Rejected by the Alpha: Saved by the King

“You’re not strong enough to be my mate,” Alpha Darius said, his voice like ice. The pack gasped as he turned his back. “I, Darius Blackwood, reject you, Celeste Thorn.” Celeste’s heart shattered. She barely heard the mocking laughter of the crowd as the bond snapped—only the whisper of fate rewriting itself. And far away, in the shadowed mountains, a wolf that time had forgotten opened his eyes. ‘She’s mine.’ When Celeste woke up from her slumber, she felt her stomach twist into knots. She had been having this dream every night for the last week, as her mating ceremony to Darius crept closer. Each time, the dream expanded. It had started off with him just rejecting her, but as it continued, she had seen more. The laughter of the Pack. The way Darius would turn to embrace his father’s former Beta’s daughter, Lyra Storm. A gorgeous and strong wolf who had fought alongside Darius during multiple rumbles with neighboring Packs over borders. Now, this time, there had been strange voice at the end of her dream. One that she was sure she had never heard. It was low, rumbling, dangerous, reminding her of an earthquake. She wondered who it belonged to, but she quickly shook her head, sitting up and getting out of bed. ‘No’ she told herself as she walked to the bathroom. ‘Darius is my fated mate, and we’ve been together for a year. He wouldn’t reject me.’ ‘There is no way he would reject us’ her wolf agreed from the back of her head, making her smile as she looked in the mirror. ‘Tonight is our ceremony. He’ll mark me, and then we’ll be with him for the rest of our lives’. She smiled to herself again, smoothing down her hair and finishing getting ready. The last few days, Darius had been more distant than usual, but she assumed that it was because it was such a big deal for him to having his mating ceremony. He was probably just wanting to make sure that everything went smoothly. At least, that’s what she was telling herself. Darius had never done anything to make her doubt that he wanted to be with her, so she wouldn’t let these silly dreams make her doubt him. Darius was known for being a ruthless Alpha who wanted to expand his Pack borders, but with her, he had always been gentle and kind, even before he knew that she was his mate. They had grown up together, and he had always made it known that he would not tolerate bullying of lower ranked wolves in what would one day be his Pack. “We are all from the same Pack. We need to have each other’s backs otherwise those lower ranked Packs will overwhelm us,” he would say. So, when she had found out that he was her fated mate, she was delighted. Sure, she hadn’t expected it, but in the past year, she had been studying to become a Luna. It was harder than she expected since she had to learn more about the Pack structure since she wasn’t taught much about it, being a lower ranked wolf, but she was doing well. Even her teacher said so. And now that she had finished her official training, she and Darius could finally officially commit the mating ceremony. She would accept him as her mate, and so would he. Then, they would mark each other in front of the entire Pack before he then named her Luna. Just the idea of him so publicly made her smile as she gathered her things to go see the former Luna, her soon to be mother-in-law. Before the ceremony, she wanted to know if there was anything else she needed to know before becoming Luna. “Good morning Celeste,” the former Luna, Candice, said with a soft smile as Celeste walked up to the Pack House. She was sitting on a rocking chair out on the front porch. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until later tonight.” “I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I just wanted to talk to you a little bit before. Are you busy?” She asked as she faltered on the front steps. The older she wolf laughed, shaking her head. “No, no I’m not busy. Come, sit. What did you want to talk about?’ With a relieved smile, Celeste came to sit beside Candice in a mirrored rocking chair. “I was just wondering if there was anything else other advice you could give me before I become Luna tonight. I know I technically completed my training, but doing something and learning about something is always different, so I was hoping maybe you would have some insight that you could give me.” “It is very different,” she agreed, rocking slowly. “But, the most important thing to remember is to always be kind. You are going to be seen as the mother of the Pack. Darius is the father, the enforcer, the stern one. You will be the one that they turn to when they need something that doesn’t require brute force. Emotional needs, thoughts, worries. You will be the one that they turn to, not Darius.” “That’s a lot of pressure,” Celeste said quietly, looking out across the court yard of the Pack house. “I want to do well, but I don’t know if I can give advice when I haven’t done much. How am I supposed to know better than them?” “Then be honest,” she said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “Tell them that you don’t know, but that you want to help them figure it out. Tell them that you can figure it out together. Just make sure that they know that they’re not alone.” “Thank you,” Celeste smiled, squeezing her hand back. Ever since her own parents had died in a Rogue attack nearly a year ago, she had been the closest thing to a mother that Celeste had. “I don’t know what I would have done without you.” “Well, you won’t have to know for awhile yet, alright? I’l be here for a long time, and you can always come to me, no matter what,” Candice promised as she went back to rocking in her chair. “Darius is lucky to have a mate like you. I know that you are going to be the perfect compliment to him. Where he is loud, you are quiet. Where he is demanding and selfish at times, you are giving and selfless. You always think of ways that you can help others, and I know that with you by his side, Darius will be able to bring the Pack to new heights.” The praise from Candice made Celeste smile even brighter, a warm feeling in her chest spreading. Her mother couldn’t be there for her, but at least she had Candice. She never really felt alone with her there. “Thank you. I really want to live up to what you see in me,” she said quietly, starting to rock slowly, matching the older she wolf’s pace. “You already are,” she said as she looked over at her, nodding her head. “And I could not be happier to about to be able to call you my daughter properly.”