Rejected and Traded to the Ruthless Alpha

Chapter 2 The Bond I Should Not Have

Aria Vale’s POV

Mate.

The word kept hitting me and my chest rose fast. I couldn’t slow it down and my hands shook on the ground. I tried to breathe, but the air was too heavy.

No.

This was wrong, this was very wrong, he was the Prince.

Kael Draven.

The one every female dreamed of and the one my sister wanted, the one I was not even allowed to look at.

And me?

I was nothing, just an omega, a mistake, this could not happen.

But my wolf did not listen, it moved inside me like it had been waiting for this moment, it pushed forward and it reached for him.

“Mate.”

“No,” I whispered under my breath and my lips trembled.

“Stop…”

But it did not stop, it only got louder and I pressed my hand against my chest, it was like I could push it down, like I could kill the feeling, but it grew stronger.

My eyes lifted again, I shouldn’t look at him, I knew that, but I did and he was still staring at me, he was not blinking and not looking away.

His eyes held mine like I belonged there, like he was trying to understand something and my heart beat harder.

Does he feel it too?

No.

He couldn’t, he shouldn’t, this was not right and then the silence broke and a sharp gasp cut through the air and then another and then many.

I froze and something burned on my neck and I gasped.

My hand flew up to touch it. Heat, strong and alive.

“What is that?” someone whispered .

“No… it can’t be…”

“It is…”

My fingers shook against my skin but I didn’t need to see it, I already knew. The Moon Mark.

It was there, it was on me and then my breath stopped and the crowd erupted.

There were gasps, shock and disbelief.

“The Moon Goddess has marked her…”

“With the Prince…”

“This is real…”

My chest was tight, this was not a dream, this was real, this was happening and then my eyes moved back to him.

Kael.

For one second, I thought..Maybe.Maybe this would change everything.

Maybe I would not be nothing anymore.

Maybe… but he laughed and the sound cut through me, it was sharp and cruel and it echoed in the silence.

My heart dropped. That laugh…It was not happy…It was not surprised, it was mocking.

“You think I would ever accept… this?” he said and his voice was filled with disgust and each word hit me like a slap and my fingers curled into my dress.

I stopped breathing, and the hope I did not even know I had…Broke. Right there.

His eyes left mine, just like that, like I was nothing again, like I never mattered and then he turned his head and looked at someone else and my chest tightened.

No. Please don’t. Don’t look at her. But he did.

Lyra, my sister, she was already looking at him and her lips moved into a smile, it was slow and knowing and then my stomach twisted.

No. No, no, no. She knew. She knew this would happen.

That look in her eyes…

She was not surprised.

She was ready and my heart started to race again.

What is she doing?

“Kael,” she said gently and her voice was sweet and gentle and it was nothing like how she spoke to me.

She then stepped forward, graceful and perfect and every eye turned to her, not me and my hands shook.

“Take me instead,” she said and the words fell into the silence, heavy and clear.

My ears ran and I blinked.

Did I hear her right?

Take her… instead?

That was not how this works.

The Moon Goddess chose.

The bond was sacred and no one could change it.

No one…

Silence filled the hall and all eyes moved to Kael, waiting, watching and my chest rose, it fell and rose again.

Say no Please. Just say no. Just once. Choose me. Just this once.

But Kael did not even pause.

“Gladly.”

One word.

That was all and my world stopped and everything went still.

I couldn’t hear anything and I couldn’t feel anything.

It was like my body forgot how to exist and my lips parted but no sound came out.

I tried to breathe but I couldn’t and my heart…It felt like it just broke, clean, sharp and final.

The bond inside me shook and pain spread through my chest and I pressed my hand harder against it and I tried to hold it together, tried to stop it from breaking but it hurt.

So much.

I looked at him again, maybe I heard wrong.

Maybe…But he was not looking at me, he was looking at her. Lyra. And there was something in his eyes now.

Something I had never seen before, it was desire and my stomach turned, my hands trembled .

I felt sick and I felt small and I felt like I should disappear.

“You should be grateful I’m even acknowledging this bond,” he says.

My head snapped toward him and his eyes met mine again.

But this time…

There was nothing there, no curiosity, no confusion but only rejection and disdain.

My throat burned.

Grateful?

For what?

For being rejected?

For being humiliated?

For being nothing?

My lips shook but I didn't speak, I knew better and he looked away again, like I was not worth his time.

Then…he spoke, the words that should not exist.

“Give her to my uncle.”

There was silence, it was deep and heavy and it crashed over the hall and even the Alphas shifted.

I saw it, shock, disbelief, this was wrong, this was not how it worked.

You do not give your mate away, you do not trade a bond.

You do not…My chest tightened and my fingers dug into the ground again.

Did he just…

Did he just offer me?

Like I was nothing? Like I was a thing?

My breathing turned uneven and I felt like I would pass out.

No one spoke and no one moved, the air was thick and unbearable and my wolf whimpered inside me.

It was weak and broken.

“Mate…”

The word was no longer strong, it sounded hurt and lost

I then closed my eyes. Maybe if I didn’t see this, it would not be real.

Maybe I would wake up.

Maybe… then a sound cut through the silence.

It was low and dark and it sent a chill through my body.

My eyes snapped open and the sound came again.

It was a laugh, it was slow, deep and terrifying, it was not from the crowd and not from the guards.

Not from anyone I knew. My heart stopped and everyone went still and even Kael turned.

The laugh echoed again and it was closer this time and stronger.

Like it was coming for me and my chest rose fast. Fear crawled up my spine.

I didn’t know why…but I knew. Something worse was coming. Something far worse than rejection.

The laugh faded into a low voice. One that made the air feel heavy.

One that made every wolf lower their head even more.

And in th

at moment…

I realized, I was not saved, I was not free.

I had just been given…To something far more dangerous.