Rejected for My Twin: Claimed by the Lycan King

Blood and frost. For the last two years, that was the only way I knew how to live. I was Valeria Thorne, the Lead Warrior of the Frostpeak Pack, a she-wolf who earned her worth in battle scars and rogue kills. Yet tonight, standing in the opulent shadows of the packhouse's highest level, I felt entirely stripped of my armor. The heavy, oak door of the Alpha suite muffled the wet, rhythmic sounds from within, but the thick grain of wood couldn't hide the scent bleeding through the cracks. I stood frozen in the third-floor hallway, my scarred fingers white-knuckled around the velvet box holding Cassian’s ceremonial obsidian cuff links. Pine, winter frost, and the unmistakable, heavy musk of s*x hit the back of my throat. Inside my head, my snow-white wolf, Lyra, slammed against the mental barrier of my consciousness. [Mate is lying,] she snarled, a deep, guttural vibration that made my teeth ache. [Mate smells of another. Tear her throat out!] Then came the sound—the slap of skin against skin, followed by a woman’s breathless, high-pitched moan. Ice water flooded my veins. My throat seized so tight I couldn't pull in a breath. Two years ago, on my eighteenth birthday, the Moon Goddess had snapped the fated thread into place. I still remember the blinding rush of Cassian’s scent—cedar and frost—hitting me for the first time, knocking the breath from my lungs. I thought I had won the world. But Cassian had cornered me in the shadows of the armory, his hands mapping my body, his silver eyes pleading. “Give me two years, Val,” he had whispered, kissing the mating mark just beginning to form on my neck. “My father is a traditionalist. He won't step down if I choose a warrior as Luna. Give me until my twentieth birthday. The second the crown is mine, I’ll claim you properly.” So I bled for him. I spent two years scrubbing rogue blood from under my fingernails before sneaking into his bed at midnight. I caked thick concealer over my neck every single morning. I fought on the freezing northern borders, desperate to prove my worth to a pack that openly, violently despised me. They didn't just whisper behind my back. They spat at my boots in the training yards. Omegas deliberately kicked dirt onto my freshly washed linens and sneered while refusing to serve me in the dining hall. I was Beta Silas’ daughter, but they looked at me like a diseased stray. And it was all because of Aurelia. My twin sister. Our mother—whom my wolf, Lyra, had been named after—was a fierce warrior. When rogues tore her apart on the border when we were eight, it broke Beta Silas. My father locked his heart away in his fragile, porcelain survivor, Aurelia, and left me to the wolves. Aurelia learned quickly that tears were her greatest weapon. She’d break Silas’s prized hunting bows or steal silver daggers, then sob perfectly timed tears, pointing her delicate finger at me. I was the one beaten. I was the one thrown into the agonizing silver-laced holding cells in the dungeons for 'insubordination' while my father rocked her to sleep. Half the scars on my back weren't from border skirmishes—they were from the pack's disciplinary whip. When I was sixteen and finally earned the title of Lead Warrior through sheer, undeniable brutality, Alpha Magnus spat at my feet, furious that a she-wolf had bested his males. When I went to Luna Elara, begging for fairness after a group of older Gammas cornered me and shredded my belongings, she hadn't helped. She had slapped me hard enough to split my lip, her heavy rings cutting my cheek. “A savage mutt should be grateful we let it sleep in the kennels,” she had sneered, threatening to have my wolf suppressed with wolfsbane if I ever spoke to my betters that way again. The only one who had wiped the blood from my chin that night was Cassian. He had snuck into my freezing quarters, holding me, soothing me, promising that once he became Alpha, they would all bow to me. He was my only light. The bitter memory tasted like ash in my mouth as I stood in the dim hallway. I swallowed hard, shoving the past down, and raised a trembling fist to pound on the wood. The noises stopped instantly. A muffled curse vibrated through the floorboards, followed by heavy, hurried footsteps. When the door wrenched open, Cassian stood framed in the light. His golden hair was damp with sweat. His chest—the chest I had rested my head against only two nights ago—heaved with exertion. His Alpha aura rolled off him, heavy and suffocating. I locked my knees to keep from dropping to them, refusing to let him see me shake. "Valeria," he breathed, his voice thick. "What are you doing up here? The elders are already gathering the pack in the Great Hall." "I brought your cufflinks," I leaned sharply to my left, trying desperately to peer past his broad shoulder into the dimly lit room. "Cassian... I heard someone in there. I smell—" He blocked the gap smoothly, his massive frame shutting out the light. It was deliberate. A small, cruel shift in his eyes told me he knew exactly what it was doing to me. He dragged a hand through his damp hair and let out a dry laugh. "You're letting Lyra's possessiveness make you paranoid, Val. There's no one in here." [Liar!] Lyra roared in my mind, pacing furiously. [Smell the orchids! Smell the rot!] "Don't lie to me." My voice cracked. "I heard a woman." Cassian's jaw tightened into a hard line. He reached into the pocket of his discarded slacks, pulled out his phone, and shoved the screen in my face. A hub video of two tangled bodies was paused mid-frame. "Are you happy?" he muttered, playing the embarrassed boy perfectly. "I was trying to take the edge off before I have to go stand in front of a thousand wolves and swear the Alpha oath. You know how the full moon makes my wolf restless. Go get your dress on. I'll see you downstairs." Before I could say another word, he kissed my forehead—a quick, dismissive peck—and shut the door. The heavy iron lock clicked home. I stood staring at the wood, the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth where I had bitten my own tongue. [He reeks of another!] Lyra snapped, hackles raised as she paced furiously inside our shared consciousness. [Wake up! Our mate betrays us!] Shut up. I slammed the mental barrier shut, cutting off her snarls mid-breath. I forced my hands to stop shaking. He was taking the oath tonight. He was doing this for us. He had to be. If I didn't believe that, all those nights I'd spent patching my own wounds so he wouldn't see me bleed meant I was nothing but a fool. Back in my small, drafty quarters tucked away in the packhouse attic, I stripped off my training gear. I had no Omegas to help me dress. Luna Elara had explicitly forbidden the servants from attending to me, claiming it was a waste of pack resources on a grunt. The attic air was freezing, but I didn't feel it. I spent the next hour forcing the scent of orchids and s*x out of my head. I focused entirely on my goal. On Cassian. When I finally stepped in front of the cracked mirror, a stranger looked back. The crimson silk gown plunged low, the ruby fabric a loud contrast against my pale skin. A high slit ran up the left thigh—a mandatory choice in case I had to shift or fight—but the heavy fabric pooled around me like liquid fire. I'd spent an hour wrestling my wild curls into a sweeping, elegant updo, pinning them securely with the pearl combs Cassian had gifted me last winter. Heavy layers of foundation and powder masked the fading bruise on my jaw and the incomplete mate mark on my neck. A bold s***h of red lipstick completed the look. I looked strong. Regal. Ready to rule. Two hours later, the Great Hall of the Frostpeak Packhouse was an ocean of velvet, polished iron, and blinding chandeliers. I made my entrance through the heavy double doors, the crimson silk sweeping elegantly around my legs. As I walked, the pack parted for me. Not out of respect. Hushed whispers slithered along the edges of the room, followed by mocking snickers and sharp, knowing glances that prickled my skin. The sheer weight of their staring made Lyra pace uneasily, but I kept my chin high. I scanned the sea of faces, realizing I hadn't seen Aurelia all evening—not even when I passed Beta Silas in the foyer. I brushed it off. Tonight wasn't about her. I stood at the foot of the raised marble stage, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. Above me, the aging Alpha Magnus Blackwood stood tall—a brutal, old-world Alpha who despised she-wolves serving as pack warriors. Beside him stood Cassian’s mother, Luna Elara, her cold silver eyes scanning the crowd with aristocratic disdain. When Cassian turned to face the crowd, the breath physically left my lungs. Goddess, he was beautiful. It physically ached to look at him, my wolf preening at the sight of our mate. The dark, tailored suit clung to the violently muscled shoulders I had kissed a thousand times. His jaw looked like it was carved from granite, and when those icy silver eyes swept over the room, the Alpha aura that slammed into the hall brought every Beta, Gamma, and Omega to their knees. "Rise," Cassian’s voice boomed, echoing off the vaulted ceilings and vibrating straight into my bones. "I stand before the Moon Goddess today not just to accept the mantle of Alpha, but to present the she-wolf who will walk by my side as your new Luna." Lyra surged forward in my mind, purring a deep, rumbling sound of absolute victory. The mate bond pulled at my chest—a physical, magnetic drag urging me to step onto that stage and claim my rightful place as his Luna. I took a breath, letting go of the shadows I had hidden in for two years, and stepped out from the crowd. Cassian’s gaze slid right past me. He extended his massive hand, pointing to the front row of the Alpha's inner circle just to my left. "Step forward, my chosen Luna." Chosen. The word sliced through the fated thread in my chest like a cold blade. Not fated. Chosen. Lyra let out a confused, wounded whimper. A slender, trembling hand in white lace slipped into Cassian's. Aurelia. My twin sister stepped into the moonlight, and every ounce of confidence I’d built in my own reflection shattered. Where my crimson gown was fierce, hers was ethereal—a breathtaking confection of pure white silk and diamond-dusted tulle that floated around her like a halo. Her golden curls fell in pristine ringlets over bare, milk-white shoulders. But it was what sat atop her head, and what flashed on her finger, that made the air vanish entirely from my lungs. The ancestral Moonstone Tiara. And gleaming on her left hand, Cassian’s sacred family heirloom—the diamond-and-sapphire Luna ring. She smelled heavily of vanilla and crushed orchids. It hadn't been a video. Aurelia gasped softly, blushing a perfect pink as she delivered a flawlessly rehearsed look of shock. Her delicate hands flew to her mouth as tears welled in her wide doe eyes. "Cassian... oh, Goddess," she whispered, stepping onto the stage. A collective gasp rippled through the Great Hall, immediately followed by deafening howls of approval. Beta Silas beamed with absolute pride from the front row. The pack was thrilled. Their fragile, perfect princess was getting the crown. The fated bond inside my chest stretched violently, searing my heart with white-hot agony. Lyra let out a bloodcurdling howl, slamming against the cage of my ribs in pure grief. We hadn't been hidden for two years. We’d been placeholders. "Cassian...?" The whisper tore from my throat, raw and fractured. Aurelia looked down at me from the dais. She smiled, her eyes glistening with sweet, innocent tears as he hauled her flush against his chest. Then she stepped away from him, floating down the marble steps toward me, opening her arms. She pulled me into a delicate embrace, burying her face in my neck so the pack would only see a loving sisterly hug. "He laughed at your scars," she whispered directly into my ear, her voice dropping the sweet act entirely. "Right while he was deep inside me. You're just a grunt, Val. You were always just practice." The sheer audacity, the viciousness of it, snapped the last thread of my sanity. [KILL!] Lyra roared. "You b***h!" I snarled. My eyes flashed gold as Lyra surged violently to the surface. My claws elongated instantly as I shoved Aurelia back and lunged for her throat. Aurelia screamed—a pitch-perfect shriek of terror—stumbling backward and collapsing onto the stairs. "Cassian, help!" she wailed, fat tears spilling over her cheeks as she clutched her chest. "Goddess, she's feral! She's trying to kill me!" "Feral mutt!" a Gamma shouted from the crowd. "Always knew the Beta's other daughter was a psycho," another muttered loudly from the front row. "Can you imagine that violent thing as Luna?" "Lock the defective, rabid dog in the silver cells where she belongs!" Beta Silas roared from the front row, his face twisted in disgust as he stared at his own flesh and blood. I was the Lead Warrior. I could drop any male in this room in under ten seconds. But I didn't even reach my sister. Cassian’s massive hand wrapped around my throat, lifting my feet clean off the floor. As his claws dug in, the delicate crimson silk of my bodice tore down the middle with a sickening rip, exposing the fading battle scars on my collarbone to the laughing crowd. My Luna armor—destroyed in a single second. The crushing weight of his dominance slammed into my spine, paralyzing Lyra and forcing my body to freeze. I gasped for air, my hands clawing uselessly at the thick, unyielding muscles of his forearm as I stared into the cold silver eyes of the man I loved. He leaned in close, his grip tight enough to bruise my windpipe. "You really thought I’d let an unranked freak carry my bloodline?" he whispered, his breath reeking of bitter winter mint and Aurelia's lilac perfume. "I was a virgin, Val. I needed practice. Aurelia is delicate, pure. I needed to know exactly what I was doing before I touched her... so I wouldn't hurt her when she takes an Alpha's girth. You were just a convenient, loose body to train on." He dropped me like garbage. I hit the cold marble floor hard, gasping for air, clutching my throat as Beta Silas—my own father—rushed past me to check on Aurelia without sparing me a glance. Luna Elara stepped forward, her heels clicking against the marble. She looked down at me, her lip curled in absolute revulsion. "Someone mop up this filth," she commanded the guards, loud enough for the entire hall to hear. “She’s staining my floors." Cassian turned his back on me, wrapping a protective arm around Aurelia’s waist. He projected his voice so every wolf in the territory could hear the death sentence he was about to deliver. The bond inside my chest began to fracture, screaming in primal agony. On my neck, the uncompleted mating mark I’d hidden for two years suddenly flared with white-hot, blistering pain, burning through my skin like a hot iron. [No!] "No!" My voice echoed the one in my head, raw and desperate. "I, Alpha Cassian Blackwood of the Frostpeak Pack," his voice shook the rafters, echoing with absolute, brutal finality, "formally reject you, Valeria Thorne, as my fated mate!"