man stepped out. Black suit. Broad shoulders. Dark hair. Cold, controlled expression. Elara's fingers tightened around the suitcase handle. Kael Draven. She hadn't seen him in three years. And somehow, he looked exactly like the man she remembered. Only harder. More dangerous. More powerful. Kael spoke briefly with one of the guards. Then he turned. His eyes swept across the courtyard. They passed over Elara without stopping. For one ridiculous second, disappointment pierced her chest. Then his expression changed. Kael froze. His head turned back. Their eyes met. The world seemed to go strangely quiet. Elara's breath caught. Kael stared at her as if he had seen a ghost. She forced herself to look away first. She picked up her suitcase and continued walking. She had not come back for him. She had come back for answers. And if Kael Draven happened to stand between her and the truth— She would walk straight through him. But behind her, Kael remained completely still. His jaw tightened. Because there was something he couldn't explain. He didn't know the woman who had just walked past him. He didn't know her name. Yet the moment their eyes had met, something deep inside him had awakened. Something he had buried three years ago. Something his wolf had never forgotten. His mate.