The Alpha’s Rejected Blood

The Rejection

The first thing I noticed was that everyone was smiling.

Not because they were happy for me.

Because they knew something I didn’t.

I stood beneath the silver lanterns of the Moon Hall, surrounded by hundreds of wolves from Blackwood Pack. The full moon poured through the glass ceiling, painting the marble floor in pale light.

Tonight was supposed to be the happiest night of my life.

The night I would meet my mate.

The night every unmated wolf dreamed about.

My fingers trembled as Alpha Adrian Blackwood walked toward me.

He was everything an Alpha was supposed to be—tall, powerful, terrifyingly calm.

Black hair. Broad shoulders. Cold gray eyes that seemed capable of seeing straight through a person’s lies.

And tonight, those eyes were fixed on me.

My heart began pounding.

Then his wolf stirred.

I felt it.

That invisible pull.

The sudden warmth beneath my skin.

My breath caught.

Mate.

The word echoed through my mind.

For one beautiful second, I forgot where I was.

I forgot that Adrian Blackwood was the most feared Alpha in the northern territories.

I forgot that I had spent years being treated like an outsider in my own pack.

I forgot everything.

Because he was my mate.

Then Adrian stopped in front of me.

His expression didn’t change.

“Lena Vale.”

My smile faded.

He had never called me by my full name before.

The room became strangely quiet.

Adrian looked at me for several seconds.

Then he said the words that shattered everything.

“I, Adrian Blackwood, Alpha of Blackwood Pack, reject you as my mate.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

I heard someone gasp.

Someone else whispered my name.

My body went cold.

Rejected.

In front of the entire pack.

My wolf whimpered inside me, but I forced myself to remain standing.

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

For the first time, something flickered across his face.

Pain.

Not disgust.

Not hatred.

Pain.

It disappeared so quickly that I wondered if I’d imagined it.

I swallowed.

“Why?”

His eyes hardened.

“Because I don’t want you.”

The words hurt more than the rejection itself.

I looked around the hall.

People were staring.

Some looked sympathetic.

Others looked entertained.

The same people who had spent years calling me weak were watching me fall apart.

But I refused to give them the satisfaction.

I lifted my chin.

“Then I accept your rejection.”

A murmur moved through the crowd.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed.

Perhaps he had expected me to cry.

Perhaps he expected me to beg.

I almost laughed.

Instead, I stepped closer until only a few inches separated us.

His scent surrounded me—pine, smoke, and something darker.

My wolf pulled toward him despite everything.

I hated her for it.

I lowered my voice.

“You should have made sure you knew who you were rejecting.”

Something changed in his expression.

“What does that mean?”

I smiled.

It wasn’t the smile of a broken woman.

It was the smile of someone who had finally stopped being afraid.

“You’ll find out.”

I turned away from him.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Then a sharp pain ripped through my chest.

I stumbled.

A strange sound escaped Adrian.

Not a word.

A growl.

His wolf.

The entire hall fell silent again.

I turned around.

Adrian was staring at me.

His face had gone pale.

“Lena.”

I froze.

He had never said my name like that.

Not with fear.

I touched my chest.

Under my fingers, something burned.

A mark.

One I had never seen before.

A crescent-shaped symbol was slowly appearing against my skin.

Adrian stared at it.

His pupils widened.

“No.”

For the first time since I had known him, the most powerful Alpha in the territory looked genuinely terrified.

“What is it?” someone asked.

Adrian didn’t answer.

He stepped toward me.

I stepped back.

His eyes remained fixed on the mark.

“Where did you get that?”

“I didn’t get it anywhere.”

My voice shook.

“It just appeared.”

Adrian’s breathing changed.

Then he whispered something so quietly that only I heard it.

“The Blood Moon.”

My stomach dropped.

I had heard that name once before.

From my mother.

Years ago, before she disappeared.

She had made me promise never to show anyone the strange birthmark on my shoulder.

Because, according to her, there were people who would kill me if they discovered what I was.

I had never understood what she meant.

Until tonight.

Adrian looked at me like he had finally recognized a ghost.

Then the doors of the Moon Hall slammed open.

A wounded guard stumbled inside.

“Alpha!”

Everyone turned.

The guard dropped to his knees.

“There’s been an attack at the eastern border.”

Adrian’s expression hardened.

“How many?”

The guard looked at me.

His face drained of color.

“Thirty wolves are dead.”

A chill ran through me.

“And the survivors?”

The guard swallowed.

“They weren’t attacked.”

Adrian frowned.

“What do you mean?”

The guard’s voice dropped.

“They were searching for someone.”

“Who?”

The guard looked at me again.

Then he whispered:

“Her.”

The room erupted.

Adrian immediately moved between me and the crowd.

But it was too late.

Everyone had heard.

Everyone was staring at me.

And somewhere beyond the walls of the Moon Hall, a wolf howled.

A second howl answered.

Then a third.

My blood turned cold.

They weren’t ordinary howls.

They sounded like a warning.

Adrian turned toward the windows.

His face had become unreadable.

Then he looked back at me.

The woman he had rejected less than five minutes ago.

His voice was barely a whisper.

“Lena…”

“What?”

His eyes met mine.

“I think they found you.”

And suddenly, I understood.

The rejection hadn’t been the beginning of my nightmare.

It had been the beginning of the hunt.

The first thing I noticed after Adrian said they had found me was the silence.

Hundreds of wolves stood frozen inside the Moon Hall.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Even the wounded guard seemed afraid to breathe.

I looked at Adrian.

“What exactly did they find?”

His eyes remained on me.

“I don’t know yet.”

“You said they found me.”

“I said I think they did.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

A few people shifted nervously.

I almost laughed.

Five minutes ago, Adrian Blackwood had rejected me in front of the entire pack.

Now he was standing between me and everyone else as if he suddenly had the right to protect me.

I stepped around him.

“If someone is looking for me, I deserve to know why.”

Adrian caught my wrist.

The instant his fingers touched my skin, heat shot through my body.

His eyes widened.

I felt it too.

That pull.

That maddening connection between two people who were supposed to belong together.

I yanked my hand away.

“Don’t.”

His jaw tightened.

“Lena, listen to me.”

“No.”

His expression hardened.

“You don’t understand what’s happening.”

“I understand enough.”

I pointed toward the room.

“You rejected me. In front of everyone. You made it very clear that you don’t want me.”

His eyes flickered.

“And now that someone wants to kill me, suddenly you care?”

“I never said I didn’t care.”

The words came out quietly.

For a second, neither of us moved.

Then I saw something in his eyes that made my anger falter.

Regret.

Real regret.

But I wasn’t ready to forgive him.

Not yet.

Before I could speak, another guard rushed into the hall.

“Alpha!”

Adrian turned.

“What happened?”

“The eastern gate has been breached.”

The room erupted into whispers.

“How many attackers?”

“We don’t know.”

“Are they from another pack?”

The guard shook his head.

“No.”

Adrian’s expression changed.

“What do you mean?”

The guard swallowed.

“They weren’t wolves.”

A cold feeling spread through my stomach.

Adrian immediately looked at me.

I didn’t understand why.

“What were they?”

The guard hesitated.

“Rogues.”

Adrian’s face darkened.

Rogues weren’t unusual in the northern territories, but an organized group attacking an Alpha’s territory was different.

“How many?”

“At least twenty.”

“Where are they now?”

“Moving toward the inner territory.”

Adrian turned to the warriors.

“Lock down the eastern and northern borders. No one leaves the pack without my permission.”

The warriors immediately obeyed.

I watched him.

This was the man everyone feared.

The moment danger appeared, Adrian didn’t panic.

He commanded.

He calculated.

He protected.

And despite everything that had happened between us, I understood why people followed him.

Then a scream came from outside.

The hall doors flew open.

A young woman stumbled inside.

Blood covered her clothes.

She collapsed onto the floor.

Adrian rushed toward her.

“What happened?”

She looked around wildly.

“They’re coming.”

“Who?”

Her eyes landed on me.

She pointed.

“Her.”

My heart stopped.

The woman began shaking.

“They kept asking for the girl with the mark.”

Every eye in the hall turned toward me.

I instinctively covered my shoulder.

Adrian noticed.

“Lena.”

I backed away.

“Don’t.”

He lowered his voice.

“Let me see the mark.”

“No.”

“Lena.”

“You don’t get to order me around.”

His eyes flashed.

“I am trying to keep you alive.”

“And I didn’t ask you to.”

Something dangerous moved through his expression.

Then his wolf pushed forward.

His eyes briefly changed.

A warning growl escaped him.

The room went silent.

I felt my own wolf respond.

My vision blurred.

For one terrifying second, I wasn’t standing in the Moon Hall anymore.

I was somewhere else.

A forest.

Fire.

Screaming.

A woman running through the trees.

My mother.

“Run, Lena!”

I gasped.

The vision disappeared.

I stumbled backward.

Adrian caught me before I hit the floor.

His arms closed around me.

For once, I didn’t fight him.

I was too shaken.

“My mother…”

Adrian froze.

“What about your mother?”

I looked up at him.

“She told me to run.”

His face changed.

“What else did she tell you?”

I shook my head.

“I don’t remember.”

That wasn’t entirely true.

There was one thing I remembered.

A sentence my mother had whispered to me when I was little.

A sentence I had never understood.

If they ever find you, don’t trust the Alpha.

I stared at Adrian.

And suddenly, I couldn’t ignore the question.

“How did you know about the Blood Moon?”

His body went still.

He didn’t answer.

“Adrian.”

His gaze shifted away.

“You’re not ready to know.”

My anger returned instantly.

“I’m not ready?”

“You don’t understand the danger.”

“Then explain it!”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because if I tell you everything now, you’ll become a bigger target.”

I stared at him.

“You rejected me because of this, didn’t you?”

Silence.

That was my answer.

“You knew.”

Adrian finally looked at me.

“I knew enough to be afraid.”

My chest tightened.

“For me?”

“For what would happen if they discovered you.”

“Who are they?”

He didn’t answer.

I stepped closer.

“You owe me the truth.”

“I know.”

“Then tell me.”

His eyes softened.

“I can’t.”

I laughed bitterly.

“You rejected me to protect me.”

His expression tightened.

“And now you’re lying to me to protect me.”

“Yes.”

“That isn’t protection.”

I turned away.

“That’s control.”

Before he could respond, every light in the hall went out.

Darkness swallowed us.

Someone screamed.

A growl sounded from outside.

Then another.

And another.

The windows shattered.

Glass flew across the room.

Adrian pulled me against his chest.

“Stay behind me.”

A figure landed inside the hall.

Then another.

Three shadowed figures stood between the broken windows.

Their eyes glowed unnaturally in the darkness.

One of them looked directly at me.

He smiled.

“There she is.”

Adrian stepped forward.

“You have ten seconds to leave my territory.”

The stranger laughed.

“You still don’t understand, Alpha.”

He looked at me.

“We aren’t here for your territory.”

His smile widened.

“We’re here for the last Blood Moon.”

My heart stopped.

Adrian’s wolf roared.

The stranger raised his hand.

“Take her.”

The room exploded into chaos.

Warriors shifted.

Wolves lunged.

People screamed.

Adrian pushed me behind him.

But one of the attackers moved faster than anyone else.

He reached me.

His hand closed around my arm.

And the moment he touched me, the crescent mark on my skin erupted with blinding light.

The attacker screamed.

He released me and stumbled backward.

Everyone froze.

The mark burned brighter.

A strange energy surged through my body.

I heard Adrian whisper my name.

“Lena…”

I looked down at my hands.

They were glowing.

And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t afraid.

I was angry.

The attacker stared at me in terror.

“You don’t know what you are.”

I lifted my eyes.

“No.”

My voice was strangely calm.

“But I’m going to find out.”

Behind me, Adrian’s wolf growled.

And somewhere deep inside my mind, another voice answered.

Not mine.

Not Adrian’s.

A voice that sounded ancient.

Wake up.

The doors of the Moon Hall blew open.

And every wolf inside dropped to their knees.