Claimed by The Alpha King

Fractures And Sparks

Amara

He said I was his.

Just like that. No hesitation. No warning. No permission.

I scrubbed my hands harder than necessary at the clinic sink, my fingers trembling under the cold water. The scent of the antiseptic filled my lungs, grounding me. Steadying me. I welcomed the sting from the cracked skin around my knuckles-anything to pull me out of the chaos spiraling in my head.

MATE.

The word echoed like a curse.

How dare he. How dare fate. How dare the Moon Goddess.

I didn’t believe in that connection anymore. I’d already felt its cold betrayal. Five years ago, the bond pulled me toward Daniel like a lifeline-only for him to slice it away like it meant nothing. The pain of that rejection still lived inside both my wolf and I. A dull, familiar ache I'd buried deep beneath discipline and purpose.

And now... another Alpha claimed me

Worse. Because he was The Alpha King.

I braced my hands on the edge of the sink, staring into my reflection. Pale skin, tired eyes, hair escaping its tie. No softness. No warmth. Just a broken woman that survived.

Not someone made to be loved.

I didn’t want it. I didn’t want him. No matter how piercing his eyes were. No matter how deep his voice had burrowed into my bones.

There is no safety in the bond. Only expectation. Submission and pain.

I was done bleeding for men who saw me as theirs. My wolf still away in the back of my mind was as conflicted as I was.

The door creaked open behind me. I stiffened but didn’t turn.

“Lena,” I said, “If you’re here to tell me I'm being dramatic-don't.”

“I was actually going to say you handled that better than I expected.”

I snorted and wiped my hands on a towel. “I didn’t throw anything at him. That counts as progress.”

Lena stepped beside me, leaning against the wall. “He looked like someone punched him when you walked away.”

“Good.”

She raised a brow. “You really think pushing him away is going to make the bond disappear?”

“No.” I said quietly. “But I've already been claimed once. I won’t be claimed again like I’m a prize. I don’t think I could survive another rejection, Lena.”

Her expression softened. "Maybe he’s not like Daniel.”

“Doesn’t matter.” I picked up my clipboard and headed back into the clinic. “I don’t want him, Lena. I just want peace for the both of us.”

And I would fight for it-just like I fought for everything else.

Lucian

She walked away.

Not with fear. Not with submission.

Just... silence.

I didn’t chase her. Not yet.

Now, back in the quarters Alpha Marcus prepared for me, I sat in the shadow, elbows on my knees, fingers laced, jaw tight. The room smelled like pine, leather and dust-nothing like her. Her scent still lingered on my clothes.

My wolf wouldn’t stop pacing.

“She’s ours. Why doesn’t she feel it?” He questioned me.

I didn’t have the answer. I’d seen what it looked like when a mate bond clicked-instantaneous, primal even, unrelenting. But this wasn’t that. Not for her.

It was like she’d locked her soul in a box and thrown away the key.

“Tell me again why you’re brooding in the dark like a rejected pup?” Idris’s voice cut through the silence. He strode into the room without knocking, holding two glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

“I’m not brooding.”

He poured the whiskey anyway. “Sure. You’ve got the whole tortured-Alpha-King vibe nailed.”

I didn’t take the drink. “Her name is Amara.”

Idris paused mid-pour, brows lifting. “That omega from the clinic?”

I nodded.

“She’s your mate?” he asked, stunned.

I didn’t answer right away. Just stared at the floor until the silence did the talking.

“Damn,” Idris muttered, sinking into the armchair opposite me. “That explains the ice-glare you wore through the whole greeting ceremony.”

“She didn’t feel it.”

“Are you sure?”

“She looked at me like I was another taking up space.”

Idris leaned back, sipping his drink. “You’re not used to being ignored.”

“She didn’t ignore me,” I said slowly. “She dismissed me. Like the bond meant nothing.”

That stung more than I expected.

Because my wolf had recognized her the moment her scent hit the air. It had clung to me, rooted itself in my lungs like a promise. My instincts screamed mate, but hers... stayed silent.

“She was rejected before,” Idris said after a pause. “That kind of thing doesn’t just go away.”

I turned towards him, brows furrowed. “By who?”

“Beta Daniel. Local golden boy, from what I hear. Rejected her a few years ago, just tossed the bond away.”

My hands curled.

“What happened after?”

“She didn’t crumble, if that’s what you're wondering. Built herself up. Studied healing. Became the best damn doctor this pack has. Respected, even if the rank-obsessed wolves don’t say it out loud.”

I looked out the window, the moon catching the glass. “She’s not just a healer.”

“No,” Idris agreed. “She’s a fighter. You can see it in her eyes.”

That was the problem.

I saw something else in them, too.

Walls. Thick, high, impenetrable.

But walls were meant to fall.

“She doesn’t trust the bond.” I said.

“Would you? If the last one shattered you?”

I didn’t respond.

I wasn’t familiar with pain. My life hadn’t been made of soft things. But this... this was different. I hadn’t expected my mate to look at me like I was a threat.

And I definitely hadn’t expected to want her even more because of it.

“I want to know what happened,” I said. “Everything. I want to know who hurt her. Who stood by and let her be broken.”

Idris gave me a wary look. “And what exactly do you plan to do with that information?”

My voice dropped to a growl. “Whatever I need to.”

He whistled low. “Careful, Lucian. You’re starting to sound possessive.”

“She’s mine.”

“Doesn’t mean she knows that. Or even wants that. Tread carefully here Lucian.”

I stood and moved to the window, resting one hand against the cold glass. In the distance, lights still glowed from the clinic. She was probably still working. Still trying to pretend I didn’t exist.

“She will,” I murmured.

“Or she’ll hate you for trying,” Idris warned.

“If she hates me, at least she’ll feel something.”

My wolf growled in agreement.

I wasn’t going to demand her submission.

But I would fight for her trust.

Even if I had to tear down every lie she’d ever been told about what it means to be claimed.

Amara

I should’ve left the clinic an hour ago.

But I couldn’t. I paced instead, my fingers aching from clenching them too tightly. Lucian’s words echoed in my skull like they had been carved into bone.

“You’re mine.”

The nerve. The arrogance. The truth of it that I didn’t want to acknowledge.

I busied myself sorting through herbs and salves, not because I needed to-but because if I stopped moving, I’d think. And if I thought, I’d remember the look in his eyes.

Like I was already his.

I was mid-reach for a jar of dried wolfsbane when the door burst open.

I didn’t flinch.

I should have.

The scent hit first-sharp and familiar in the worst possible way. My stomach tightened, and my fingers slowly curled around the glass jar in my hand.

Daniel.

He filled the doorway like he owned the world, like nothing had ever touched him. His eyes were still the same storm-gray color, but they held nothing now. No regret. No remorse. Just disdain.

“Didn’t take long, did it?” he spat, slamming the door behind him.

I turned slowly, keeping my expression neutral. “You’re bleeding.”

There was a gash across his brow, dripping onto his collar. I didn’t move to help him.

He stepped closer. “Didn’t even wait for his boots to cool before spreading your legs for the Alpha King.”

The words hit like a slap, but I didn’t flinch.

I'd bled too much for this man once. I wouldn’t do it again.

“Is there something you need, Beta?” I asked calmly.

His jaw clenched. “You always thought you were better than the rest of us just because you could patch us up. But we all knew what you really were-pathetic. Clinging to the scraps like the desperate omega you are.”

My grip on the jar tightened. “Then why are you here?”

He snarled. “To remind you that no matter what he says-no matter what crown he wears-you're still nothing. You’re still the omega I threw away.”

There it was. The bitterness. The hatred. Not just for me, but for the fact that I'd survived without him.

I stepped toward him slowly, the air thick with tension. “You didn’t throw me away, Daniel. I walked out on you. You rejected me, but I survived. That’s what you can’t stand.”

His eyes darkened. “You think he’ll keep you? An omega? You’re a distraction. A temporary thrill. Once he’s finished playing house, he’ll cast you aside.”

“If that’s true, then I’ll survive that too.” I said. “Just like I survived you.”

His face twisted, and for a terrifying second, I saw his hand twitch at his side like he wanted to strike me.

But then the door slammed open again.

And Lucian was standing there, a wall of fury.

Lucian

I’d been halfway down the corridor when I heard his voice. I didn’t need to hear the words to recognize the tone-biting, cruel, the kind of poison designed to sink deep into someone already bleeding. My wolf surged instantly.

Daniel.

I didn’t knock. I didn’t slow.

I kicked the clinic door open so hard it slammed into the wall, rattling the cabinets. My eyes went straight to her. She was standing tall, defiant, her jaw clenched, fists curled at the sides.

And he-that bastard- was towering over her like a predator.

For a split second, my vision blurred red.

“STEP. AWAY. FROM HER.”

Dainel turned, visibly startled. But he covered it fast, standing his ground with that Beta arrogance that had clearly never been knocked out of him properly.

“This is pack business,” he said.

I took a step forward. Then another.

“Not anymore.”

Amara hadn’t moved. But I saw the tension in her shoulders, the way she was holding everything inside. She wasn’t scared. She was furious.

Good.

I stopped just in front of Daniel, towering over him. “You speak to her like that again, and I'll tear out your tongue.”

“She’s an omega-”

She’s MY omega.”

He laughed, but it was shaky now. “You’ll regret claiming her. She’s damaged.”

The growl ripped from my throat before I could stop it. My claws threatened to push through my skin. It took every ounce of control I had not to strike him down where he stood.

I didn’t.

Not yet.

Istead, I leaned in close enough for him to feel the full weight of my dominance.

“You’re not worthy of the mate you rejected.” I said quietly. “And you're a fool if you think I’ll let her near you again.”

Daniel’s mouth opened-then shut.

He turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

The moment he was gone, I turned to her.

She was staring at the floor, jaw tight, chest rising and falling too quickly. I didn’t move.

“You okay?”

She nodded once.

I stepped closer. “Amara-”

“Don’t.”

Her voice was sharp, clipped. But it was shaking, just a little.

“I’m not Daniel.” I said, softer now.

“I know.”

I waited.

“You should’ve let me handle it,” she muttered.

“I know,” I said. “But watching him speak to you like that made me want to tear his spine out.”

Her eyes lifted to mine then-finally.

And goddess, the heat in them wasn’t just anger.

It was raw. Alive. Something untamed and coiled tight.

She stepped back-not far, but enough to make me feel the absence of her warmth. “This doesn’t mean anything.”

“You sure about that?”

I let my eyes travel over her-slowly. Deliberately. She stiffened, but she didn’t look away.

“You feel it,” I said quietly.

Her breath hitched.

But she didn’t answer.

Instead she turned and walked away, back to her desk, her fingers trembling as she reached for a jar that didn’t need moving.

I didn’t push her.

But I didn’t leave either.

Because her silence screamed louder than any confession.

And I had time.