The Alpha Rejected The Wrong Mate

Nadia's POV The bitter smell of crushed almonds always meant danger in our household. Tonight, that smell filled the air alongside burning wood, smoke, and the sharp scent of blood. "Drink it, Nadia. Every drop. Don't spit it out!" My mother's hands trembled as she held my jaw and pressed a small glass vial against my lips. I tried to turn away, but she held me firmly. "Mother, I don't want it!" "You must drink it!" The vial struck my front teeth as she forced the liquid into my mouth. It tasted like melted metal and bitter herbs. I swallowed, and a terrible heat spread through my chest. I began coughing. "Mother, it burns!" "Quiet!" She pressed a hand over my mouth. "You must keep it down." Tears ran down her cheeks. Her once-neat braid had come loose, and black soot covered her face. There was a small cut above her eyebrow, but she didn't seem to notice it. "Listen carefully, Nadia. What you just swallowed is the Living Tincture of Moonfall. It will remain asleep inside your body until you turn eighteen." I shook my head, struggling to understand. "What does it do?" "It will protect you. No poison, no venom, and no Silver Rot will be able to kill you. Your blood will become the one thing our enemies cannot control." A deafening crash shook the manor. BOOM! The heavy front doors groaned under another blow. Somewhere downstairs, glass shattered, followed by the sound of men shouting. "Thera!" My father's voice thundered through the corridor. "Get Nadia out of there! They have breached the courtyard!" My mother closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she opened them, fear was still there, but determination had taken its place. "Come with me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the library. Our home had always been my favourite place. I loved the tall shelves filled with books, the old wooden tables where my parents prepared their medicines, and the sweet smell of herbs hanging from the ceiling. But tonight, everything looked strange. A chair lay overturned. Several books had fallen from the shelves, and smoke was beginning to creep through the windows. My mother stopped beside the library steps and pulled back a small rug. "The High Council wants the Moonfall records," she whispered. "They want control of the Silver Rot antidote. They know our family has the knowledge to stop the poison, and they will not allow anyone else to possess it." "Why are they attacking us?" "Because they are afraid of what we know." My mother hurried to a small iron ring hidden between the floorboards. She pulled it upward, revealing a narrow opening beneath the library steps. It was a shallow storage pit built into the stone foundation. We usually kept dried herbs and old medicine jars inside it. "Get in," she ordered. I stepped back. "No." "Nadia!" "Come inside with me. There is enough room!" She crouched in front of me and held my shoulders. "Listen to me. If two people hide inside that space, the floor will sound different beneath their boots. They will find us." I began crying. "Then where will you go?" Instead of answering, she reached behind her neck and removed a small bronze pendant. It was shaped like a split moon wrapped in thorns. I had seen her wear it every day since I was born. She placed it in my palm. "Keep this close. It belonged to our family long before you were born." I closed my fingers around it. "Mother, please." "Your name is no longer Nadia Moonfall. Do you understand?" I shook my head. "Never tell anyone your real name. If you survive tonight, go somewhere nobody knows you. In the lower city, you will be nobody. You will be a girl without a family or a past." "Will you come and find me?" Her lips trembled. "One day, your blood will answer the questions you cannot understand today. When you turn eighteen, you will know what I mean." A loud crash came from the corridor. Then I heard my father shout. "Thera! Now!" My mother pulled me into her arms. For one brief moment, she held me tightly against her chest. I could smell the familiar herbs on her clothes beneath the smoke. "I love you, my daughter." "I love you too." She kissed my forehead and lowered me into the hiding place. "Whatever happens, survive." Then she closed the trapdoor. Darkness swallowed me. I pulled my knees against my chest and held the pendant so tightly that its sharp edges pressed into my palm. Above me, I heard my mother drag the rug across the floor. Heavy boots crossed the library. "Where is the healer's daughter?" The voice was young, low, and cold. I covered my mouth with both hands. My mother answered from somewhere above me. "You are too late. The secrets of Moonfall will die with us." "Where is the girl?" "You will never find her." There was a brief silence. Then I heard a struggle. A sharp gasp. And the heavy sound of a body hitting the floor. I stopped breathing. "Secure the manuscript chests," the young man ordered. "Burn the archives. I want every record destroyed." An older voice answered. "Alpha Kael, the High Council ordered the complete destruction of this bloodline. The registry lists a daughter. Ten years old. Silver-blooded." My fingers tightened around the pendant. "Then find her," the older warrior continued. "Elder Vane will demand proof of her death." Boots moved across the floor. One stopped directly above my hiding place. Dust slipped through the narrow gaps between the boards and landed on my face. I gathered every bit of courage I had and looked through the narrow opening. He was young, perhaps eighteen or nineteen. A black cloak rested on his shoulders, held in place by a silver wolf crest. His dark hair was pushed away from his forehead, revealing a sharp face and pale gray eyes. He looked down. Straight at me. Our eyes met. My heart seemed to stop. He had seen me. I waited for him to shout. I waited for him to pull the boards apart and drag me into the open. But he did neither. His eyes moved briefly toward the doorway. Then he stepped away from the trapdoor. "There is no one here," he said. The older warrior frowned. "Are you certain, Alpha?" "The eastern wing collapsed during the attack. The child must have been caught beneath the falling beams." "But the records—" "Did I ask you to question my orders?" The older warrior lowered his head. "No, Alpha." Kael turned toward the doorway. "Search the eastern wing. Check the broken rooms and the courtyard. There is nothing left to find in this section." The warriors moved away. A moment later, Kael stopped at the doorway. "Burn the archives," he ordered. "Burn the rest of the house. Leave no trace of the Moonfall bloodline." Torches were thrown into the library. The flames caught the curtains first, then spread to the wooden shelves. The fire grew quickly, eating through the books my father had spent years collecting. I watched the light beneath the floorboards turn orange. Kael's shadow disappeared. I didn't know why he had lied. I didn't know why he had looked directly at me and allowed me to live. All I knew was that he had ordered my family's destruction. Alpha Kael. The name burned itself into my memory. I waited until the heat became unbearable before moving. The small storage pit connected to an old drainage passage beneath the foundation. My father had shown it to me once when I was younger, explaining that it had been built to carry rainwater away from the manor. I crawled toward it, scraping my knees against the rough stone, pushing forward until cold rain struck my face as I crawled out into the storm. Behind me, Moonfall burned. The roof collapsed with a terrible crash, sending sparks into the night sky. I stood in the rain, shivering in my thin nightdress. I was ten years old. My father was gone. My mother was gone. I pressed the bronze pendant against my chest. I would survive. I would learn everything I needed to learn. And one day, I would stand before Alpha Kael again. I would make him remember the little girl he had left behind. Then I would put a blade through his heart.