CHAPTER ONE: REJECTED
1063 Words
CHAPTER ONE: REJECTED
"I, Alpha Cyrus, reject you, Selena of Crimson Pack, as my mate. For I cannot take a wolfless girl as my wife."
For a heartbeat...
I thought I had imagined it.
The words echoed across the clearing, carried by the evening breeze until they settled deep inside my chest.
No.
Not him.
Not Cyrus.
My fingers curled into the fabric of my dress as though holding on to it would keep me from falling apart.
Someone laughed.
Someone gasped.
The entire ceremony blurred into meaningless noise.
This wasn't how today was supposed to go.
Today was my eighteenth birthday.
The Luna Awakening Ceremony.
The day I had counted down to since I was little.
The day my wolf would awaken.
The day I would stand beside the man I'd loved for half my life.
Instead...
I stood alone.
My stomach twisted.
Hard.
Maybe it was the tea I'd forced myself to drink that morning.
"For your nerves," someone had said.
I hadn't thought much of it then.
Then...
I saw where Cyrus was looking.
Not at me.
Never at me.
His eyes rested on Bella.
My little sister.
She stood beneath the moonlight in white silk, looking like she'd been carved from moonstone itself.
I looked down at my own grey dress.
Funny.
I'd spent weeks making sure every stitch was perfect.
Now it felt like mourning clothes.
Once...
He'd said I'd stand beside him wearing white.
I was nine the first time I challenged him with a wooden sword.
I lasted three whole seconds before he knocked me flat on my back.
I remember pouting.
He laughed.
Then he offered me his hand.
"You'll have to do better than that, Selena."
"I will."
"You will," he agreed. "Because one day..."
He pulled me to my feet.
"...you'll stand beside me."
I laughed and asked, "As your Luna?"
His cheeks turned red.
He looked away and mumbled,
"If you'll have me."
I'd carried those words in my heart ever since.
Whenever the pack whispered that I was too weak...
I remembered them.
Whenever another year passed and my wolf refused to awaken...
I remembered them.
Whenever I wondered if I should stop hoping...
I remembered them.
I'd spent years protecting that promise.
He had forgotten it in a single night.
The sound of the crowd broke me even more.
"I accept you, Alpha Cyrus."
Bella's voice broke through my thoughts.
Soft.
Gentle.
Certain.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
My knees hit the stone.
Scraped and stinging.
But I couldn't care less.
I was already in a living nightmare.
I stared at Cyrus.
Waiting.
Waiting for him to laugh.
To tell everyone this was some cruel mistake.
He didn't.
His eyes flickered with something.
Regret.
Guilt.
I couldn't tell.
It disappeared before I could be sure I'd seen it.
Then his face became unreadable again.
As though I were no different from the dust beneath his boots.
"Remove her."
My breath caught.
That...
That was all I was worth?
Not even my name.
Just...
Remove her.
My head banged painfully threatening to split into pieces.
A pair of hands seized my arms.
I flinched.
Their grip tightened until it hurt.
"Move."
My feet refused.
This couldn't be happening.
Not today.
Not here.
"Cyrus..."
His name broke apart on my lips.
Barely a whisper.
He heard me.
I knew he did.
His gaze cut through me.
Empty.
Like the eighteen years between us had never existed.
The warriors dragged me forward.
My knees scraped against the rough stone.
Pain shot through my legs.
I didn't care.
I couldn't stop looking at him.
Say something.
Please.
Anything.
He looked through me.
Bella's voice trembled.
Not with happiness.
With fear.
"No..."
She stumbled forward.
"Cyrus, wait."
She reached for me.
"She's hurt."
"Please stop."
Two warriors stepped between us before she could reach me.
"Selena!"
Tears streamed down her face.
She struggled against them, stretching her hand toward me.
For one desperate second...
I almost reached back.
Another sharp cramp ripped through my stomach.
I doubled over.
A cold sweat broke across my skin.
My fingers trembled so badly I couldn't curl them into a fist.
What...
What was happening to me?
The tea.
The thought hit me like ice.
The tea I'd drunk that morning.
"For your nerves."
Who gave it to me?
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remember.
A hand.
A smile.
Someone standing beside me.
The memory slipped away before I could catch it.
Another wave of pain crashed through me.
This wasn't fear.
Something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
The whispers around me grew louder.
"She embarrassed the Alpha."
"A wolfless girl never deserved him."
"What a disgrace."
Every word cut deeper than the last.
I searched the crowd again.
Father.
He was there.
Watching.
Our eyes met.
Hope bloomed inside me.
He'll stop this.
He's my father.
He has to.
I didn't need him to fight for me.
Just...
Say my name.
Tell them to let me go.
His jaw tightened.
Then...
He looked away.
Something inside me shattered.
The part of me that still believed my father would choose me.
Blood flooded my mouth.
Warm.
Metallic.
It dripped onto the stone beneath me.
One of the warriors glanced down.
"She's bleeding."
"So?"
"Keep moving."
The elders watched in silence.
Not one of them objected.
Not one of them cared.
The cheers rose again.
They weren't celebrating me.
They were celebrating their new Luna.
Bella.
I forced my head up one last time.
She was still crying.
Still fighting to reach me.
Our eyes met.
"I'm sorry," she mouthed.
I wanted to tell her none of this was her fault.
I wanted to tell her to stop crying.
That I loved her.
Only blood spilled from my lips.
I blinked trying to steady myself, but the moon kept moving above me as if the whole world had forgotten how to stay still.
Then...
A voice.
Low.
Cold.
Right beside my ear.
"Make sure she doesn't wake up."
My blood froze.
The rejection wasn't enough.
Someone wanted me dead.
I tried to turn.
To see who had spoken.
My body wouldn't obey.
Darkness crept into the edges of my vision.
Bella's cries faded.
The cheers disappeared.
The drums became distant.
The last thing I saw was the full moon hanging over the clearing.
Silent.
Watching.
Then...
Everything went black.
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