Rejected By My Alpha

--- *CHAPTER 1: REJECTED* My name is Zara, and today I turn eighteen. In the Moonlight Pack, eighteen is not just a birthday. It is the day your life begins. It is the day your wolf finally wakes up inside you. It is the day the Moon Goddess lets you smell your mate. I have waited eighteen years for this day. I am not like the other girls. I am small. My hair is always messy. My clothes are old hand-me-downs from the pack house. I have no mother, no father. They died when rogues attacked our border when I was five. Since then, I have lived in the Omega quarters, cleaning floors, washing dishes. Everyone calls me Omega. The weakest. The cursed girl whose wolf never came. But I have a secret. Since I was little, I have loved our Alpha. Alpha Kaden. He is 24. He is tall, his shoulders are broad, his black hair falls over his cold grey eyes. He is the strongest Alpha in the North. When he walks past, every girl holds her breath. When he speaks, no one dares to answer back. And tonight is the Moon Ceremony. The whole pack is gathered in the clearing. The bonfire is huge, the full moon is bright and white above the trees. The drums are beating. Elder Mara stands in the center. "It is time to welcome our new adults to the Moon Goddess!" One by one, she calls names. One by one, girls shift for the first time, boys howl. Then she calls me. "Zara." My heart stops. My legs are shaking so badly I think I will fall. I step into the circle. Hundreds of eyes stare at me. Some are laughing already. Then I smell it. Pine trees after rain. Smoke and leather. Strong, wild, intoxicating. My heart starts beating like a drum. Heat rushes through my whole body. Inside my chest, for the first time in my life, I feel something move. A soft whimper. _Mate._ My wolf. Her voice is tiny and scared, but she is there. I look up, following the scent. And I see him. Alpha Kaden is standing across the fire. His eyes are locked on me. His nostrils flare. He smells it too. His face, always so cold and emotionless, shows shock for just one second. It's him. The Moon Goddess chose HIM for me. Tears fill my eyes. I forget about all the pain, all the bullying. I smile. I whisper so only he can hear, "Mate?" For a second, I think he will smile back. I think he will come and hold me. But his face changes. The shock turns into disgust. Into anger. He steps back, as if my scent offends him. The whole pack goes quiet. He looks at his mother, Luna Ada, who is sitting on the high chair. She is shaking her head, her lips tight. She mouths the word "No." Kaden looks back at me. His grey eyes are now like ice. Then he speaks. His Alpha voice booms over the entire clearing, using his power so every wolf, even the pups, can hear. "I, Alpha Kaden, of the Moonlight Pack, reject you, Zara, as my mate and as my Luna." No. No, no, no. The words hit me like claws ripping my chest open. I scream. The pain is not human. It is like my soul is being torn in half. I fall to my knees in the dirt. I clutch my chest, I cannot breathe. Inside me, my little wolf howls in agony. _He rejected us! He rejected us!_ Laughter erupts. Cruel, loud laughter. Luna Ada stands up. "Did you really think an Omega street rat like you could be Luna of Moonlight? You are an embarrassment to this pack!" The girls I grew up with are pointing at me, laughing. "She really thought Alpha would want her!" Kaden just stares down at me on the ground, his face cold. "You will never be worthy of being my Luna. Know your place, Omega." Then he turns his back on me. He walks away. He leaves me lying in the dust, dying from the pain of the broken bond. The bonfire still burns. The moon is still full. But my world has ended. That night, as I lay broken and alone, I made one promise to my wolf and to the Moon Goddess. I will leave this pack. And I will never be weak again. Will I survive the night after being rejected? ---