Once The Rejected Omega, Desired By Two Alphas

Fated Mate Number Two?

¬ Lara

His face was the kind that made you forget how to breathe.

Sharp cheekbones and a strong jaw dusted with white stubble. He was beautiful in a way that unnerved me. I had never seen anyone who looked like this.

And his eyes, almost colourless in the firelight, fixed on mine with an intensity that made my insides twist.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. His grip on my chin was firm, but not painful. The force inside me thrashed wildly, reacting to his closeness in a way that terrified me.

Suspicion flickered in his gaze.

"Out."

The word was low and absolute.

The three women left without a sound. The tent flap fell shut behind them, and my stomach dropped.

The silence between us stretched, thick and suffocating. The fire crackled. Shadows danced across his face. My heart slammed so hard I was sure he could hear it.

The tent had never felt smaller.

He released my chin at last, but instead of standing and putting distance between us, he crouched down. Even lowered like this, he still towered over me. His presence was overwhelming. He was too large, too close, and too consuming.

“What pack are you from?” he asked.

"I... I don't belong to a pack anymore," I managed, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

He tilted his head slightly. "I can tell when you are lying."

I gripped the blanket. "I swear. I'm not—"

"Still, you don't seem to be lying." He raised the back of his hand to his mouth, thoughtful. His eyes sharpened. "What pack did you leave?"

My pulse thundered. I didn't want trouble. I didn't want word getting back to Riven. But the way he looked at me like he could already see through every layer I had made lying feel pointless.

"Derier," I whispered.

He said nothing at first. Then, "You smell like you have been out in the woods for three or four days."

‘How did he know that?!’

"Yes," I breathed. "I really appreciate this. When I recover, I—"

He suddenly looked annoyed. "You're not going anywhere."

My stomach turned.

He leaned closer, and I instinctively pulled back. "What makes you think I would pick up a lone wolf, an omega, out of nowhere and bring her to my camp?"

Before I could answer, his hand moved to my neck.

I froze. Every muscle locked tight as his palm pressed against my throat. His touch was warm. Too warm. And it sent a jolt straight through my body that had nothing to do with fear.

"There," he murmured, his thumb resting against my pulse. "That is it. You were radiating power strong enough to draw in every predator within miles."

My eyes widened in horror.

I hadn't been as safe as I thought. Could everyone nearby sense the energy inside me? How long had this been happening? Or had it started when I forced the power out of my chest to keep it from killing me?

"I didn't know," I said, my voice unsteady. "I don't even know how to stop it right now."

"That much is obvious." His brows lifted, then lowered as he searched my face. "But that is not what concerns me most."

His thumb brushed against my throat. The gesture was light, but the effect was instant.

The force inside me exploded.

It wasn't the slow, sickening pulse I'd grown used to. This was chaos. It was cold and wild and overwhelming. It slammed through my limbs, crashed up my spine, filled my head with white noise.

I tried to pull away from him, but he didn't let go.

Every nerve in my body screamed at once.

It was too much, he was too close, and this was too powerful.

I hated it. But somewhere deeper, in a place I wasn't ready to acknowledge, I felt the exact opposite.

"When I am near you," he said, his voice dropping lower, "do you feel anything?"

My heart raced painfully. "I don't understand—"

"Don't lie." His eyes hardened, demanding answers I didn't have. "Does this power of yours react towards me? I can feel it."

I couldn't think past the roaring in my ears. The force thrashed inside me like a caged animal, and my body no longer felt entirely my own.

His palm pressed more firmly against my throat, fingers spreading across the sensitive skin. His gaze dropped to my neck, a frown forming. "I would take that as a yes. You cannot even form a coherent thought."

Right on cue, the power surged again. A freezing wave crashed through me, and I jerked back, breaking his hold. I grabbed the blanket and pulled it up around myself like a shield, even though I knew it would do nothing against him. I squeezed my eyes shut and huddled beneath the fur, my heart threatening to burst.

I had never felt so exposed. Not in the woods. Not during the rejection. This was different. This was inside me, in a way I couldn't control.

"I don't know. I really don't know!" The words spilled out, frustrated and desperate. "Forgive my insolence, but please—I need some distance. I don't understand why my body is reacting like this. Please..."

Silence.

I didn't need to look. I could feel his eyes on me through the fur. The weight of his stare made the blanket feel heavier, pressing down instead of comforting.

Then he spoke. "You are not leaving this camp."

‘What?’

His voice had hardened. "That is not a request."

I heard him stand back up. His footsteps moved toward the entrance.

"Get some rest," he said, his tone easing just slightly. "Derier is beyond my borders. Whatever happened there, I will not be sending you back to your home pack. You will stay until you are strong enough to travel. Then we will discuss what happens next."

The tent flap rustled. And just like that, he was gone.

I stayed curled under the blanket for a long time. My heart slowly calmed. The force inside me settled back into a dull thrum.

When I finally opened my eyes, I realised my hands were shaking. I cradled them against my chest.

The power had never been so out of control before. What was happening to me?

I sat up slowly and looked around. The tent was empty, as I'd suspected. My mind began to race.

I wasn't leaving. It should have been a relief that I wasn’t killed, but something else troubled me far more than the threat of death.

The way he had looked at me. The way his touch had set my body on fire. The way a tiny, treacherous part of me hadn't wanted him to let go.

I replayed his words in my head.

"Derier is beyond my borders."

"Outside my territory."

Every pack had its own land. Each territory in a region was surrounded by neutral zones to keep the peace. And all the territories in a region fell under the rule of one wolf.

A Prime Alpha.

The ones who commanded entire regions. Who ruled over other Alphas. Wolves so powerful that most pack members hardly ever saw them.

My blood went cold.

‘No wonder he seemed different.’

I had wandered out of Derier territory and crossed into a neutral zone that bordered another region entirely. His region. That was how he had noticed me so easily. That was how he had read my scent, tracked my power, and known exactly how long I'd been in the woods.

I touched my neck where his hand had been. A shiver ran through me despite the fire's warmth.

When he had touched me, when he had looked at me like that, a small part of me hadn't wanted him to stop.

‘It can't be.’

It wasn't possible. I already had a mate that had rejected me, how could I have another all of a sudden?