The Alpha Who Begged Too Late

Chapter 3 The Weak Girl Broke Her Mask

Aria's POV

Rejecting Rowan should have ended the ceremony.

Instead, it made every wolf in the ballroom stare at me like I had set the moon on fire.

Rowan stepped closer. "Take it back."

I almost laughed.

There he was.

The future Alpha of Blackthorn Pack. The man every ranked family wanted as an ally. The mate I once thought I could not live without.

Ordering me to want him again.

"No."

His golden eyes flashed. "You do not understand what you just did."

"I understand perfectly." I pressed a hand over my aching chest. "I chose myself."

The words hurt more than I expected.

Maybe because in my last life, I never had.

Celeste sobbed behind me.

"She's lying," she cried. "She planned this. She planted the vial on me because she couldn't stand that Rowan cared about me."

I almost admired her.

Almost.

Even with evidence at her feet, she still reached for tears first.

My father looked between us, torn.

That hurt more than I wanted it to.

He had seen the vial. He had heard Elder Maren. He knew what wolfsbane could do during a blood trial.

And still, part of him wanted to believe Celeste.

"Father," I said quietly, "if I had been the one caught with wolfsbane, would you hesitate?"

His silence answered me.

The room shifted.

Some wolves looked away.

Good.

Let them feel shame.

I walked to Celeste and stopped in front of her.

Her tear-filled eyes lifted to mine.

For everyone else, she looked terrified.

For me, she let the hatred show.

"Don't," she whispered.

I raised my hand.

The slap echoed through the ballroom.

Celeste cried out and stumbled.

"That is for the poison."

Another slap.

"That is for calling me unstable."

A third.

"That is for thinking I would stay weak enough to let you kill me."

My father roared, "Aria!"

I turned to him, breathing hard.

"She tried to drug me in front of an entire ballroom, and you are angry because I embarrassed her?"

He had no answer.

Rowan did.

"She is your sister."

I laughed again, colder this time.

"So was I, when she tried to destroy me."

His eyes narrowed. "You are different tonight."

"Yes," I said. "I finally learned."

"Learned what?"

I looked at Celeste. Then at my father. Then back at Rowan.

"That wolves only respect claws."

Elder Maren stepped between us before anyone could speak.

"The blood ceremony must continue. The Moon Goddess has heard the rejection. If Aria's blood accepts the trial, then the bond has no claim over her tonight."

Celeste lifted her head.

Hope flickered in her eyes.

She thought the Goddess would punish me.

So did Rowan.

So did half the room.

I stepped onto the moonstone platform.

In my last life, this was where everything went wrong. The wolfsbane burned through my veins. My wolf panicked. I struck Elder Tomas by accident, and Celeste screamed that I had tried to kill him.

By sunrise, everyone was calling me dangerous.

By the end of the week, Rowan was letting Celeste cry against his chest.

By the end of the year, I was alone.

Not this time.

Elder Maren took my hand.

"Are you steady enough?"

I met her eyes. "Yes."

She studied me for a moment, then cut my palm with a silver blade.

Pain bit into my skin.

Blood dripped onto the moonstone.

For one breath, nothing happened.

Celeste's lips curved.

Then the entire platform exploded with white-gold light.

Windows shattered.

The floor shook.

Wolves dropped to their knees as if an invisible hand had forced them down.

My father stumbled back, horror and awe flashing across his face.

Celeste screamed and covered her eyes.

Rowan stared at me like he was seeing me for the first time.

Elder Maren fell to one knee.

"Moon-blessed blood," she whispered. "A true Luna heir."

The light wrapped around me like armor.

My wolf rose inside me, powerful and ancient. She was no fragile creature drugged into madness. She was white fur under a blood moon. She was teeth, memory, and judgment.

Not weak.

Never weak.

The pressure in the room shifted.

Wolves who had laughed at me minutes ago bowed their heads.

My father whispered my name.

This time, there was fear in it.

I looked down at Celeste.

Her face was pale with terror.

Then I looked at Rowan.

The mate who had been rejected by a Luna heir in front of everyone.

His jaw was tight. His eyes burned with something darker than anger.

Regret?

No.

Not yet.

Men like Rowan did not regret until they lost something they believed belonged to them.

And I was going to make sure he lost everything.

Elder Maren stood slowly. "This changes the line of succession."

The ballroom erupted.

My father went rigid.

Celeste looked like she might faint.

I knew why.

Silvercrest had no Alpha-born son. My father had planned to name Celeste's future mate as his successor if I proved too weak to lead. It was one of the reasons she wanted Rowan.

But a Moon-blessed Luna heir outranked a chosen alliance.

I had just become valuable.

Dangerous.

Impossible to discard.

Mother was the first person to move.

She came to the edge of the platform, tears shining in her eyes, but she did not reach for me like I might shatter.

She bowed.

My own mother bowed to me.

Something painful opened in my chest.

One by one, the older wolves followed. Not all of them. Some were too proud. Some were too shocked. But enough knees bent for the sound to ripple through the ballroom like rain.

My father remained standing.

So did Rowan.

So did Celeste.

I looked at them and understood the shape of my future.

Blood could force respect from a pack.

It could not force love from a father.

It could not force remorse from a man.

And it could not stop a jealous woman from sharpening her knife.

That was fine.

I did not need their love.

I needed their mistakes.

And they had always been generous with those.

Rowan stepped closer, ignoring the wolves still kneeling around us.

"Aria, we should speak privately."

I smiled.

Once, I would have followed him anywhere.

"No."

His expression tightened.

I turned away from him and faced Elder Maren.

"May I leave the platform?"

The elder bowed her head. "You may, Lady Aria."

Lady Aria.

Celeste flinched at the title.

Good.

I walked past Rowan without looking back.

But before I reached my mother, a guard rushed into the ballroom, face pale.

"Alpha Vale," he called. "A message from the border. The Alpha King's envoy will arrive tomorrow morning."

My steps stopped.

Tomorrow.

The same envoy Celeste murdered in my last life.

The same death she pinned on me.

Celeste's fear vanished for half a second, replaced by calculation.

She was already planning.

So was I.

In my last life, the envoy arrived with three guards and a sealed order from the Alpha King. He came to inspect Silvercrest's border dispute with the eastern rogues.

He left in a coffin before dawn.

Celeste cried that she had seen me near his room.

Rowan said my scent was on the hallway.

My father said nothing.

No one asked why Celeste's favorite maid disappeared that same night.

No one asked why the envoy's ring was later found in my jewelry box.

No one asked because they did not want answers.

This time, I already knew where the maid would hide the ring.

I knew which guard Celeste would bribe.

I knew which cup would hold the sleeping draught.

And I knew exactly how long a liar smiled before she realized the trap beneath her feet had closed.

I looked over my shoulder and met her eyes.

This time, little sister, I would be waiting.