Bled For the Wrong Alpha

The Rejection

AIRA’S POV

My eyes widened at the person in front of me.

“Vance.”

His hand clamped tightly over my mouth, his other hand pressing me gently but firmly against the wall. I swallowed hard at the closeness.

Then I heard it. Shawn’s footsteps, slow and deliberate, moving toward where we stood.

Vance pressed closer as the sound grew louder.

Now his whole weight was against mine, his warm breath falling on my shoulder, his body heat wrapping around me. His well-defined jaw was inches from my face, and I could feel the outline of his toned frame pressed against me, his knee slipping between mine to keep us both flat against the wall.

I was in one of the worst situations of my life. If Shawn found me here, everything I had planned would unravel completely.

But somehow, standing this close to Vance, I wasn’t as bothered as I should have been.

I had wasted my whole past life chasing Shawn and never once looked properly at the man right in front of me. What a fool I had been.

Vance kept his eyes deliberately away from mine even though his face was close enough that looking away had to be an effort. His jaw was tight. His breathing was controlled. He was working very hard at feeling nothing and it showed.

The footsteps slowed.

Then stopped.

I held every part of myself completely still.

Then the footsteps turned and faded back the way they had come.

I felt Vance exhale slowly against my shoulder. Then he lowered his head and his eyes finally found mine.

Everything around us seemed to go quiet all at once. His gaze held mine for a moment longer than it needed to, then slowly dropped, just briefly, to my lips.

My lips parted before I could think to stop them.

He leaned closer. Then closer still. I felt my eyes flutter shut on their own, my body already betraying me completely, waiting for something I had no business wanting in the middle of a crisis.

Then his lips brushed close to my ear instead.

“Be careful.” A whisper. Nothing more.

When I opened my eyes he was gone. I was standing alone in the alley with my lips slightly parted and absolutely nobody to kiss.

I pressed my hand over my mouth and climbed back out the window, making my way home as fast as I could.

I slipped out of my clothes and sank into the tub, staring at the ceiling while the warm water did nothing to settle the noise in my head.

What was Vance doing there?

Had he seen me eavesdropping?

Did he know about their plan too?

I had just a few days until Shawn’s coronation. The day my fate would supposedly be signed in front of the whole pack. And so far I had not found a single solid clue about what was really in my blood or why they needed it so desperately.

The next few days I spent trailing Shawn like a hawk, watching every move, every visitor, every conversation he had in open spaces. I noted everything. Small things mostly, nothing that cracked the case open yet.

Ellen suggested shopping for a new dress. Just like in my past life, she went on about how I needed to stand out, how this was my moment, how I couldn’t afford to blend in. I let her talk. I let her pick. She chose something elegant and dramatic, my sister offered to do my makeup, and between the two of them, they turned getting dressed into something that felt closer to a wedding preparation than a pack celebration.

I watched them fuss over me with the same innocent wide-eyed expression I had worn the first time around.

Finally, the long-awaited coronation came.

From the early hours of the morning, I could hear wolves howling across the pack, energy crackling through everything. I was up before the sun had fully settled in the sky. It was my day after all, or at least it was supposed to look that way.

Ellen arrived at my door shortly after, practically vibrating with excitement. We laughed for a while, she talked about the morning and the ceremony, and if she had said a hundred words that day at least eighty of them had Shawn in them somewhere.

I smiled through all of it.

When it was finally time, with my overexcited sister on one side and Ellen on the other, I was dressed and ready to be offered up on a platter. I kept my face bright and let their energy carry me.

Outside the pack hall, the crowd was already thick.

That was when I noticed it properly for the first time. Ellen and Lena beside me in their simplest outfits while I stood between them draped in a trailing gown and layered jewelry like something on display.

In my past life, I hadn’t noticed because I had wanted to be noticed. I had dressed to be chosen and felt nothing but pride about it.

Now I almost laughed.

I let Ellen lead me to the front row, her reasoning the same as it had always been, better visibility, better chances. I sat where she pointed and kept my expression exactly where it needed to be.

Shawn took the stage shortly. His eyes found mine briefly before moving back to the crowd. At the edge of the hall, half swallowed by shadow, Vance stood the way he always did at these things. Far apart, and disconnected, his face holding no expression.

But his eyes moved to me for just a second before they moved away.

I looked back at the stage.

The elders appeared. Words were said, a ritual performed, and then the crown settled on Shawn’s head.

“All hail Alpha Shawn!”

The hall erupted. Wolves shifted and howled, voices rose, and Ellen beside me looked like she might burst from the effort of containing herself. I clapped at the right moments and kept my face full of the right kind of joy.

Then Shawn raised his hand, and the noise settled.

“I have a special announcement to make.”

The crowd leaned in. Ellen grabbed my hand without looking at me.

“I want to thank you all for believing in me.” He paused, his eyes sweeping the crowd before landing deliberately on mine. “Not just because I was the late Alpha’s son, but because of who I am. You believed in me.”

I held his gaze. I did not flinch.

“It is with that in mind that I would like to introduce your future Luna. Someone who will stand beside me and help lead this pack.”

The whispering started immediately. Girls around me shifted and murmured. But it was the elders I noticed, their eyes moving quietly and with certainty towards me.

I was still turning it over when Ellen grabbed my hand and pulled me upright and I realized Shawn had already called my name. I smoothed my expression, flashed the smile the moment required, and made my way toward the stage.

The envy in the room was palpable. I had felt it as joy the first time. Now I felt it as a weight.

Shawn reached down to help me up. I looked at his outstretched hand and for one second all I could see was blood. My blood.

“Aira, relax. You are okay. You are alive.” I said it to myself over and over until his hand was just a hand again. Then I took it.

He placed his hand on my waist the moment I reached him and turned us both toward the crowd. Thousands of faces looked back. Some already shifted, howling. Shawn wore that victorious smile. Ellen in the front row looked like her face might split from the effort of containing it.

“I am going to cherish you forever, my Luna.” He leaned in close as he said it.

My throat tightened. I shifted slightly away with a playful smile like I was just being shy.

Then I leaned toward him. “Can I say something?”

He smiled and nodded, completely at ease. In my past life, I had stood at this exact spot and declared my love for him in front of everyone. He was expecting the same thing.

The crowd went quiet.

I took a slow breath.

I reached for Shawn’s hand where it sat on my waist and lifted it away carefully. Calmly. I turned to face him fully, my expression warm enough that the uncertainty on his face smoothed over almost immediately.

Then I took his hand in both of mine and held it.

“I, Aira Ashford, stand on this podium in front of you all and reject Alpha Shawn.”

His mouth fell open.

I didn’t wait for the shock to settle.

“I already have someone I want to be mated to.” I dropped his hand and turned toward the shadows at the edge of the hall. Toward the one person standing apart from everyone else.

“Your cousin. Vance.”

Shawn’s face drained of color instantly.

And from the shadows, Vance went completely still.