Rejected By The Alpha King. # werewolf#romance. # rejected # emotions # fated mate

Chapter 2 : Banished

The forest was eating me alive.

Branches scratched my arms. Thorns tore at my second-hand dress. The cold bit through the thin fabric and into my bones.

But it was nothing compared to the pain in my chest.

_Reject. Reject. Reject._

Damian’s voice was still echoing in my head.

I didn’t stop running until the torches of the pack square were gone. Until the laughter and whispers faded. Until the only sound was my ragged breathing and the crunch of leaves under my feet.

I was banished.

Homeless.

Mate-less.

Wolf-less.

The irony almost made me laugh. Almost.

My knees gave out and I collapsed against a tree. My hands were shaking. The mate mark on my wrist still burned. Two crescent moons. Interlocked.

A King’s mark.

Wasted on an omega with no wolf.

“Stupid,” I whispered to the darkness. “Stupid Moon Goddess.”

I pressed my forehead to the rough bark and let the tears come. Hot and silent. Because if I made noise, the rogues would find me.

Banished wolves don’t last one night outside the pack. Not without protection. Not without a wolf to fight for them.

I was going to die out here.

The thought should have scared me more. But after what Damian did to me in front of 500 people? Death felt... quieter.

A twig snapped behind me.

My head shot up. Heart in my throat.

“Hello?” My voice cracked.

Nothing. Just the wind.

I stood, wiping my face with the back of my hand. I had to keep moving. If I stayed here, I would freeze. Or worse.

I walked for hours. Or maybe minutes. Time didn’t make sense.

The moon followed me through the trees. Mocking me.

By the time dawn started to gray the sky, my feet were bleeding and my throat was dry. I stumbled into a small clearing and saw it.

An old, abandoned cabin.

It was half-fallen. Roof caved in. But it had 4 walls. That was more than I had.

I pushed the door open. It creaked. Inside smelled like dust and old wood. There was a broken chair, a fireplace full of ash, and in the corner...

A chest.

I frowned. This wasn’t pack property. The Blackwood territory was patrolled. No one left things here.

My hands were shaking as I opened it.

Inside was a blanket. Yellowed with age. A dagger with a silver handle. And a book.

The book was old. Leather cover cracked. No title.

I picked it up carefully. The moment my fingers touched it, my wrist burned.

The mate mark.

But not with pain. With heat. With recognition.

“What...”

I opened the book. The pages were filled with drawings. Wolves. Moons. Symbols I didn’t understand. And in the middle of the book, a page was marked with a ribbon.

There was a drawing of a wolf.

But not a normal wolf.

This one had silver fur. Nine tails. And a crown of stars around its head.

Under it, written in old ink:

_“The Moon Goddess Wolf. Sealed at birth. Wakes in rejection. Heir to the Lost Kingdom.”_

My breath caught.

Sealed.

Heir.

No. That couldn’t be me. I was Luna Carter. Omega. Nobody.

I had no family. No wolf. No power.

Did I?

The cabin door slammed open.

I screamed and dropped the book.

Three men stood there. Rogues. Smelling of blood and rot. Their eyes were yellow. Hungry.

“Well, well,” the one in front sneered. He had a scar across his face. “What do we have here? A little omega who wandered too far from home?”

My heart stopped.

“Please,” I backed away. “I don’t have anything—”

“You have blood,” another one said, licking his lips. “That’s enough.”

They advanced.

I looked around wildly. Chair. Dagger. Nothing I could use. I was going to die here. In this dirty cabin. Just like Damian wanted.

The scarred rogue grabbed my arm. His nails dug in.

“Struggle and it’ll hurt more, pretty girl.”

Pain shot up my arm. Tears filled my eyes again. Not now. Not like this.

_Do something._

_Fight._

_Where’s your wolf?_

“I don’t have a wolf!” I sobbed.

The rogue laughed. “Even better.”

He raised his hand to strike me.

And that’s when it happened.

The mate mark on my wrist exploded with light.

Silver. Blinding.

The rogue screamed and let go of me, clutching his eyes. The other two stumbled back.

“What the hell—”

The book on the floor flipped open on its own. Pages turned wildly until they stopped on the drawing of the nine-tailed wolf.

The air in the cabin got cold. So cold I could see my breath.

And from inside me, from that empty place where my wolf was supposed to be...

A voice.

_Mine._

It wasn’t words. It was a feeling. Ancient. Furious. Powerful.

The floor under my feet cracked.

Silver light poured out of my chest, out of my mark, out of my eyes.

The rogues were screaming now.

“I don’t know what you are!” the scarred one yelled. “Run!”

They ran. Out the door. Into the forest.

And just as fast as it came, the light was gone.

I was on my knees again. Gasping. The book was closed. The cabin was silent.

My wrist hurt. But the mark... it had changed.

The two crescent moons were still there. But now, behind them, was a faint outline.

A crown.

Made of stars.

I touched it with trembling fingers.

The voice inside me whispered again. Softer this time.

_We are not broken._

_We were sealed._

_And now... we are awake._

Outside, in the distance, I heard wolves howling.

Not rogues.

Pack wolves.

Blackwood wolves.

Were they looking for me?

Or was Damian already sending people to make sure the “useless omega” didn’t come back?

I clutched the book to my chest and stood.

My legs didn’t shake this time.

Because for the first time in my life...

I wasn’t afraid.