REJECTED BY THE ROGUE PRINCE

ROWENA The church bells rang like a death sentence. I stood in the cold stone corridor, my wedding dress heavy with pearls and silk. Through the c***k in the wooden doors, I could see the entire Silvercrest Pack gathered inside. Candles flickered against ancient walls. Everyone waited for me to walk down that aisle. Everyone except the man I was supposed to marry. "Lady Rowena, perhaps we should wait a bit longer?" My maid Cecily whispered beside me. Her hands twisted nervously in her apron. "Prince Aldric might still arrive." I wanted to believe her. The sun had already begun to set, painting the stained glass windows in shades of blood orange. The ceremony was supposed to start at noon. Six hours. I had been waiting for six whole hours. My father, Lord Edmund of House Blackwater, paced near the altar. Even from here, I could see the red flush creeping up his neck. Our family's alliance with the royal Silvercrest line depended on this marriage. Without it, we would lose everything. "He is not coming," I said quietly. "My lady, do not say such things!" Cecily gasped. But I knew. Deep in my bones, where my wolf should have awakened three years ago, I knew. Prince Aldric had abandoned me. The door behind us burst open. My younger brother Thomas ran in, his face pale and sweaty. "Rowena," he panted. "I found him." My heart jumped. "Where is he? Is he hurt?" Thomas straightened up, and the look in his eyes made my stomach drop. "He is in the west tower. With Lady Helena Fairfax." The world tilted sideways. Lady Helena. The daughter of the Alpha's closest advisor. Beautiful, charming, and she had her wolf. A pure white wolf that everyone said was blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. "What do you mean he is with her?" I asked, though part of me already knew. "They are together, Rowena. In his chambers. The servants saw them go in this morning and they have not come out." The pearls on my dress suddenly felt like stones trying to drag me underwater. "Take me to him," I told Thomas. "Rowena, I do not think that is wise." "I do not care what is wise. I need to see him." We walked through the castle hallways, my wedding dress dragging behind me like a ghost. Servants pressed themselves against the walls as we passed, their eyes full of pity. They all knew. The west tower was in the oldest part of Silvercrest Castle. Stone stairs spiraled upward. My breathing came hard by the time we reached the top. Thomas stopped before a heavy oak door. I could hear voices inside. A woman's laugh, high and bright. Then a man's lower rumble. I pushed the door open. The room was bathed in candlelight. And there, sitting on the edge of the bed, was Prince Aldric Silvercrest. His dark hair was messy. His shirt was unlaced at the throat. And perched on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck, was Lady Helena. They both turned to look at me. For one frozen moment, nobody moved. Then Aldric stood up so quickly that Helena stumbled. "Rowena," Aldric said. Just my name. Nothing else. I stood in my wedding dress, in the doorway of my future husband's bedroom, staring at him with another woman. "The guests are waiting," I said. My voice sounded too calm. Too empty. "Everyone is wondering where you are." Aldric had the grace to look uncomfortable. He ran a hand through his hair. "I meant to speak with you before the ceremony." "Did you?" I tilted my head. "Because it seems like you have been quite busy doing other things instead." Helena stepped forward, smoothing down her dress. "Lady Rowena, you must understand. Aldric and I, we are fated mates. We discovered it only yesterday." Fated mates. The words every wolf dreamed of hearing. When two wolves recognized each other as chosen by the Moon Goddess herself, nothing could break that bond. And completely impossible for someone like me, who had no wolf at all. "How convenient," I said. "You discovered this yesterday. One day before his wedding to me." "It is not convenient!" Helena's voice rose. "It is destiny! The Moon Goddess herself has blessed our union." "And what of our union?" I looked at Aldric. "What of the betrothal contract signed by both our fathers when we were children?" Aldric finally met my eyes. What I saw there made my breath catch. It was pity. "I am sorry, Rowena," he said quietly. "But I cannot marry you. Not when I have found my true mate. You of all people should understand. If you had a wolf, if you could feel the mate bond, you would know why this is impossible." There it was. The truth underneath all the pretty words. I was wolfless. Broken. How could I possibly compete with the pull of a fated mate? "So you are calling off the wedding," I said flatly. "I have to." He took a step toward me. "But your family will be compensated. Your father will keep his lands. I will make sure you are cared for." I looked at his hand, then back at his face. "You will make sure I am cared for? Like a pet?" "That is not what I meant." "Then what did you mean, Your Highness?" Helena moved to stand beside Aldric, taking his arm. "He is trying to be honorable, Lady Rowena. Many men would simply take a mistress and keep their bride. At least Aldric is being honest with you." The rage that had been building inside me finally cracked through. "You want praise for his honesty? Shall I thank him? Shall I thank you both for destroying my future with such admirable truthfulness?" "Your future is not destroyed," Aldric said firmly. "You will find another match. Someone more suitable." "Someone more suitable," I repeated. "You mean someone who will accept a wolfless bride." The silence that followed was damning. Neither of them denied it. I looked down at my wedding dress, at all the careful stitching and expensive fabric. "I will tell my father," I said. "And the guests. I will explain that Prince Aldric has found his fated mate and cannot proceed with our marriage." Relief flooded Aldric's face. "Thank you for understanding." "I do not understand," I cut him off. "But I accept reality. Enjoy your fated mate, Your Highness." I turned to leave. "Rowena, wait," Aldric called out. I stopped but did not turn around. "I truly am sorry. If things were different, if you had your wolf, perhaps we could have been happy." If I had my wolf. If I was not broken. "Perhaps," I said. "But I am what I am. And clearly, that is not enough." I walked away from that room, away from my future husband and his fated mate. Thomas followed silently beside me. "What will you do now?" he asked. The church bells had stopped ringing. My father would be furious beyond measure. But underneath the humiliation, underneath the hurt and the anger, something else stirred. "I will survive," I finally said. "And then I will make sure everyone remembers what the Silvercrest prince did on this day." Thomas looked at me with surprise. "Revenge?" "No," I said softly. "Something better. I will become everything they said I could never be. Wolfless or not, I will prove I need no man, no mate, no Moon Goddess's blessing to be powerful." "How?" I smiled, and it felt like baring teeth. "I have no idea. But I will find a way." Because the alternative was accepting that I was truly as broken as everyone believed. And that was something I refused to do.