The Alpha's Savage Regret

Mate! she screamed inside my mind. He is our mate! A gasp echoed across the crowd. The pull was undeniable. The bond snapped into place, sending a wave of electric heat rushing through my veins. It was a golden thread connecting my soul directly to his. I looked up at Silas, waiting for the relief, the smile, the tender hold I had dreamed of for years. But Silas did not reach for me. Instead, his jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. He took a deliberate step backward, severing the physical proximity between us. Beside him stood Elder Vance, a cruel man with silver hair and a face lined with deep-seated malice. Vance stepped forward, his voice echoing loudly off the stone pillars. "Alpha Silas," Vance projected, making sure every warrior, elder, and pack member heard his words. "The Midnight Pack requires a strong, high-born Luna to stand beside you in these desperate times. Lyra is a nameless orphan with no bloodline, no pack status, and an abnormally weak aura. She cannot bear strong Alpha heirs. She cannot protect this pack." The crowd murmured in agreement. Venomous whispers swept through the hall like a sudden draft. "She is an orphan." "She has no power." "Silas would be foolish to accept her." My eyes welled with tears, but I forced myself to keep my chin up. I looked straight into Silas's eyes, begging him silently to defend me. We had grown up together. He had promised me, under the starlight when we were younger, that no matter what the elders said, we would face the world as one. "Silas, please," I choked out, my voice barely audible above the rising noise of the crowd. Silas closed his eyes for a brief fraction of a second. When he opened them again, every trace of humanity had vanished, replaced by the cold, unyielding authority of an Alpha. "Silence, Lyra," Silas commanded. The sheer weight of his Alpha aura slammed into my chest, forcing the air straight out of my lungs. My knees buckled, but I dug my fingernails into my palms until I bled, refusing to drop to the floor in front of the people who hated me. Silas took a deep breath, his voice ringing out like a death knell across the silent pavilion. "I, Silas Blackwood, Alpha of the Midnight Pack, hereby reject you, Lyra, as my mate and future Luna." The bond inside me snapped with the force of a whip. Pain, violent and absolute, tore through my chest. It felt as though someone had reached into my ribcage and ripped my heart out with bare hands. I stumbled back, clutching my chest, a ragged gasp escaping my lips. Silas did not blink. He stood tall, watching me bleed emotionally without a single flicker of regret in his golden eyes. "And to ensure the strength of this pack," Silas continued, his voice dripping with icy detachment, "I announce my betrothal to Victoria of the Blood moon Pack." A striking woman with long crimson hair and a smirk of pure victory stepped out from the shadows of the royal dais. She slipped her arm smoothly through Silas's offered elbow, leaning her head against his shoulder. She looked down at me with gloating eyes, silently mocking my agony. I stood there, broken and publicly humiliated, while the crowd burst into loud cheers for the new Alpha and his chosen Luna. My mate had rejected me. My pack had turned their backs on me. And my nightmare was only just beginning.