FATED TO A RUTHLESS ALPHA

HIM

CHAPTER TWO.

Selene’s POV

I had seen him once before.

The memory lingered in the back of my mind like an unfinished thought, something I should have paid more attention to but didn’t. Back when I still believed that I had a home, a mate, and a place in the Crescent Moon Pack. Back when I was still naïve enough to believe that fate was kind.

It was a fleeting encounter, nothing more than a stolen glance in the market square. He had been there, standing in the shadows, watching with an air of detachment that sent chills down my spine. Dark hair, sharp eyes, and an expression so unreadable that it unsettled me.

I had ignored it then.

And now, as I lay on the cold, hard ground of a rogue territory, staring up into the same eyes that had once unnerved me, I realized I had made a mistake.

He wasn’t just a passing stranger.

He was the man standing over me now, studying me with that same unreadable gaze.

“She’s from a pack,” someone muttered behind him, their voice laced with suspicion. “She doesn’t belong here.”

I tried to move, but my limbs were too heavy. The exhaustion from my endless trek, the hunger gnawing at my stomach, the sheer emotional weight of my rejection—it had all taken its toll.

I was weak.

Defenseless.

And surrounded by rogues.

A dry laugh nearly escaped me. How ironic. the very thing they called savages, were the only ones around me now. Crescent Moon had discarded me like trash, and this was where I had landed.

His gaze remained fixed on me, and I swallowed hard. I didn’t know his name. I didn’t know if he was a threat or if I was already as good as dead.

“What do we do with her?” another voice asked, gruff and impatient. Z

The man above me—him—tilted his head slightly, considering. Then, without breaking eye contact, he finally spoke.

“Take her.”

Two hands grabbed my arms, hoisting me up, and for the first time in hours, I found my voice.

“Wait—”

I barely had the strength to protest, but my body tensed in resistance. It didn’t matter. I had no energy left to fight, no will left to resist.

The last thing I saw before darkness took me again was his eyes—watching, calculating, as if deciding whether I was worth keeping alive.

*

*

I woke up to warmth.

A jarring contrast to the cold emptiness I had grown used to, and for a moment, I thought I was back home. My bed. My room. The soft glow of moonlight through the windows of the packhouse.

Then the ache in my body returned, along with the realization that home no longer existed.

I blinked, adjusting to the dim light of the unfamiliar space. It wasn’t a dungeon, but it wasn’t exactly welcoming either. The room was small, sparsely furnished with only a bed and a chair in the corner. A single candle flickered on the wooden nightstand beside me, casting eerie shadows against the walls.

I sat up slowly, biting back a wince as pain flared through my muscles. My throat was dry, my stomach a hollow pit of hunger. How long had I been out?

“You’re awake.”

The deep voice sent a shiver down my spine, and my head snapped toward the doorway.

He stood there, leaning casually against the frame, arms crossed over his chest. His presence was commanding, effortlessly intimidating in a way that didn’t require force.

I hated that I noticed.

That I noticed the way his dark shirt clung to his frame, the way his eyes never wavered, the way he carried himself with the ease of someone who had nothing to fear.

I swallowed. “Where am I?”

His lips twitched, just barely. “Somewhere safe.”

I wasn’t sure I believed that.

He stepped into the room, his movements slow, deliberate. “You were practically half-dead when we found you. What were you doing out there?”

I hesitated. I didn’t know him, didn’t trust him. But what did I have to lose? It wasn’t like I had secrets worth keeping anymore.

“I was banished,” I said finally. The word felt foreign on my tongue, like admitting it made it more real.

His expression didn’t change. He didn’t flinch, didn’t react the way most people would. No shock, no pity. Just… understanding.

“Why?”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “Because I didn’t have a mate.”

That made him pause.

I looked away, staring at the flickering candle instead of his piercing gaze. “I was supposed to be Kieran’s. My Alpha. But the Moon Goddess had other plans.” The words tasted like poison in my mouth. “He found his true mate, and I was nothing but an inconvenience. A mistake.”

Silence stretched between us. I expected him to laugh, to scoff at the absurdity of it all. But he didn’t.

Instead, he stepped closer, until he was standing just beside the bed, towering over me. “So your pack threw you away,” he said, his voice quieter now. “For something you couldn’t control.”

I met his gaze, my throat tightening. “Yes.”

Another pause.

Then, to my utter shock, he let out a low chuckle. Not of amusement, but something darker. Something colder.

“Their loss.”

I frowned. “What?”

He didn’t explain. Instead, he turned toward the door, pausing only once to glance over his shoulder. “Get some rest. You’ll need it.”

Then he was gone, leaving me with more questions than answers.

And an inexplicable feeling that, for the first time since my banishment…

Maybe losing everything wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to me. And i do not wish for it to happen to anyone else…