Rejected by Three Alpha Princes, I Wed the Northern Alpha King

As the High Priestess of the Silver Wolf Pack, I had grown up alongside three Alpha princes. Our pack had one ancient law. Whoever took the High Priestess as his Luna would inherit the throne. I had always believed my Alpha would be one of them. 3 years ago, all three princes were struck by the Black Moon Curse. To save them, I drained nearly all the wolf blood from my body. I managed to pull them back from the edge of death, but the price was permanent. From that day on, I could no longer summon my wolf under the moonlight. In the eyes of the pack, I had become useless, a wolf who could no longer shift. But when the princes woke, they mistook Seraphina Montclair for their savior. From then on, they worshiped her as the "Daughter of the Moon Goddess" and gave her everything. They even forced me to give her my blood when she was injured, and now they wanted me to hand over my title as the High Priestess too. Standing before the Sacred Blood Spring, I smiled. "Fine. She can have it." It did not matter anymore. Soon, I would be marrying the Alpha King of the North. ***** Seraphina Montclair gathered up the hem of her dress and dropped to her knees beneath the Blood Moon Altar. Her eyes were already red as she looked up at me. "Layla, the altar, the sacred chalice, the blessing ceremony... all of this was supposed to belong to you. How could I possibly take it?" Her words sounded humble enough, but her hand had already reached toward the chalice. Aiden Vesper stood at the top of the stone steps, his expression cold and unreadable. "Layla, hand it to her yourself." I looked up at him and, for a moment, he felt like a complete stranger. The four of us had grown up together. Whenever I was hurt or treated unfairly, the three of them had always been the first to stand up for me. Yet now, Aiden was ordering me to personally hand the Moon Goddess's inheritance over to another woman. I drew in a slow breath. For the sake of everything we had shared over the years, I decided to give them one last chance. "Aiden, 3 years ago, when the three of you were cursed by the Black Moon..." I held his gaze. "I was the one who saved you." I had barely finished speaking when Seraphina suddenly gasped. Her face went pale, her body swayed, and she collapsed toward the floor. All three princes reacted instantly. Cyril Vesper caught her before she hit the ground, pulling her into his arms. Then they all turned toward me, their expressions full of anger, as if I had just committed some unforgivable crime. "Layla, do you seriously have no shame?" Cyril snapped. "When we woke up, Seraphina was the one beside us. She was the one taking care of us. Where were you?" The fury on his face made my chest ache. "I lost too much blood. I passed out. I was the one who..." "Please, Layla, stop!" Seraphina cried, her voice breaking. She quickly tugged up her sleeve, revealing an ugly old scar on her arm. "This happened when I was feeding His Highness his medicine. He was delirious and bit me by accident. Why are you so determined to take credit for something I did?" The moment the princes saw the scar, their eyes reddened. Cyril glared at me. "You made Seraphina suffer through all of that, and you still have the nerve to accuse her? How can you be this cruel?" I stared at the scar and almost laughed. Back then, I had lost so much wolf blood that I spent half a month unconscious in an ice chamber. I had been so weak that I could barely move, much less stand beside their beds and wait for them to wake up. But none of that mattered. They did not believe me. More importantly, they had no interest in hearing the truth. "Enough." Bryce Vesper's voice was thick with mockery. "You can't even shift anymore. If you stood at the center of the altar now, you'd only embarrass the royal family." Cyril let out a cold laugh. "The position of Luna should go to someone more worthy." More worthy. I almost found that funny. Did they really think I was still waiting for one of them to choose me? Did they really think I still wanted to become any of their Lunas? Around us, the nobles exchanged knowing looks, and quiet laughter spread through the hall. An attendant stepped forward and reached for the moon marked ceremonial cloak resting over my shoulders. The moment his fingers touched the fabric, my body stiffened, but I did not stop him. The cloak was removed from my shoulders and placed over Seraphina's. She pressed one hand over it and gave me that same innocent smile. "I'll take good care of the royal court for you, Layla." Aiden took one step forward, and his Alpha pressure slammed into me. My knees weakened so suddenly that I nearly dropped to the floor. His gaze remained cold. "The chalice." I looked down at the silver cup in my hand. For a few seconds, my fingers tightened around it. Then I slowly let go. Seraphina took it from me, deliberately brushing her fingertips over the back of my hand. The touch was light, almost casual, but I knew exactly what it meant. She was gloating. Priest Rowan Blackwood stepped forward hesitantly. "Your Highness Aiden, according to the rules of the Blood Moon Altar..." Aiden gave him a single look. Rowan immediately fell silent. And just like that, the last question I had wanted to ask disappeared too. What was the point? Should I ask why they were doing this to me? Should I ask how much my sacrifice had been worth to them? Apparently, not much. I turned and walked toward the doors. Just as I reached the entrance of the great hall, the master of ceremonies suddenly raised his voice. "In three days, the Royal Mating Banquet will proceed as scheduled. The prince chosen by Layla Vale will inherit the throne." The hall immediately erupted in mocking laughter. "A useless wolf gets to choose the next king?" "At this rate, she probably won't even keep her right to become Luna." I stopped with one hand resting against the cold palace door. Behind me, the laughter gradually faded. I knew the three princes were watching me. They were waiting for me to turn around, to cry, to beg, or to swallow the humiliation and stay beside them, just like I always had. But this time, I did not turn around. "Don't worry," I said quietly. "I'm not choosing any of you." Unfortunately for them, they were too far away to hear me.