The Alpha Who Begged Too Late

Chapter 2 I Rejected Him First

Aria's POV

The ballroom smelled like roses, wine, and wolves pretending they were civilized.

Every ranked family in the territory had come for my eighteenth birthday ceremony. Silvercrest Pack rarely hosted events this large, but my father liked reminding people that his daughter was finally old enough to be useful.

Useful.

That was all daughters were to men like him.

Alliances. Bloodlines. Pretty smiles at the right table.

My father stood near the Alpha's table, proud and distant as always. He barely glanced at me when I entered, but his eyes lingered on my white dress long enough for me to know he disapproved.

Good.

I was done dressing to make other people comfortable.

Celeste stood beside him in pink, her injured wrist hidden under a lace sleeve. Her eyes widened when she saw me, then narrowed when she realized I had worn the white dress anyway.

Mother squeezed my hand once before letting me go.

"Head high," she whispered.

I almost smiled.

In my last life, she said the same thing.

This time, I would listen.

The ceremony had not yet started, so the ballroom hummed with conversation. Young wolves whispered about who might find their mate. Mothers compared dresses. Fathers discussed pack borders and future alliances as if their children were pieces on a board.

Then the doors opened.

Alpha Rowan Black entered the room.

Every conversation died.

He was exactly as I remembered.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Black hair falling slightly over his forehead. Golden eyes cold enough to make weaker wolves lower their heads. The kind of face girls destroyed themselves over.

I had destroyed myself over it once.

Beside him walked his Beta, Darius, and two warriors from Blackthorn Pack. Rowan did not look around like a guest. He looked around like he owned the room.

Maybe that was why I once thought he was powerful.

Now I knew arrogance and strength were not the same thing.

The moment his scent reached me, my wolf surged.

Cedar. Smoke. Winter rain.

Mate.

The word slammed through my chest.

Rowan's head snapped toward me.

His eyes widened.

For one heartbeat, the bond pulled so hard I almost stepped forward.

Almost.

Then I remembered him watching me bleed.

I remembered begging him to listen.

I remembered his cold voice.

You disgust me.

I stayed where I was.

Rowan crossed the room slowly. Wolves moved out of his way without being asked. He stopped in front of me, close enough that the bond burned under my skin.

"You feel it," he said.

It was not a question.

Celeste made a small choking sound behind him.

I tilted my head. "Feel what?"

His jaw tightened. "The bond."

The room erupted in whispers.

My father looked stunned.

Mother went pale.

Celeste looked like someone had slapped her.

Not yet, little sister.

Your turn is coming.

Rowan reached for my hand.

I stepped back.

His golden eyes darkened.

"Do not embarrass me," he said softly.

I laughed.

The sound surprised even me.

In my last life, I would have lowered my head. I would have apologized for breathing too loudly. I would have thanked him for choosing me.

That girl was dead.

"I am not embarrassing you, Alpha Rowan," I said. "I am protecting myself."

The whispers grew louder.

Rowan's expression cooled. "From me?"

"From bad decisions."

His nostrils flared.

Celeste suddenly burst into tears.

"Aria, please don't do this." She stepped forward, trembling beautifully. "Everyone knows you've always wanted him. You don't have to pretend just because he noticed me first."

There it was.

The first lie.

I turned slowly.

"Noticed you first?"

She pressed a hand to her chest. "You saw us talking earlier. You were jealous."

A few girls gasped.

Someone laughed under their breath.

My father said my name in warning.

I ignored him.

Instead, I walked to the wine table and picked up the glass Celeste had personally placed beside my seat.

"Then drink this."

Celeste froze.

I smiled sweetly. "You brought it for me, didn't you? Sisters share."

Her lips parted. "I... I'm not thirsty."

"Of course not."

I turned to Elder Maren, the oldest wolf in Silvercrest and the only elder my father feared. "Test it."

My father's face hardened. "Aria, enough."

"No." My voice cut through the room. "For once, it is not enough."

Elder Maren stepped forward. She took the glass, dipped one finger into the wine, and let moonlight gather around her hand.

The liquid turned black.

The ballroom went silent.

Elder Maren's mouth tightened. "There is wolfsbane in this wine."

Celeste staggered back. "No. No, I didn't-"

I grabbed her wrist and lifted her hand.

The silver vial slipped from her sleeve and hit the floor.

The sound was small.

The damage was not.

My father stared at it like it had teeth.

"Celeste," he whispered.

She started crying harder. "I was scared! Aria's wolf is unstable. I only wanted her to sleep through the ceremony. I was protecting everyone!"

"By poisoning me?" I asked.

"It was not poison!"

Elder Maren's eyes flashed. "Wolfsbane can kill a young wolf during a blood trial."

Celeste's face went white.

I looked at Rowan.

He was watching me differently now.

Curious.

Possessive.

Interested.

Too late.

He had not cared when I was accused. He cared now because I had become unpredictable.

"Aria," Father said, his voice low enough to sound private and loud enough for everyone to hear. "Apologize to Alpha Rowan and step down. We will discuss Celeste's mistake after the ceremony."

Mistake.

There it was.

Poison in my cup was a mistake.

My panic would have been instability.

My anger would have been disrespect.

My death would have been unfortunate.

I turned to him slowly. "If I had made that mistake, would we discuss it after the ceremony?"

Father's jaw flexed.

Celeste sobbed harder, but the sound had lost some of its power. People were not looking at her the way they used to. They were looking at the vial. At the blackened wine. At me standing straight when they expected me to tremble.

Rowan noticed too.

His gaze moved over my face as if searching for the weak girl he had been promised.

He would not find her.

"This can be handled quietly," Rowan said.

I looked at him. "Why?"

He blinked once.

Men like him hated that question.

"Because public scandal weakens both packs," he said.

"No." I stepped closer to the wine table and lifted the poisoned glass for everyone to see. "Silence weakens packs. Lies weaken packs. A future Alpha who asks a poisoned woman to stay quiet because truth is inconvenient weakens packs."

The room went so still I heard Celeste's breath hitch.

Darius, Rowan's Beta, stared at me with open surprise.

Rowan's expression hardened. "Careful."

I smiled.

"I spent my whole life being careful. It did not save me."

He did not understand the last part.

Not yet.

But one day he would.

I faced the room and lifted my chin.

"I, Aria Vale, daughter of the Silvercrest Beta, reject Alpha Rowan Black as my fated mate."

Rowan went completely still.

The bond tore through me like fire.

Pain slammed into my chest, deep and savage. My wolf howled. My knees threatened to buckle.

I did not fall.

Rowan's face twisted with disbelief.

No one had ever rejected him.

Especially not in front of three packs.

He reached for me again, slower this time. "Aria."

Hearing my name in his voice almost broke something in me.

Almost.

I stepped away.

"Do not touch me."

A murmur moved through the crowd like wind over dry leaves.

Rowan lowered his hand.

His humiliation tasted sweeter than wine.

My wolf pressed against my ribs, wounded and furious.

She did not understand why we were walking away from our mate. Wolves were made for bonds. For scent. For the pull that said this one is yours.

But I remembered the dungeon.

I remembered Rowan's scent on Celeste when he came to watch me be sentenced.

I remembered him flinching when I reached for him, as though my touch could stain him.

So I pushed the bond down.

Love had made me obedient once.

Pain would make me disciplined now.

Across the room, Celeste looked at Rowan as if waiting for him to defend her.

He did not.

For the first time in either lifetime, she had lost control of the stage.

That frightened her more than the accusation.

Good.

I smiled through the pain.

First slap delivered.

Many more to go.