Rejected by the Alpha: Saved by the King

Chapter Three

Celeste stood there, swallowing down the pain that had lumped in her throat. The agony in her chest was almost choking her. She felt like everything in her life had just been crushed under the weight of Darius’s decision. The sounds around her were muffled as she pushed him away, his touch suddenly repulsive.

There was no way that she was going to stand there and be pitied, or mocked by those that never truly thought that she was enough for the Pack or enough to be a Luna. Candice tried to say something to her, and Darius looked pained when Celeste pushed him away. His lips moved, she could see them, but she couldn’t hear what he said. It was like she was underwater. Her wolf was howling in agony, feeling like a piece of her soul had been stripped from her. Maybe it had. Wasn’t that what a fated mate was? The other half of someone’s soul.

She turned, shaking her head slightly. Lyra’s cruel grin was still splitting her face, but Celeste paid it no mind until Lyra grabbed her, her face grim. “You have to leave.”

The words took a moment to set in, her head tilted as if she couldn’t understand what she was saying. Her grasp on language felt like it was slipping. “What?”

The cruelty on Lyra’s face only deepened as Darius came to stand beside her, guilt and shame still coloring his face. “You need to leave. There’s nothing for you here anymore.”

“I lived my whole life in this Pack,” Celeste argued, her stomach twisting into knots. “I didn’t do anything to get expelled. I wasn’t the one who did something wrong.”

Darius’s face darkened for a moment before he spoke, his voice rumbling, “Lyra is right. There is nothing for you here anymore.”

“My family is here! My friends, my school! You’re going to make me drop out? I’m almost done with my degree,” she shouted, her voice rising steadily.

Candice glared at Darius, and most likely due to guilt, even though he was the Alpha, he lowered his head slightly, back to not meeting Celeste’s eyes. “You can stay until the mating ceremony with Lyra in three months. That should give you time to finish this semester and get everything sorted for a transfer out. You’re not cast out- you can still come visit your family.”

“f**k you,” Celeste whispers, swallowing hard again, forcing down the tears.

“Don’t talk to your Alpha like that,” Lyra snarled, her lips coming back from her teeth. “He’s not your mate. You don’t have the right to speak to him anyway you want.”

Celeste set her jaw, giving a curt nod, Darius runs his tongue over his lower lips, a nervous gesture she knows where. “You’re right,” she said to Lyra, which makes her wolf growl and Lyra smirk. “He’s not my mate. My apologies, Alpha Darius.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed at her words, but he nodded. “I took no offense, Celeste.”

Everyone was still staring, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m going to take my leave now. I hope you’ll use this event as a way to celebrate your chosen mate and the birth of your heir,” Celeste said, meeting Darius’s eyes which made Lyra roll hers. “It would be a shame for all this food and decorations to go to waste, not to mention the waste of everyone’s time.”

“Celeste-,” Candice tried to cut in, but Celeste shook her head, letting Abigail take her hand.

‘I’ll see you later, Luna Candice. Thank you for your kindness,” Celeste said as she dipped her head before leaving the room.

As soon as they were away from prying eyes, Abigail wrapped her arms around Celeste, hugging her tightly. “I’m so sorry.”

“Me too,” Celeste whispered, tears finally streaking her face as she buried her face in her friend’s chest. Her body shaking, her chest heaving. “Goddess, how could he do this to me?”

“Because he sucks,” Abigail whispered, stroking her face. “He has no idea what he’s missing out on. Lyra is the worst. She might be a strong warrior, but she doesn’t care about anything but power and appearances.”

“Then I guess they’re perfect for each other,” Celeste forced a laugh, making Abigail smiled softly at her.

“Come on, let’s get you fixed up. Let’s go do something tonight, okay?” she suggested as she finally pulled her out of the building.

***

In the far reaches of the Forbidden Mountains, something that had been stagnate for decades finally stirred. After being in a frozen state, King Rael Snow, the first King of Rouges, blinked his eyes open.

“The King awakens!”

“Ring the bell!”

“Alert the others!”

Shouts and cries filled the air as Rael was helped into a proper sitting position by a young wolf he didn’t recognize. “Your Highness. We’ve been awaiting your return for so long,” the young male said, his dark eyes blown wide with excitement.

“How long has it been?” Rael asked, cradling his forehead as it thumped.

“50 years,” the male said, glancing at the door as others began to pour in, a mix of excited and nervous chattering filling the air.

“We are the ones who stayed, Sire. Some of us are newcomers, but there are some who have always waited for you,” the male said, gesturing for an elderly woman to come forward.

Rael recognized her. A Maid who had always been kind to him, the decades having been kind to her, retaining the kindness that even know after all this time. She smiles at him, her light eyes crinkled even more as the smile warmed her face further. “My King.”

“It is good to see a familiar face,” he said, leaning against the male that had helped him sit.

“I knew I would se r you again, My King,” she said as she closed the remaining space, bowing her head to him before pulling out a scroll. “I kept this all these years because I knew that you would need it when you awoke.”

The scroll was a detailed description of his curse, notes carefully collected over decades. His face contorted with concentration as he took in the words, his brows furrowing slightly as he read them. Theories and evidence, answers and questions. There was more questions than answered, but the one answer that mattered was there. In underlined, bold handwriting, the scroll read:

“The King is cursed to never be the first mate of his fated mate. He has to find her as her second chance mate, and prove that she will chose him over her first mate in half a year’s time, or he will fall asleep for another 50 years, doomed to repeat this curse until it’s sated.”