Rejected, But Claimed By The Alpha King

Chapter 8: THE WOLF WHO CAME CALLING

Three days after the assassination attempt, the Luna suite still smelled like iron and moonflower.

I couldn’t walk past the gardens without seeing silver dagger pieces glinting in the fountain. Couldn’t sleep without Darius’s hand on my wrist, checking my pulse every hour.

He hadn’t left the territory. Not once. Alpha King, and he’d locked himself here like a guard dog.

“Stop staring at it,” Darius said from the table. He didn’t look up from the interrogation reports. “The dagger is gone. The girl is dead. She can’t hurt you.”

“She looked like Selena,” I whispered. “Same red hair. Same eyes. Even the scar on her lip.”

Darius’s pen snapped in his hand. Ink bled across the parchment. “She was a copy. Spell work. Blood magic. Selena didn’t have the power to make her, but someone did.”

“Who?”

Before he could answer, Rafe knocked once and entered. Face grim. “Alpha. You have a visitor. Alpha Kieran of Stormcrest Pack. He’s… he’s asking for an audience. With the Luna.”

Darius stood so fast his chair hit the wall. Gold eyes went black. “Kieran? Here? After what he did at the last summit?”

“What did he do?” I asked.

“He proposed marriage,” Rafe said. Then looked at me. “To you. Two years ago. When you were still Kade’s omega. Offered gold, land, troops. Kade laughed him out of the hall. Called you damaged goods.”

The room went cold. Darius’s aura rolled out until the candles flickered.

“Send him away,” Darius said. “No audience. No Luna.”

Rafe hesitated. “He brought fifty wolves. And a gift. He says it’s about the assassination attempt. Says he knows who hired the copy.”

Darius looked at me. Jaw ticking. “You don’t have to see him.”

But my wolf perked up. Curious. Dangerous. “I do,” I said. “If he knows who tried to kill me, I want to hear it from his mouth.”

Darius studied me for three seconds. Then nodded once. “Fine. But you stay behind me. You don’t speak unless I say. And if he looks at you like you’re meat, I’ll tear his throat out.”

“Understood,” I said. Though my wolf wanted to run ahead. Wanted to see the Alpha who’d wanted me when I was trash.

---

The throne room felt smaller with Kieran in it.

Tall. Dark hair. Eyes the color of storm clouds. He wore silver armor and a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Fifty Stormcrest wolves lined the walls. All of them watching me.

Kieran bowed to Darius. Shallow. Not enough. “Alpha King. Honored.”

Then he looked at me. Really looked. Like he was seeing the white wolf under my skin. “Luna Aria. You’re more beautiful than the stories said.”

Darius stood. “You’re here about the assassination.”

“I am,” Kieran said. “Three nights ago, a witch from the Northern coven sold a blood-copy spell. Young wolf. Looks like your Selena. Poison dagger. Moonflower.” He paused. “She was paid in gold. Gold stamped with Blackwood’s old crest. The crest from before your father died.”

The room went silent.

Darius went very still. That was worse than the rage. “Someone in my own pack hired the hit.”

“Someone who wants the throne,” Kieran said. Then turned to me. “Which is why I’m here, Luna. Stormcrest has no Alpha female. No heir. Marry me, and I’ll give you protection Kade never could. Troops. Territory. A crown that doesn’t need to bleed to stay on.”

Every wolf in the room held their breath.

Darius moved. Not fast. Slow. Deliberate. He stepped down from the throne until he stood toe to toe with Kieran. Alpha to Alpha. King to King.

“She’s my mate,” Darius said. Voice soft. Deadly. “Marked. Bonded. Claimed under full moon. Touch her with your eyes, your words, your thoughts, and I’ll send your head back to Stormcrest in a box.”

Kieran didn’t flinch. “Mates can be killed. Bonds can be broken. I’m offering her life, Alpha King. Not just love.”

“Love?” Darius laughed. No humor in it. “You offered her gold when she was mud on Kade’s boots. Now that she’s my Luna, now that the Moonstone glowed for her, now you want her? That’s not love. That’s greed.”

My wolf wanted to snap at Kieran. But I stayed quiet. Behind Darius. Like he asked.

Kieran looked past him. Straight at me. “Aria. I knew you before you were Luna. I knew you were special when Kade called you broken. Don’t you want a choice? Or will you spend your life as a weapon in his hand?”

The word “choice” hit me. Twenty years no one gave me one. Not Kade. Not the pack. Not even Darius, not really.

I stepped out from behind Darius. One step. Then another.

The room tensed. Darius didn’t turn. But I felt his tension through the bond. Ready to kill if I swayed.

I stopped in front of Kieran. Looked up at him. He was handsome. Strong. Offered everything Darius couldn’t. Safety. Choice. A pack that didn’t hate me.

“You knew me when I was trash,” I said. Voice steady. My wolf right under my skin. “But you didn’t come then. You came now. When I’m Luna. When the Moonstone glowed. When Darius marked me.”

Kieran’s smile faltered. “I’m here now.”

“No,” I said. “You’re here for the crown. Not for me. If I was still wolf-less, still in the mud, you’d ride past Stormcrest and never look back.”

I turned. Walked back to Darius. Took his hand. His fingers laced through mine instantly. Tight. Like he’d been scared I’d choose wrong.

“Lesson three,” I said loud enough for the whole room. “Lunas don’t get traded. Mates don’t get chosen twice. I chose Darius when I had nothing. I choose him now that I have everything.”

Darius exhaled. Like he’d been holding his breath. His thumb brushed over my knuckles.

Kieran’s face hardened. “Then you chose wrong, Luna. Stormcrest won’t forget this insult.”

“Good,” Darius said. “Remember it. And stay off my borders.”

Guards escorted Kieran out. Fifty wolves left with him. The throne room felt bigger after they were gone.

Darius turned to me. Gold eyes searching my face. “You could’ve said yes,” he said quietly. “Stormcrest is safe. Older. Richer. I can’t give you peace. Not yet.”

“You gave me a name,” I said. “Luna. Not ‘omega’. Not ‘trash’. Name. That’s worth more than gold.”

He pulled me into his arms. Held me like I was glass and fire at once. “You chose me,” he whispered into my hair. “When an Alpha King and an Alpha both asked, you chose the monster.”

“I chose the man who bled for me,” I whispered back. “Not the one who offered gold.”

He kissed me then. Hard. Possessive. Alpha claiming his mate in front of his whole pack. When he pulled back, his eyes were gold again. Not black. Not rage. Relief.

Rafe cleared his throat. “Alpha. We traced the gold. The crest. It leads to Elder Vark. The white-furred one. He wants the throne for his grandson.”

Darius’s jaw ticked. “Then we pay him a visit. Tonight.”

“What about me?” I asked.

“You come,” Darius said. “Lunas don’t hide during war. They stand beside their Alpha. But you don’t fight. You watch. You learn.”

Night fell fast. Darius and I walked through Blackwood’s halls side by side. Not Alpha and Luna. Just mates.

At the door to Elder Vark’s chambers, Darius paused. Hand on the handle. “Once we go in, there’s no turning back. Blood will be spilled.”

I nodded. My wolf rose up. Teeth ready. “Then let it be his.”

Darius opened the door.

Elder Vark sat at his desk. Old. Frail. But his eyes were sharp and guilty. He saw Darius and tried to stand. Tried to bow.

“Too late for bowing,” Darius said. “You hired a witch. You sent a copy to kill my Luna. You used my father’s crest.”

Vark fell to his knees. “Mercy, Alpha King—”

“Mercy is for wolves who don’t try to murder Lunas,” Darius said. Claws extended.

I stepped forward before he could strike. Placed my hand on Darius’s arm. Stopped him.

Darius looked at me. Shocked. “Aria?”

“Kill him if you must,” I said. “But let me say this first.” I turned to Vark. “Twenty years I was trash. Twenty years you called me wolf-less. Now I’m Luna and you want me dead. But I’m not you. I won’t kill an old wolf on his knees.”

Vark stared at me. Shock in his eyes.

“Exile,” I said. “Take him to the border. Strip his titles. Let him live as omega. Let him feel what it’s like.”

Darius stared at me for a long moment. Then his claws retracted. “Exile,” he agreed. “Guards.”

As Vark was dragged away, Darius looked at me different. Not like Luna. Not like mate. Like something he didn’t understand yet.

“You could’ve let me kill him,” he said as we walked back.

“I know,” I said. “But Lunas don’t just rule with blood. They rule with mercy too. Otherwise we’re no better than them.”

Darius stopped walking. Pulled me into his arms. Kissed my forehead. Then my nose. Then my lips. Soft this time.

“You’re not just my mate,” he murmured against my mouth. “You’re better than me, Aria. And that terrifies me.”

I smiled against his lips. “Good. Means I’ll keep you in line, Alpha King.”

His laugh rumbled through his chest. First real laugh I’d heard from him.

Back in the suite, he barred the door. Turned to me. Gold eyes dark.

“Kieran won’t be the last,” he said. “Alphas will come. Kings will offer. They’ll see your white fur and think you’re a prize.”

“Let them come,” I said. My wolf stood tall inside me. “I already chose. And I choose you. Every time.”

Darius pulled me to him. “Then I’ll spend every day making sure you never regret it.”

And as his arms came around me, as the claiming mark pulsed warm against my skin, I realized the truth:

I wasn’t just claimed by the Alpha King.

I was claiming him right back.

---