Rejected by My Mate, Claimed by the Lycan King

The rejection hit me before the words even left his mouth. The entire pack hall was silent. Every eye was on us. The torches on the walls burned bright, but I still felt cold… colder than I had ever felt in my life. “Mate,” he had called me just five minutes ago. Mate. The word I had waited eighteen years to hear. The word every she-wolf dreams about since childhood. But the way he looked at me now… it was not love. It was not happiness. It was something worse. Disgust. “I, Alpha Damian, reject you, Aria Nightwood, as my mate.” Gasps filled the hall. Someone dropped a goblet. It shattered on the stone floor, but no one looked at it. Everyone was staring at me. I could not breathe. “No…” My voice came out small, shaking. “You can’t do that… you just called me your mate. The Moon Goddess chose—” “I don’t care what the Moon Goddess chose,” Damian interrupted coldly. His voice was loud and strong, like an Alpha should sound. But today, it felt like a knife slicing through my heart. “I will not accept a weak omega as my Luna.” The word omega hit harder than the rejection. I felt heat rush to my face. My hands trembled at my sides. The wolves around us started whispering. I heard their words clearly. “Of course he rejected her.” “She’s always been weak.” “She can’t even shift properly.” “An omega Luna would embarrass the pack.” Every word felt like poison. I tried to stay strong. I tried not to cry. But tears burned in my eyes anyway. “I may be weak,” I said slowly, forcing the words out, “but I am still your mate. You cannot reject the bond just because I’m not strong enough for you.” Damian stepped closer. For a second, my heart betrayed me. It beat faster. It hoped he would change his mind. But instead, he leaned down and whispered something only I could hear. “You disgust me, Aria.” The world stopped. “I will never have a weak mate. Never.” Then he turned around and grabbed another girl’s hand. Lila. The strongest she-wolf in the pack. The girl who had bullied me since I was little. The girl who had told everyone I was useless. The girl who had once said, “Even the Moon Goddess must have made a mistake creating you.” And now she stood proudly beside Damian, smiling like she had already won. “I will take Lila as my Luna,” Damian announced loudly. “She is strong. She is worthy of standing beside an Alpha.” The hall exploded with cheers. My heart broke completely. I don’t remember leaving the hall. I only remember running. The cold night air hit my face, but I didn’t stop. My chest hurt. My wolf howled inside me, not from anger… but from pain. Mate rejected us… Mate rejected us… “I know,” I whispered, tears falling again. “I know.” I ran deeper into the forest. The trees blurred around me. Branches scratched my arms, but I didn’t feel anything anymore. I stopped near the lake. The moon reflected on the water, bright and beautiful. It looked peaceful. Too peaceful. I fell to my knees. “Why?” I whispered, staring at the moon. “Why would you give me a mate just to take him away? What did I do wrong?” Silence answered me. I hugged myself tightly. My body felt empty, like something had been ripped out of me. Because it had. The mate bond was gone. And with it, the only thing that ever made me feel special. I wasn’t always this broken. When I was younger, I believed in love. I believed the Moon Goddess would give me a mate who would protect me. Someone who would see me not as weak, but as valuable. But life never worked that way for me. I lost my parents when I was twelve. Rogue attack. Everyone said they died bravely. Everyone praised them. But no one helped me after that. I became invisible. The pack ignored me. The other girls mocked me. Even the warriors treated me like I didn’t exist. The only thing that kept me going was the hope of my mate. When I find him, everything will change. That was what I told myself every night. And now… He had rejected me in front of the entire pack. I wiped my tears and stood up slowly. “No more crying,” I whispered to myself. “No more hoping.” If the world wanted me to be weak, then fine. But I would not stay weak forever. One day… I would make them regret this. I didn’t know how yet. I didn’t know where to start. But something inside me had changed tonight. The soft girl who believed in love was gone. In her place stood someone colder. Someone stronger. Someone who would never beg for love again. A sudden sound made me freeze. Footsteps. Heavy ones. Not from a normal wolf. My heart started racing again. “Who’s there?” I called out, my voice shaking slightly. Then another step. Crunch. I turned slowly. At first, I saw nothing. Only shadows between the trees. But then the air changed. It became heavier. More dangerous. My wolf suddenly stirred inside me. Not in fear. In awareness. Power… she whispered softly. So much power… My breath caught in my throat. No normal Alpha had this kind of presence. The shadows moved again. And then he stepped into the moonlight. Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark hair. Golden eyes that seemed to glow in the night. I had never seen him before, but something inside me immediately knew one thing. He was not from our pack. He was not even a normal Alpha. He was something far stronger. He looked at me like he had been searching for me. Like he already knew who I was. My heart began to beat faster again, but this time it was not from fear… He stopped only a few steps away from me and tilted his head slightly. “You smell like rejection,” he said calmly. The words hit me like lightning. I froze. “How do you know that?” I whispered. He stepped closer. The air around him felt powerful… overwhelming. Then he said the one sentence that made my entire world shake again. “Because the moment your mate rejected you…” His golden eyes locked into mine. “…the Moon Goddess gave you to me instead.” My heart stopped beating. My wolf suddenly woke up completely. And for the first time in my life, she spoke clearly. Mate. I stumbled back in shock. “No… that’s not possible…” But the stranger smiled slowly. “The name is Kael,” he said quietly. “Lycan King of the Northern Lands.” My legs nearly gave up under me. The Lycan King? The most powerful wolf in existence? The ruler every pack feared? Why would someone like him stand in front of me? Why would someone like him call me his mate? I shook my head weakly. “You must be mistaken. I’m just an omega. I’m weak. I can’t even shift properly. Why would the Moon Goddess give someone like me to a king?” Kael stepped closer again. This time, I couldn’t move. His presence wrapped around me like a storm. “You are not weak,” he said softly. “You have just never been given a reason to become strong.” My heart tightened. No one had ever said something like that to me before. No one had ever looked at me like I mattered. But before I could say anything… Another voice echoed through the forest. “Aria!” I froze. Damian. He sounded angry. Very angry. More footsteps followed. They were coming here. Kael’s expression darkened instantly. “Looks like your ex-mate realized what he lost,” he said quietly. My heart started racing again. Damian would never come looking for me unless something was wrong. Or unless he wanted to hurt me even more. The trees rustled violently. And then Damian stepped out of the shadows with five warriors behind him. His eyes landed on me first. Then they moved to Kael. The moment he saw him… his face turned pale. “Lycan… King…” Damian whispered. Silence filled the forest again. Kael stepped slightly in front of me. Protective. Then Damian looked at me again. But this time, his expression was not disgust. It was something much worse. Fear. And regret. “You…” he said slowly, his voice shaking, “you belong to him now… don’t you?” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what was happening. But Kael answered for me. “Yes,” he said coldly. “She does.” Damian clenched his fists. The warriors behind him stepped back in fear. The tension in the air became unbearable. Then Damian said something that made my blood run cold. “If she belongs to you now… then she is no longer part of my pack.” My heart dropped. “But,” he continued slowly, his eyes dark, “no one leaves my pack alive.” The warriors suddenly moved forward. And Kael’s golden eyes turned deadly.