THE ALPHA'S REJECTED HEIR

THE MERGER

The headline hit every financial network by 6 AM.

*VOLKOV INDUSTRIES ACQUIRED BY L.V. KING IN SHOCK MERGER*

*BILLIONAIRE ALPHA KADE VOLKOV TO MARRY MYSTERY CEO*

Kade stared at his phone. His wolf was quiet. Too quiet. Hunting.

Three days. That was all Lyra gave him. Three days to tell his pack, his board, the world that he was marrying the omega he publicly rejected.

The woman he called unworthy.

His phone buzzed. Rhett.

*Rhett:* _Your office. Now. Elder Marius is here. So is Selene. And brother… she brought silver.

Kade’s fangs snapped out. He was out the door in seconds.

---

Volkov Tower was chaos.

Reporters crowded the lobby. Stock tickers flashed green for the first time in six months. King Tech had saved them. She had saved them.

The elevator doors opened to war.

Selene Blackwood stood in his office in a blood red dress. Her perfume was choking. Desperate. She’d been crying, but her eyes were hard now. Furious.

Elder Marius stood beside her. Behind them, four pack enforcers. All carrying silver blades.

“Kade,” Selene said. Her voice shook. “Tell me it’s not true. Tell me you’re not marrying that servant.”

The word servant made Kade’s wolf snarl. Five years ago he said worse. Now the sound of it made him want to rip throats out.

“It’s true,” Kade said. He walked to his desk. Didn’t sit. Alphas didn’t sit when challenged. “The merger is signed. The wedding is Friday.”

“Friday!” Selene shrieked. “That’s two days! You can’t—”

“I can,” Kade said. His voice dropped to Alpha gravel. The room temperature plummeted. “And I will. L.V. King saved this pack. Saved this company. Saved _you_ from bankruptcy, Selene.”

“She’s an omega!” Marius spat. “Unranked. She has no bloodline. No”

“She’s Silver Luna,” Kade roared.

The windows rattled. Every wolf in the room flinched and dropped their eyes. Even Marius. Even Selene.

Kade hadn’t meant to say it. The words tore out of him, dragged up by his wolf. But once they were out, he felt them.

Knew them.

Lyra Valen was Silver Luna. The rarest Luna class. Born once a century. Able to calm rabid Alphas. Able to heal broken bonds. Able to command legions.

And he’d thrown her away.

“She awakened the night I rejected her,” Kade said. Quieter now. Deadlier. “While she bled on the stones I forced her to kneel on. While you all laughed.”

His eyes found Selene. “While you took her place.”

Selene’s face went white. “You’re lying. She’s nothing. She’s”

“She’s the mother of my children.”

Silence.

Absolute. Crushing. Silence.

Marius choked. One enforcer dropped his blade. It clattered to the marble.

Selene swayed. “Children? Plural?”

“Twins,” Kade said. And Goddess help him, his voice broke. “A boy and a girl. Four years old. They have my eyes. Her strength. And they’ve never met their father because I was too much of a coward to claim their mother.”

He looked at every wolf in the room. Let them see the ruin. Let them see the Alpha who destroyed himself.

“Lyra Valen is L.V. King. She is Silver Luna. She is the mother of my heirs. And in two days, she will be my wife.” Kade’s eyes flashed gold. “Say one word against her again, and I will challenge you. Here. Now. To the death.”

No one spoke.

Selene made a sound. Like something inside her died. Then she ran. Her heels stabbing the floor. The door slammed behind her.

Marius stared at Kade. Old. Scared. “You’ve doomed us. A Silver Luna rejected… her power will be unstable. She’ll—”

“She’ll own us,” Rhett cut in from the doorway. He’d been there the whole time. Watching. “And maybe that’s what we deserve.”

Kade met his Beta’s eyes. Grateful.

“Get out,” Kade told Marius. “All of you. Before I change my mind about the challenge.”

They left. Fast.

Rhett stayed. “So. Twins. You wanna explain that?”

“Later,” Kade said. He sank into his chair. Every bone in his body ached. “Right now I need you to do three things.”

“Shoot.”

“One. Leak to the press that Selene Blackwood’s engagement to me was terminated due to irreconcilable differences. Make it clean. I don’t want Lyra’s name dragged.”

Rhett nodded. “Two?”

“Buy the entire 60th floor of the Waldorf. Gut it. I want a nursery, two bedrooms, a playroom. Nothing omega. Nothing cheap. I want them to know their father sees them.”

Kade’s throat closed. “I want Aria to have a library. Ash wants dinosaurs. Find out his favorite.”

Rhett’s eyes softened. “And three?”

Kade pulled out the contract Lyra sent over. The marriage terms.

One page. Six rules.

*RULES OF MERGER MARRIAGE*

1. Separate bedrooms. Always.

2. No touching without permission.

3. No claiming. No bite. No mark.

4. You see the children when I allow it.

5. You call me Ms. King in public.

6. You obey me. In everything.

At the bottom, her signature. L.V. King.

No heart. No Lyra.

Kade traced the letters. His wolf whimpered.

“Three,” Kade said hoarsely. “Find me the most expensive ring on Earth. Not for mating. For apology.”

Rhett read the rules over Kade’s shoulder. Whistled low. “She’s gonna make you bleed, brother.”

“I bled her first,” Kade said. “It’s fair.”

His phone buzzed. Unknown number.

He knew it was her.

*Lyra:* _Press conference. Noon. My office. Be there. Wear a suit. Try not to look like you haven’t slept in five years._

*Lyra:* _Oh. And Kade?_

*Lyra:* _Bring your Alpha. I want the world to see what you look like on a leash._

Kade stared at the texts. His wolf, starved and feral for five years, went completely still.

Then it smiled.

Challenge accepted, Luna.

---

*12:00 PM - King Tech Headquarters*

The press room was packed. Hundreds of cameras. Every major network.

Kade walked in.

And stopped dead.

Lyra stood at the podium in a white suit. Angel. Executioner. Her silver eyes found his across the room.

She smiled.

It wasn’t kind.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Lyra said into the mic. Her voice carried. Cool. Commanding. Luna. “Thank you for coming.”

She waited. Let the cameras flash. Let the room quiet.

“Five years ago, Kade Volkov stood in a circle and told the world I was unworthy.”

The room went still. Reporters stopped typing.

“Today,” Lyra continued. “He’s going to stand in my circle.”

She turned. Looked right at him. And held out her hand.

Not for him to take. For him to kneel.

“Alpha Volkov,” she said. Loud enough for every mic to catch. “Come here.”

Kade’s wolf roared. Mate. Luna. Command.

Every instinct screamed to run to her. To drop to his knees. To bare his throat.

The entire world watched.

Kade took one step forward.

And the doors at the back of the press room slammed open.

“YOU LYING w***e!”

Selene Blackwood stormed in with a silver blade.

Aimed right at Lyra’s pregnant-with-his-kids-four-years-ago heart.