The Alpha Rejects Me

Chapter 2 – The Luna Who Replaced Me

The rejection failed to succeed.

The High Elder’s words ruined the celebration more thoroughly than Rowan’s rejection ever could. Every warrior who had rushed to seal the Moon Altar stood still, sharing confused glances. Nobody did dare to speak out loud, and murmurs went through the crowd. I stared at the faint silver mark still glowing around my wrist, my mind trying to process what I'd heard. Rejections didn’t fail. That was known to every wolf in the Moon Dominion. But the fear in the elder's eyes did not show the fear of an old man making a mistake. It was the fear of someone seeing what should never have been seen. "What do you mean?" another elder demanded, coming to stand beside him. "Before the Moon, the link was severed. The High Elder opened his mouth, but before he could reply Rowan’s voice cut through the silence. "Quit. He crossed to the elders, the calm authority of one who has nothing to fear, Selene's hand still at ease in his. The ceremony is finished. All the packs there witnessed my rejection. There is nothing more to be said. "He steadied the restless crowd with his confidence. Wolves began to nod, prepared to take the simple explanation rather than the impossible one. Only the High Elder remained unconvinced, and his troubled gaze flicked back to me before he reluctantly lowered his head.

The tension evaporated as quickly as it had appeared. The musicians beat their drums, the servants hurried to make ready the victory feast, and the nobles crowded round Rowan and Selene with their congratulations. It felt like my humiliation was an inconvenience that was blocking their celebration. My father put a protective arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go,” he said softly. “You don’t owe anyone else one more minute of your pain.” I nodded and we took a few steps, but laughter drifted across the courtyard before we could move. It was Selene's.

She was at the centre of every conversation. Noblemen praised her elegance; warriors toasted the future Luna. Rowan stood by her accepting their blessings without one single word of correction. Then Selene's gaze met mine. She smiled sweetly and excused herself from the crowd, crossing the courtyard until she was only a few feet away from me. “I guess fate can be cruel,” she said softly so no one else could hear. "But you ought to be glad that Rowan stopped it so soon. Embarrassment if he waited until after the mating ceremony. Next to me my father stiffened, but I grabbed his sleeve before he could speak for me.

I made myself look her in the eye. You’re a terrible comforter if you’re trying to comfort me. She laughed to herself. Comfort you? “I've come to thank you, Lyra. I frowned. "Thank me?" She came closer to him, and her voice was a mere whisper. You never really saw it, did you? Rowan had made her decision long before today. The Moon just wouldn't play ball. "Her words knocked the wind out of me. Before I could speak, she rose gracefully, the ingenuous smile back on her face as a group of noblewomen approached. To them, she was the kind-hearted future Luna, offering sympathy to a girl who was being rejected.

I stood there, frozen. Repeating her words over and over again. Way, way before today. Unbidden, memories flooded in. Rowan avoided every opportunity to speak to me. Odd conversations ending the moment I walked into a room. That morning, my father’s face had a worried look on it when he told me not to trust fate too much. Before the day, everything had been nonsense. Now every piece seemed to fit into the same picture.

Father led me toward the mouth of the valley, and I looked back one last time.

Selene wasn’t watching Rowan.

She was looking at me.

And with one hand hidden within her sleeve, she slowly unfurled a piece of black cloth embroidered with a silver crescent. The very symbol etched onto Rowan's rejection blade. Then she smiled . . . and closed her hand over it before anyone else could see.

The black cloth wouldn't leave my mind.

My dad and I walked down the winding path leading away from Hollow Crescent Valley, but each step seemed heavier than the last. Behind me, music drifted on the air, the Alpha The Ascension Festival is continuing without me. Laughter echoed off the cliffs, celebrating the future Alpha and Luna, while my own future lay in shambles. Finally, I broke the silence. 'Father… Did you know?' He paused, then didn't answer. His jaw hardened as if he were choosing his words carefully. "I knew Rowan had got distant the past few months," he admitted. "I didn't realise he was going to reject you. If I had, I would never have allowed you to walk into that altar with hope in your heart."

I looked at the fading silver mark on my wrist. "He'd made up his mind before today," said Selene. She sounded... sure. Father frowned. “What did she actually say? I repeated all the words I could remember, including the strange black cloth she had shown me. His face changed immediately. He turned white and stopped walking. "Black cloth?" he said softly. “With a silver crescent?” I nodded. He turned his face toward the valley, and I saw the fear on his face that I had never seen before. “That symbol has no place here now. I was going to ask him what he meant, but he shook his head no. Not here." We can talk at home.

The path wound through the forest, away from the sounds of festivity. My chest still hurt where the mate bond had been cut, but the pain felt strangely incomplete, as if something wouldn’t let go. Occasionally the silver mark on my wrist would throb with faint warmth, then fade. I rubbed at it, hoping it would go away. My fingers, however, tingled. My wolf stayed quiet, and the longer she was gone, the more terrified I became. I'd sensed her presence, always, even in sleep. There was a void inside me now that I could not bear.

A sudden gust of wind stirred her."

Father stopped so suddenly I almost bumped into him. "We're not alone."

His voice was barely a whisper.

I looked where he looked and saw only trees in motion and shadows falling deeper into the woods. Then we heard leaves crunch somewhere behind us. Whoever it was didn't even try to hide any longer. A figure showed up on the path, dressed in a long grey garment with the hood pulled down over the face. I instinctively drew closer to Father. The stranger disregarded him.

Instead, they looked at me. "You shouldn't have lived through the rejection.

The words made my blood run cold in my veins.

"What did you say? Father said, coming protectively in front of me.

The stranger c****d their head slightly. That bond should have been severed. Your wolf is gone forever. Under the hood a quiet laugh escaped. "But you are here." Before either of us could react, the stranger reached into the folds of the cloak and tossed something towards my feet. It hit the dirt with a dull metallic thump. Father yanked me back a second later, but my eyes had already found it.

It was another stab of rejection.

This one was cracked right down the middle, unlike Rowan's.

When Father looked up, the stranger had gone into the trees as if they had never been there.

He gingerly lifted the broken blade, visibly trembling in his hands. There were words along the black edge that I could not read but Father could. His face was grey. “What does it say?” I enquired.

He stared at the blade for long seconds before he looked at me with horrified eyes.

It says..." His voice broke. “Rejected the wrong mate.”

Before I could understand the words, the broken blade in Father's hands erupted into silver flames.