REJECTD BY ONE ALPHA, CLAIMED BY ANOTHER

The rain always came early in the northern territories, but tonight it felt personal—like the sky itself wanted to watch me fall apart. The pack stood in a wide half circle around the Moonstone Altar, torches hissing under the drizzle, their shadows long and sharp against the slick stone. My heart hammered so violently I could feel the pulse in my throat. Tonight was supposed to be my moment. My chance to belong. To be chosen. To finally matter. But the glances thrown my way were full of doubt, pity, and the kind of quiet cruelty only wolves mastered. “Omega,” someone whispered behind me. “She really thinks she’ll be chosen?” Another voice snickered. “Kael would never bind himself to her. Everyone knows who the Luna will be.” My fingers tightened around the thin ceremonial sash clinging damp to my waist. I kept my shoulders square and my chin up, even though my stomach twisted painfully. Kael Rowan—the future Alpha, the one I’d grown up admiring from afar—stood at the center of the altar steps, his black hair wet and slicked back, his expression carved from cold stone. He looked every bit the leader he would become: tall, strong, confident. And completely uninterested in me. My wolf—silent, still unawakened—offered no comfort. Seraphine Voss glided up the steps beside Kael, her silver dress shimmering even in the storm. Her hair was braided with moonstones, her smile soft and knowing. The pack murmured as if her presence had already answered the whole ceremony before it began. I swallowed hard. This wasn’t how the Moon Ceremony worked. The moon chose. The magic chose. Not politics. Not rank. Not blood purity. But tonight… it felt like the entire world was stacked against me. Elder Rowan raised his hands. “Tonight, under the moon’s witness, the mate bond shall reveal itself. Step forward those who seek their destined pair.” My breaths came short and uneven. This is it. This is my chance. Please… please let me have something. Kael’s eyes flicked over the crowd—and landed on me. My chest tightened. But his expression didn’t soften. If anything, it sharpened, as if my hope offended him. Still… I stepped forward. The air shifted. A ripple of murmurs broke through the pack. A few wolves stiffened in annoyance. Others outright laughed. Seraphine smirked. Kael’s jaw flexed. “Lina, don’t make a scene.” My cheeks burned. “I’m not making a scene. I’m stepping forward like everyone else.” “You shouldn’t.” There it was—low, flat, humiliating. His voice carried across the altar, slicing deeper than claws. The rain fell harder. Elder Rowan hesitated, clearing his throat. “Let the moon decide.” Kael lifted a hand. “There’s nothing to decide.” My heart dropped. “I already know my mate.” Kael took Seraphine’s hand, lifting it high. “And it’s her.” A collective gasp swept the crowd. Seraphine tilted her chin, basking in the attention. My throat closed. “Kael, the moon hasn’t—” “I’m not tying myself to an omega with no wolf.” His voice rose, echoing across the stones. “Someone weak. Someone who contributes nothing. Do you understand, Lina? You were never a choice.” Laughter. Soft. Sharp. Cruel. My ears rang. I felt stripped bare, every insecurity ripped open in front of the entire pack. Seraphine stepped closer, her voice honeyed poison. “You should step back, Lina. Before this becomes more embarrassing.” Something inside me cracked, clean and loud. I stumbled off the altar, vision blurring as the storm whipped around me. I didn’t know where I was going—I just needed to get away, anywhere but here, anywhere but under the weight of a pack that never wanted me. The forest swallowed me whole. Branches whipped my skin. Stones tore at my feet. My lungs burned, but I didn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. I ran until the torches were gone, until the laughter and whispers faded, until only the storm remained, roaring like a beast in the dark. Then—snap. A branch behind me. Too heavy. Too close. My breath froze. A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the dark, far too low to be a human, far too wide apart to be a wolf. It growled. Something big lunged. Pain bloomed along my arm, hot and sharp. I screamed, stumbling backward, slipping on mud, hitting the ground hard. The creature loomed over me, its teeth gleaming through the storm. I raised my arms to shield myself and a thunderous snarl split the night. Not the creature’s. Something else. Something bigger. Something furious. The beast above me hesitated, ears flattening just a second before a massive shadow slammed into it, sending both creatures rolling into the darkness. I tried to scramble away, but my vision spun. The rain blurred everything. Shapes crashed together in the distance—snarls, roars, flesh hitting stone. A final yelp. Silence. Then… footsteps. Heavy. Controlled. Coming straight toward me. I blinked through the storm—and saw a towering figure emerging from the trees, black hair matted with rain, golden eyes burning like wildfire. Not Kael. Not anyone from the ceremony. Someone stronger. Someone dangerous. He looked at me as if he knew me. As if he had been looking for me. Before I could speak, the world tilted sideways and went black.