Chapter 1:The Rejection
1483 Words
The night I met my mate was supposed to be the happiest night of my life.
Instead, it became the night my heart learned how cruel love could be.
Moonlight spilled across the Silver Moon Pack’s grand courtyard, turning the white stone beneath my feet almost silver. Hundreds of wolves stood around the ceremonial fire, dressed in their finest clothes, waiting for the Alpha to arrive.
I stood among them with my hands trembling.
Tonight was my eighteenth birthday.
Tonight, I would finally discover my mate.
Every girl in the pack dreamed of this moment.
I had dreamed of it too.
For years, I had imagined finding a powerful wolf who would look into my eyes and know immediately that I belonged to him.
Someone who would choose me.
Someone who would protect me.
Someone who would love me.
I never imagined that my mate would be the one person capable of destroying me.
A sudden silence fell over the courtyard.
I looked up.
The Alpha had arrived.
Kael Blackwood.
The youngest Alpha King in the history of the Northern Territories.
He walked through the crowd with the confidence of a man who had never been told no. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed completely in black, with a silver wolf emblem resting over his chest.
His dark eyes swept across the crowd.
Then they stopped on me.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Something inside me awakened.
A warm, powerful sensation rushed through my body, and a voice whispered inside my head.
Mate.
I nearly stopped breathing.
No.
It couldn’t be.
The most powerful Alpha in the kingdom couldn’t possibly be my mate.
Kael took another step toward me.
His expression changed.
For one brief second, I saw surprise in his eyes.
Then recognition.
His wolf had found mine.
The crowd began whispering.
“Is that…?”
“Impossible.”
“She’s the daughter of the former Beta?”
“How could someone like her be the Alpha King’s mate?”
I barely heard them.
I could only see Kael.
My lips curved into the smallest smile.
Maybe the Moon Goddess had finally answered my prayers.
Maybe I wasn’t cursed after all.
Kael stopped directly in front of me.
His scent surrounded me—cedar, smoke and something dangerously intoxicating.
My wolf whimpered happily.
Mate!
I swallowed.
“Alpha Kael…”
He stared at me without saying anything.
I could feel the connection between us.
It was so strong that my entire body shook.
Then his face hardened.
“What’s your name?”
“Luna.”
His jaw tightened.
“Luna what?”
“Luna Hayes.”
A strange look crossed his face.
He knew my family.
Everyone did.
My father had once been the Beta of this pack before he died under mysterious circumstances.
Since then, my mother and I had lived quietly at the edge of the territory.
We weren’t poor.
But we weren’t important either.
Kael looked me up and down.
The smile disappeared from my face.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Before I could speak, a beautiful woman stepped out from behind him.
Selene.
The daughter of one of the richest families in the pack.
She wore a stunning red dress, and diamonds glittered around her neck.
She walked straight to Kael and slipped her hand into his.
My stomach dropped.
Kael didn’t stop her.
“Kael,” she whispered.
He looked at her.
Then back at me.
I suddenly understood.
Selene had been his chosen companion for months.
Everyone expected her to become the future Luna.
My heart began beating faster.
“But…” I whispered.
Kael’s eyes became cold.
“You are my mate.”
The words should have made me happy.
Instead, there was no warmth in his voice.
I forced a smile.
“Then…”
I didn’t get to finish.
Kael stepped closer.
The entire courtyard became silent.
His eyes locked onto mine.
“I, Kael Blackwood, Alpha King of the Northern Territories…”
My breath caught.
“…reject you as my mate.”
The world stopped.
For several seconds, I couldn’t understand what I had heard.
Reject?
He had rejected me?
In front of everyone?
My wolf screamed inside my head.
No! No! No!
Pain exploded through my chest.
I fell to my knees.
Someone gasped.
Another person laughed.
My hands pressed against the cold stone as tears filled my eyes.
I looked up at him.
“Why?”
Kael’s expression remained emotionless.
“Because I need a Luna who can stand beside me.”
His eyes traveled over my simple dress.
“You are weak.”
The words cut deeper than the rejection itself.
“I don’t want a mate who will become a burden to my kingdom.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not asking you to—”
“You don’t have to ask.”
His voice was merciless.
“I have already chosen.”
He turned toward Selene.
She smiled.
Then, slowly, she leaned against him.
The crowd erupted in whispers.
I felt something inside me break.
“Please,” I whispered.
Kael looked back at me.
For one tiny moment, I thought I saw regret in his eyes.
But it disappeared so quickly that I wondered if I had imagined it.
“Get her out of here.”
Two guards approached me.
I pushed myself to my feet.
My legs barely held me.
I refused to cry in front of them.
I refused to give them the satisfaction.
But as I walked away, Selene’s voice followed me.
“Luna.”
I stopped.
She smiled sweetly.
“You should understand something.”
I turned around.
She leaned closer to Kael.
“Some women are born to be queens.”
Her eyes traveled over me.
“And some are born to serve them.”
The courtyard burst into laughter.
I lowered my head.
Tears finally escaped.
I ran.
I ran until the sound of their laughter disappeared behind me.
I ran until my lungs burned.
I ran until I reached the abandoned cabin where my mother and I lived.
The moment I slammed the door shut, I collapsed onto the floor.
My mother rushed toward me.
“Luna!”
I couldn’t speak.
She knelt beside me.
“What happened?”
I looked into her eyes.
“He rejected me.”
Her face went pale.
“Who?”
I covered my mouth as another sob escaped.
“The Alpha.”
My mother froze.
For several seconds, she didn’t move.
Then she whispered something that frightened me more than Kael’s rejection.
“No…”
“What?”
She stared at me as though she had seen a ghost.
“Luna, you must leave.”
I frowned.
“Leave where?”
“Anywhere.”
“Why?”
She grabbed my shoulders.
“Because if Kael discovers the truth, he will kill you.”
My tears stopped.
“What truth?”
My mother looked toward the window.
Her hands were shaking.
“The Moon Goddess didn’t make Kael your mate by accident.”
I stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
She opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, a loud howl echoed through the forest.
My mother immediately stood.
Her face drained of color.
“They found us.”
“Who?”
She rushed to the wooden chest beside the bed and pulled out an old leather bag.
“Your father’s enemies.”
I stared at her in confusion.
“My father?”
She shoved the bag into my hands.
“Take this.”
“What is it?”
“Everything you need to know about who you really are.”
A loud crash came from outside.
My mother grabbed my face.
“Listen to me carefully.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Never trust the Alpha King.”
My heart stopped.
“But he’s my mate.”
She shook her head.
“That’s exactly why you must run.”
Another crash.
The door began to shake.
My mother pushed me toward the back window.
“Go!”
“But I’m not leaving you!”
“You have to!”
The door splintered.
Men shouted outside.
My mother pushed the leather bag against my chest.
“Run, Luna!”
I climbed through the window.
Just before I disappeared into the darkness, I heard my mother scream.
Then I heard a voice outside.
A voice I recognized.
Kael.
“Find the girl.”
I froze.
His voice came again.
“She must not leave this territory alive.”
My blood turned cold.
The man who had rejected me only minutes ago…
Was now hunting me.
And I had no idea why.
I ran into the darkness.
Not knowing that inside the bag my mother had given me was a secret that would change the entire werewolf kingdom.
A secret that would eventually make the Alpha King get down on his knees…
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