RECLAIMED BY FATE

Chapter 2: The Bond and the Breaking

Dawn stretched its golden fingers over Verauno, painting the kingdom in a light that promised warmth but carried a chill I couldn’t shake. Today was the mate ceremony, an occasion that should have filled me with joy—or at least anticipation. Instead, dread clung to me like the morning mist.

The borrowed dress I wore was too tight in places, loose in others. Its dull fabric pulled awkwardly at my shoulders, and the pale blue made me look even smaller than I felt. In the cracked mirror of my small room, my reflection stared back, a jumble of nerves and resignation. The mirror didn’t lie. It didn’t flatter either.

“Why do I even bother?” I muttered under my breath, smoothing the dress for the third time. The fabric resisted, much like my life resisted neatness.

“Because you’re braver than you know,” came a voice from the doorway. I turned to see Maren leaning against the frame, his pale blue eyes steady and kind. He had always been the steadying presence in my life, though he couldn’t always chase away the storm.

“Brave?” I let out a soft laugh, hollow and dry. “You have an interesting definition of the word.”

Maren stepped into the room, his boots scuffing against the stone floor. “You’re walking into that hall today. Do you know the number of people that would run assuming they were in your place?”

“That is not bravery if you don’t have a choice.” “It’s survival.”I whisper

He tilted his head, studying me for a moment. “Sometimes, survival is the bravest thing of all.”

I wanted to believe him, to cling to his quiet assurance, but the truth was, nothing about today felt brave. It felt inevitable, like standing on a cliff edge with the tide rising.

The ride to the Great Hall was silent. Maren didn’t press me, and for that, I was grateful. The wheels of the carriage creaked with every bump, the sound mingling with the distant calls of birds and the murmur of early risers. As we approached the hall, its towering spires came into view, stark and unyielding against the pale sky. It was beautiful in its way, but it had never felt like it belonged to me. Or me to it.

The hall was already buzzing when we arrived. Nobles moved like jewels caught in a stream of light, their laughter sharp and brittle. Omegas like me lingered at the edges, invisible yet always watched. The weight of their stares was suffocating. Still, I kept my head high, even as the silk-clad daughters of the nobility swept past with their noses in the air.

The air changed. I felt it before I saw him.

The doors at the far end of the hall opened, and Alpha King Asher stepped inside. The room shifted, the undercurrent of conversation falling silent as every head turned toward him. He moved with a confidence that bordered on arrogance, his black ceremonial coat a sharp contrast to the silver trim that caught the light. His eyes—dark, piercing—swept across the room with a calculated intensity.

I was rooted to the spot the moment his gaze landed on me.

It was fleeting, a glance so brief it could have been accidental, but it carried the weight of something more. My chest tightened, and the world tilted, everything narrowing until only he remained.

And then it happened.

The bond snapped into place like a string pulled taut between us, invisible yet unbreakable. It wasn’t subtle or gentle. It was a roar, a rush and a tidal wave that crashed over me, leaving me breathe laboriously. My wolf rose and moved forward, her voice was in a whisper and a growl in the back of my mind.

Mate.

The word resounded, reverberating through every corner of my being. My heart entered in a race, and for a moment, I thought I might collapse under the unmixed force of it. This was what the old stories had promised—the pull, the fire, the certainty. He was my mate. My Alpha.

But when my eyes met his again, the fire in me froze to ice.

There was no recognition in his gaze, no softening or spark. His expression was stone, cold and unyielding. If he felt the bond, he gave no sign. If his wolf stirred, it remained silent.

The ceremony began, the High Elder’s voice rising in solemn chants, but I heard none of it. My entire world was fixed on him, on the man who was supposed to be my fated mate. My wolf clawed at me, employing extreme measures to close the space between us, to bridge the gap that felt impossibly wide. But I couldn’t move. I could hardly breathe.

The moment came. The Elder turned to Asher, his voice ringing through the hall. “Alpha King, do you acknowledge the bond?”

Silence stretched, heavy and suffocating. My chest ached with the weight of his answer before he even spoke.

“I reject her.”

The words cut through the air sharply like a blade, and unforgiving. Gasps moved with an undulating motion through the crowd, whispers rising like the hiss of snakes. I felt the ground tilt beneath me,I felt my legs trembling as the full burden of his rejection bore down on me.

“She is not my mate,” Asher continued, his voice cold and not softening. “The kingdom deserves a queen of strength and lineage, not an omega with no name and no standing.”

Every word was a dagger, each one twisting deeper than the last. My wolf cried out loudly in pain and the bond tearing like fabric caught on thorns. The pain wasn’t just emotional; it was physical, a raw, severe agony that left me gasping for air.

I wanted to scream, to ask for replies, to ask how he could feel the same pull I did and still turn me away. But I didn’t. The room was waiting, watching, hungry for my complete breakdown, and I refused to give them the satisfaction.

I straightened my spin then swallowed the lump in my throat. “As you wish, Your Majesty,” I said, my voice was steady despite the quake in my chest.

I turned and walked out of the hall, each step was heavier than the last. The whispers followed me, sharp and cutting, their words were adorned with pity and disdain. But I didn’t stop. I wouldn’t let them see me collapse.

By the time I reached the courtyard, the tears I had held back began to run down on my cheeks. I stumbled into the shadows, my breath started coming in shallow gasps. The rejection had shattered something in me, something I wasn’t sure I could ever repair.

“Aria.”

Maren’s voice broke through the haze, soft and showing reluctance. He stood a few feet away, his expression was a mix of sorrow and helplessness. “I heard.”

I shook my head and turned away. “Don’t.”

“You don’t have to do this alone,” he said with gentle but firm voice. “Let me help.”

“You can’t.” My voice cracked, the words trembling as much as I was. “This is mine to bear.”

For a moment, he looked like he might argue, but he didn’t. Instead, he stepped closer, his presence was just like a silence that ease the grief in the storm of my thoughts. “You’re stronger than you think, Aria.”

I wanted to believe him, but the weight of the words ‘I reject you’ remained pressed down on me, suffocating and unrelenting. Asher’s words echoed in my mind, each one was a reminder of my place,and the other was of my insignificance.

But beneath the pain, something different arouse. A flicker of anger and a spark of defiance.

If Asher thought I was nothing, I would prove him wrong. If he wanted to reject me, to strip me of my worth, then I would find it myself. I didn’t need him. I didn’t need anyone.

I would rise. And I would show them all who I truly was.