Rejected by the alpha, claimed by the enemy.
"I, Alpha Kael Blackwood, reject you as my mate."
The words sliced through the Great Hall like a blade.
For a heartbeat, I couldn't breathe. Surely I had imagined it. Tonight was the Mating Ceremony—sacred, binding, celebrated beneath the full moon. I was supposed to stand beside Kael, not kneel before him.
Silence fell. Heavy. Suffocating.
I lifted my gaze to him. To my Alpha. To the man fate had bound to my soul.
His eyes were cold.
"My Alpha," I whispered, my voice trembling. "There must be a mistake."
"There is none." Kael's voice was sharp, decisive. "You are weak, Amara. An omega with no value to this pack. I refuse to bind myself to failure."
Pain exploded in my chest.
My wolf screamed as the mate bond tore apart, ripping through flesh and soul alike. I gasped, clutching my heart as tears burned my eyes. The sacred pull—gone. Shattered.
"Please," I begged. "I'll work harder. I'll train—"
"You're embarrassing yourself," he snapped.
A ripple of gasps moved through the hall.
Then she stepped forward.
Selene.
Tall. Beautiful. Radiant in silver silk. She slid her arm through Kael's as if it belonged there—like I had never existed.
"She will be my Luna," Kael announced. "Strong. Worthy. Everything you are not."
The humiliation was complete.
My knees hit the stone floor. Blood coated my tongue as my wolf whimpered, curling inward to hide from the pain.
Kael didn't move.
Didn't help.
Didn't look back.
"Remove her," he ordered. "She no longer belongs to this pack."
Hands seized my arms. As I was dragged away, I caught one final glimpse of Kael—already turned from me, Selene smiling at his side.
The moonlight flickered.
Then darkness swallowed me whole.