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

Chapter 2

By the time I returned to my chambers, two maids had already been waiting for quite a while.

The moment I stepped inside, they hurried to carry out the moon crested screen, the Luna candidate seal, and the chest that held the Silver Moon cloak, one item after another.

I stood by the doorway and watched everything that had once marked this place as mine disappear piece by piece.

Even the moon lamp beside my bed, the one that had burned every night for as long as I could remember, was taken down.

The door had barely closed when Queen Moira Rosier walked in.

I started to bow, but she quickly reached out and stopped me. Her fingers accidentally brushed the old scar around my wrist.

She froze for a moment. "Layla, sit down first."

I did as she asked.

Moira looked around the nearly empty room before her gaze settled on my pale face.

"Layla, what exactly happened that night at the Northern Rift?"

My fingers stiffened.

"The three of them were struck by the Black Moon Curse, yet they came back alive and completely unharmed." She studied my face carefully. "They told me Seraphina was their destined Luna. They said she was the one who saved them."

Her expression hardened. "I don't believe it. You were the High Priestess. If anyone had the power to save them, it would have been you. Then why did you come back a month later covered in wounds?"

Her voice softened. "Tell me the truth. Was Seraphina really the one who saved them that night?"

I closed my eyes. In an instant, I could hear the wind from that night all over again.

The Black Moon Surge had erupted without warning, bringing the curse with it.

Aiden, Bryce, and Cyril had fallen in the poisonous fog. Their wolf marks had turned black, and their breathing had grown weaker with every passing second.

I still remembered the late Alpha King's final words to me. "The kingdom cannot be allowed to fall into chaos. You are the High Priestess, the future Luna. The man you choose as your mate will inherit my throne and unite the wolf packs under one crown."

He had entrusted the entire kingdom to me before his death.

So that night, I took a silver blade and cut open my wrist. Pain shot through my arm and straight into my skull as my blood spilled into the ritual markings beneath me.

When the Sacred Blood Ritual awakened, I gave everything I had. I drained 90% of the wolf blood from my body and used it to drag all three princes back from the brink of death.

After that night, even when the full moon shone directly over me, shifting into my wolf became nothing more than an impossible dream.

Eventually, the princes woke. And the first person they saw was Seraphina.

During the month I spent recovering from my injuries, she claimed everything I had done as her own.

No matter how many times I tried to explain, the princes believed only her.

What they never knew was that the Black Moon Curse had not truly disappeared. The only reason it remained dormant was because I was still using what little wolf blood I had left to suppress it. If I stopped, the curse would come back for them.

"I saved them," I said quietly.

Moira stared at me for a long moment. Then she sighed. "Sweet girl, one day they're going to regret this. Don't let them break your heart."

A bitter smile touched my lips. "They haven't."

She looked at me carefully, then asked, "What about your choice of mate? The Royal Mating Banquet is tomorrow."

I lowered my eyes. "Your Majesty, I want to marry into the North."

Moira went still. "The North? You mean Cassian Dusk? The Mad Wolf? You want to marry him?"

I nodded.

Concern immediately spread across her face. "But Layla, the rumors about Cassian are terrible. They say he's ruthless."

I smiled. "Rumors are just rumors. I'd rather believe what I see with my own eyes."

After all, everyone in the wolf kingdom used to say the three Alpha princes loved me more than anything in the world. What I had seen told a very different story.

I could still remember the night I learned the truth.

I'd spent days weaving new wrist guards for the princes, and that evening, I'd gone to deliver them myself, foolishly excited to see their reactions.

The palace was strangely quiet that night. The closer I got to their room, the more uneasy I became.

Light spilled through the c***k beneath the door. Just as I reached it, I heard Seraphina's voice from inside, soft and breathless.

"Don't touch me there. Someone might notice."

Bryce's low laugh followed almost immediately. "So what if they do?"

Then came the sound of fabric shifting, hurried and messy, the kind of sound that made my chest tighten before I even understood what I was hearing.

Cyril spoke next, his breathing slightly uneven. "Layla isn't coming tonight. What are you so scared of?"

Then he laughed. "Besides, she's a useless wolf now. What makes her think she's good enough for any of us?"

I stood outside the door with one hand clamped over my mouth. The wrist guards slipped from my fingers and fell silently to the floor.

The door wasn't completely shut. I could see everything.

Seraphina was sitting on Aiden's lap, her hair loose over one shoulder. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, and when she leaned in and kissed him, Aiden didn't push her away.

Bryce stood beside them, brushing his thumb slowly along her chin as if he were soothing a lover.

Cyril was even closer. He bent his head and kissed the side of her ear with an ease that made it painfully obvious this wasn't the first time.

The same three princes who used to frown whenever I so much as touched them were now surrounding Seraphina like they couldn't get enough of her.

Then Seraphina lifted her eyes. Through the narrow gap in the door, she saw me. For one brief second, a smug smile flashed across her face.

Aiden noticed where she was looking and started to turn. "Is someone outside?"

Seraphina immediately caught his face between her hands and pulled him into a deep kiss. "Aiden, I want you."

He gave a low chuckle. "You little temptress."

What followed made it impossible to stay another second.

I turned and ran.

From the moment I became a wolf who could no longer shift, I had stopped being the most important person in their lives.

And as far as choosing a mate was concerned, all three of them had already eliminated themselves.

Moira let out a long sigh. "Then perhaps the three of them were never meant for you."