I Rejected the Alpha first

Lena's POV The bonfire was too hot. The crowd was too loud. And I wanted to disappear. I kept my head down, shoulders hunched, the way I'd done every single day of my nineteen years in Shadowfen Pack. Don't make eye contact. Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't give anyone a reason to notice you. It had kept me alive. Tonight, every unmated she-wolf in the pack stood in a loose circle around the Moon Stone, hearts pounding, hoping to be chosen as the Alpha's mate. They'd spent hours on their hair. Their dresses. Their smiles. I wore my usual black jeans and a sweater with a hole in the sleeve. Because I wasn't hoping. I was surviving. "Alpha Axel approaches!" The crowd roared. I didn't look up. I'd seen Axel a hundred times from across the pack house, from the back of pack meetings, from the shadows where I belonged. Big guy. Dark hair. Grey eyes that looked right through everyone. He was twenty-five. Had been Alpha for three years since his father died. Everyone said he was cold. Efficient. Terrifying when angry. No one said he was kind. The ceremony began. An elder chanted something old and meaningless. The Moon Stone between us started glowing—soft silver at first, then brighter. I yawned. Tired. I'd had another vision last night. A bad one. A pup falling through ice. I'd barely slept. The silver light drifted off the stone like smoke. It floated through the crowd, brushing past she-wolves who gasped and grabbed at it. The elders frowned. The light wasn't stopping. It kept moving. My stomach dropped. No. The light slid between wolves. Around bodies. Over heads. Like it was looking for something. Someone. Straight toward me. "Lena?" Someone whispered my name. I didn't know who. The light touched my chest. And everything exploded. Silver fire raced through my veins. My knees buckled. Every wolf in the pack dropped to the ground—forced down by the power of the bond snapping into place. Everyone except me. And Axel. I looked up. He stood twenty feet away, frozen. His grey eyes were locked onto mine. His chest heaved like he'd just run a mile. His hands were shaking. For the first time in his life, Alpha Axel looked absolutely terrified. "You," he breathed. The pack erupted. Lena? The shadow wolf? She's the Luna? No way. Impossible. Someone laughed. Someone else started crying. Chaos. I opened my mouth to speak—to say something, anything— And the vision took me. --- I'm on the ground. Forest floor. Cold. My back is broken. I know because I can't feel my legs. Blood. So much blood. It's coming from my chest. Footsteps. Axel walks toward me. His eyes are empty. Not angry. Not sad. Empty. Like someone carved out everything that made him human. He kneels beside me. "You made me do this," he says. His voice isn't his. It's something else wearing his face. His claws are red. My blood. "Lena..." He sounds sorry. Then he raises his hand one more time. --- I screamed. The sound ripped out of me—raw, animal, nothing like the quiet shadow wolf everyone knew. Wolves flinched. Children cried. Axel took a step toward me, reaching out. I scrambled backward on all fours like a frightened animal. My hands hit the dirt. My back hit a tree. "Don't touch me!" "Lena—" "I REJECT YOU!" The words tore through the ceremony circle like a gunshot. Silence. Absolute, complete silence. Even the fire stopped crackling. Then chaos exploded. "REJECTION!" "SHE CAN'T DO THAT!" "THE BOND—" Axel went pale. Then red. His jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists. And for one second—just one—I saw something in his eyes I never expected. Hurt. Not anger. Not humiliation. Hurt. "You reject me?" His voice was quiet. So quiet. "In front of my entire pack?" "I saw—" My voice broke. Tears burned my eyes. "I saw you kill me. Your hands. My blood. I saw it, Axel." Something flickered across his face. Confusion. Pain. Memory? Then it was gone. He smiled. Cold. Sharp. Nothing like the man who'd looked hurt a moment ago. "Guards," he said without looking away from me. "Take Lena to my quarters. She's not to leave until I say so." Two wolves grabbed my arms. I didn't fight. Couldn't. My whole body was shaking. As they dragged me past Axel, he leaned down. His lips brushed my ear. His breath was warm. "You saw me kill you?" he whispered. "Then you know exactly what I'm capable of." He pulled back. Those grey eyes burned into mine. "Welcome to your new life, Little Shadow. You're mine now. Rejection or not." The guards pulled me away. Behind me, someone in the crowd laughed.