The snow was still falling and still silent and merciless.
And yet the world felt louder than ever.
Alpha Kael Draven stood frozen at the top of the marble steps, staring at the man kneeling before me.
No…. Not kneeling but bowing to me. The rejected Luna.
The scentless burden, the weak Omega. Except—The scent pouring from my body was no longer weak.
It flooded the air like wildfire - rice, sweet and overpowering.
Even I could smell it now. It didn't smell like an ordinary Omega - it smelled commanding, ancient and wrong.
The kneeling Alpha lifted his head slowly, golden eyes burning as they locked onto Kael.
"You rejected her," he repeated calmly.
Kael descended the steps, each footfall cracking through the snow like gunfire.
"Stand up," Kael ordered coldly. The stranger did not move.
"I don't repeat myself," Kael warned, aura flaring violently.
Power rolled from him in waves — the Alpha command meant to force submission.
The guards at the door immediately bowed their heads.
Even I felt the pressure pressing against my spine.
But the kneeling Alpha?...
He smiled faintly and remained exactly where he was.
"She is shaking," he said softly, ignoring Kael completely.
And only then did I realize—His hand was hovering near me, not touching nor claiming… just there but protecting.
Kael's face tighten in anger. "She is no longer my responsibility."
The words cut deeper than the rejection itself not my responsibility.
Three years of loyalty, three years of obedience, three years of swallowing humiliation.
Reduced to a discarded obligation. The stranger's eyes darkened.
"Responsibility?" he echoed. He finally stood.
And when he did—The air changed and it broke.
His height alone rivaled Kael's. But it wasn't that. It was the weight of him, the presence and the forest itself recognized him.
"Do you know," the stranger continued quietly, "what you have just thrown away?"
Kael scoffed. "A defective Omega."
The words hit even now, even after everything they still hurt.
The stranger looked down at me.
And something unreadable flickered across his face.
"Defective?" he murmured.
His hand moved closer — and for a split second, his fingers brushed my wrist.
The contact was brief. But—The world exploded.
A pulse of energy surged outward from us like a shockwave.
The snow around us melted instantly.
The guards staggered Karl took a step back.
My breath caught violently in my lungs, pain shot through my chest.
Not pain—Release. My wolf howled inside me not in grief but in awakening.
The stranger inhaled sharply.
Then he whispered something that made Kael's face drain of color.
"She is a Royal."
Cold deadly and heavily Kael laughed. But it sounded forced.
"Impossible. There are no Royal Omegas left."
The stranger's golden eyes never left mine.
"There is one."
My vision blurred again. Royal?…. No, that wasn't possible.
My birth pack never—Unless… Memories surfaced.
The way my mother forbade me from shifting during full moons.
The scent suppression tonic. The secrecy, The warning: Never let anyone smell you.
My knees weakened. The stranger caught me before I could fall.
And this time— He touched me fully.
His arm wrapped around my waist warmly, solid and safe.
The contact sent another pulse through the air.
Kael's eyes snapped to the arm around me.
"Remove your hands," he growled.
The stranger did not even glance at him.
"She is freezing," he said simply. And then—He lifted me as if I weighed nothing.
I gasped weakly, clutching instinctively to his coat.
The scent of him surrounded me. Dark woods, smoke and power.
My body reacted immediately. Heat coiling low embarrassing and uncontrollable.
Kael saw it and jealousy clouded his eyes.
"You forget yourself," Kael snapped. "She is still legally bound to this pack."
The stranger finally looked at him and smiled.
"No," he corrected softly. "You severed the bond."
Kael stepped forward. "You think you can take her from my territory?"
The stranger's expression shifted cold and deadly.
"I don't take what isn't mine." The words hung heavy in the air. "Mine"….
My heart slammed violently that was impossible.
The mate bond had snapped i felt it tear, i felt it dea
So why—Why did something inside me feel… drawn? Not like before, not like with Kael.
This was different stronger.
As if something buried deep within my blood was stirring awake.
Kael's aura flared again, snow swirling violently around him. "Put her down."
The stranger lowered his head slightly, as if amused.
"Make me." He said and tension snapped.
Kael lunged. It happened fast, very fast.
But the stranger moved faster. One second he stood still.
The next—Kael was on his knees in the snow.
Forced there by nothing but presence.
The guards froze in terror, i stared in shock.
Kael struggled violently, veins standing out in his neck.
"What are you?" he snarled.
The stranger leaned closer. Close enough that only Kael could hear.
But I saw his lips move and I saw the fear in Kael's eyes….. "Fear."
From the strongest Alpha in the Northern Territory.
The stranger straightened.
"You will address her as Luna," he said quietly.
Kael spat blood into the snow. "She is nothing."
The stranger's hand tightened around me slightly. Protective and possessive.
"Then kneel," he replied calmly. Kael's body trembled, not from weakness but a forced submission.
Slowly against his will.
Alpha Kael Draven bowed his head to me.
The rejected Omega. The snow felt unreal beneath us.
My mind could barely process what was happening.
The doors of the hall creaked open wider.
Pack members gathered at the entrance were watching and whispering.
The sight burned into my memory: Kael on his knees before me.
For the first time in three years, I felt nothing.
No triumph, no satisfaction just exhaustion.
The stranger looked down at me again.
"Do you wish to stay?" he asked softly.
It was the first time anyone had asked what I wanted in years.
My throat tightened. "Stay?"…. With the pack that laughed when I fell?, With the man who called me defective?
My gaze lifted slowly to Kael.For the first time—I saw desperation flicker in his eyes…. Not love or regret.
He did not want me back.
He just didn't want someone stronger to have me.
That realization shattered something final inside me.
I turned my face into the stranger's coat.
"I have no home here," I whispered. The stranger inhaled slowly.
As if memorizing my scent. "Then you will have one," he replied.
Kael's head snapped up.
"You walk off this territory with her and it will mean war."
The stranger's lips curved slightly. "Then prepare for it."
And then— He stepped backward towards the forest carrying me.
Kael roared behind us. "Seraphine!". He called my name after months of silence. After years of coldness.
He called my name now, i did not turn back.
But just before the trees swallowed us— The stranger paused and his voice dropped low and deadly.
"So you know," he said without looking back.
"You did not reject her."
His golden eyes flashed in the moonlight."She was never yours to begin with."
The words sent ice through my veins. Never yours? What did that mean?
As we disappeared into the forest— A distant howl echoed through the mountains not one wolf.
They were many wolves answering him.
And far behind us—Kael's roar turned into something else not anger or dominance but fear...…