Chapter 1-The Rejection and the Rain

The scent of roasting meat and cheap ale did absolutely nothing to cover up the suffocating stench of Jaxon’s ego.

I stood in the deep shadows of the Great Hall’s heavy stone pillars, keeping my hands folded neatly over my faded canvas apron. To anyone passing by, I was just Aria, the quiet, useless Omega who scrubbed the grease off the kitchen floors and kept her eyes glued to the dust. I was the pack’s ghost, invisible until someone needed a spill wiped up or a boot polished.

Nobody in the Bloodwood pack knew that beneath my submissive posture, my mind was actively calculating. Under my breath, I was busy tracking the pack’s monthly embezzlement margin based on the row of brand new luxury cars parked right outside the hall. A girl has to keep her brain sharp somehow, especially when she is treated like trash.

"Aria."

A soft, weak voice tugged gently at my sleeve, pulling me out of my calculations.

I looked down to see my twelve-year-old brother, Leo. My heart instantly squeezed. His pale face was heavily flushed with a dangerous fever, and his small, fragile frame was shivering violently despite the thick, scratchy wool sweater I had spent three full months of meager kitchen savings to buy him. Leo didn't have a wolf. In a pack like the Bloodwood, lacking a wolf made him less than human. To them, he was just a liability, a useless mouth to feed. To me, he was my entire world.

"Hey," I whispered, kneeling quickly in the dirt so we were eye-to-eye. I pressed the back of my hand to his forehead, and the heat radiating off him made my stomach drop. He was burning up. "What are you doing out of bed, wild card? You are supposed to be resting in the cabin."

"I wanted to see Jaxon's ceremony," Leo mumbled, offering a tired, lopsided smile that broke my heart. "Do you think... do you think once he is officially the Alpha, he will let us use the pack clinic? The medicine we got from the human town isn't working anymore, Aria. It hurts to breathe."

My chest tightened. I knew the truth. Jaxon wouldn't waste a single drop of pack medicine on an Omega's wolfish-less brother.

"He will," I lied smoothly, forcing a warm, reassuring smile as I gently kissed his hot temple. "But right now, you need to sneak back to our cabin. The wind is picking up, and if the head housekeeper sees you wandering around the ceremony, she will make us both do double chores tomorrow. Go on, Leo. I will try to steal some leftover roast chicken from the kitchen and bring it to you."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart. Now move it, kiddo. Stay out of the light."

I watched his small form slip away into the dark, his footsteps heavy and uneven. My chest was tight with an anxiety I couldn't shake. Turning back to the brightly lit stage, I braced myself.

Jaxon stood at the very center of the platform, his broad shoulders practically bursting through his tailored suit jacket. He was handsome in a very loud, obvious way, with thick dark hair and eyes that always looked like they were searching for a mirror to admire themselves.

Suddenly, without warning, my inner wolf sat bolt upright. She let out a low, desperate whine that echoed in my head.

A sudden wave of static electricity zipped violently down my spine. The air in the hall grew thick, tasting sharply of ozone, rain, and fresh cedarwood. My breath hitched in my throat, and my heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.

Mate.

My wolf roared the word in my mind, sending a massive surge of warmth rushing through my veins. I gasped, staring directly at Jaxon. On stage, he stopped mid-sentence during his grand speech. His head snapped around, his dark eyes locking instantly onto mine across the crowded, noisy hall. The sudden, intense bond snapped between us like a physical cord, pulling tight.

He knew. I knew.

For one foolish, incredibly fragile split second, a desperate hope flared in my chest. If I was the Alpha's mate, I would be Luna. I could save Leo. We would finally get to survive. We wouldn't have to freeze in that damp cabin anymore.

Then, Jaxon's gaze turned incredibly cold.

He didn't smile. He didn't look relieved. Instead, his eyes raked over my faded, dirt-smudged clothes, my calloused hands, and my low-ranking Omega posture. Utter disgust twisted his handsome features.

He turned his head slowly, looking at Clara, my stunning stepsister, who was standing right beside him. She was practically dripping in diamonds, her blonde hair perfectly styled. She gave Jaxon a sweet, cat-like smirk, sensing her victory before it was even announced.

Jaxon stepped back up to the gold microphone, his voice booming through the speakers and echoing off the stone walls.

"Pack members," Jaxon announced, his eyes never leaving mine, locking me in a gaze of pure malice. "As your new Alpha, my primary duty is to ensure the strength, purity, and prosperity of Bloodwood. I cannot do that with a weak link dragging us down."

The crowd went dead silent, the festive atmosphere instantly evaporating.

"I, Jaxon Miller, Alpha of the Bloodwood Pack, hereby reject Aria Vance as my fated mate. She is unworthy of the title of Luna, unworthy of my bloodline, and entirely unfit to walk among us as an equal."

Loud gasps rippled through the hall. Clara stepped forward triumphantly, sliding her arm through Jaxon's, her eyes gleaming with wicked satisfaction.

The rejection hit my chest like a physical sledgehammer. I gasped for air, stumbling backward against the cold stone pillar. My wolf wailed inside my mind, curling into a tight ball of pure, agonizing grief. It felt as though my soul was being ripped in half, a burning, searing pain that made my knees buckle and my vision blur with tears.

"However," Jaxon continued, his voice completely void of any remorse, "we do not throw away assets. Aria Vance will remain within the pack borders as a permanent servant under Luna Clara's direct household. Enforcers, secure her."

A permanent servant. A slave.

The fog of pain in my brain instantly cleared, replaced by a cold, sharp survival instinct. They weren't just going to break me. They were going to lock me in a cage, and if they locked me up, Leo would die in that damp cabin without his medicine.

"Like hell you will," I whispered to myself.

Before the heavy-set enforcers could even step off the stage, I spun on my heel and sprinted out into the dark.

The rain started pouring the exact second my boots hit the muddy path leading to our cabin. I burst through the wooden door, panting heavily, my lungs burning from the cold air.

"Leo! Pack your bag! We have to go right now!" I screamed, grabbing an old, frayed duffel bag. I ripped open the lining, shoving Jaxon's stolen emergency cash inside, money I had slowly, meticulously lifted from his office drawer over the past year.

Leo scrambled out of his small bed, his eyes wide with fear. "Aria? What is happening? Why are we running?"

"We are leaving this place. Jaxon is a jerk, and the weather out north is much better anyway," I said, my voice cracking as I forced a breathless, shaky laugh. I threw a heavy, oversized coat over his shivering shoulders. "We are going on an adventure, Leo. Right now. We have to move."

He didn't ask any more questions. He trusted me blindly, his small hand gripping mine as we ran out into the torrential downpour.

We headed straight for the northern boundary, our only hope. The thick mud sucked at our boots, slowing us down with every step. Leo was coughing heavily, his small hand freezing and trembling in mine.

"Just a little further, buddy," I urged, squinting through the dark, blinding rain. "Once we cross the river, we are out of Jaxon’s territory. We will be rogues, Leo. We will finally be free."

A deep, terrifying howling suddenly echoed through the trees behind us. It was close. Too close.

"They are coming!" Leo cried out, his foot slipping on a wet, mossy root. He tumbled hard into the freezing mud, crying out in pain as his ankle twisted beneath him.

"I've got you, I've got you," I gasped, hauling him up onto my back. He was so light, dangerously light. I pushed my legs to move faster, the rain blinding my eyes, the wild thorns tearing at my skin as I ran.

Finally, we reached the edge of the ravine. Below us, the river roared violently, swollen and deadly from the storm. A narrow, rotting wooden bridge was the only way across.

"Stop right there, Omega!"

A harsh, booming voice cut through the sound of the rushing water.

I spun around slowly, keeping Leo safely behind my back. Three massive, dark wolves stepped out of the shadows, shifting back into their human forms. At the front was Beta Marcus, Jaxon's cruel right-hand man, a nasty smile plastered across his face.

"Alpha Jaxon wants you back in the cells, Aria," Marcus sneered, stepping closer. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. You are just a weak Omega. You can't run from us."

"I would rather jump," I spat, my voice dripping with venom.

"Then the boy dies first," Marcus said coldly, nodding to the enforcer on his left.

The man lunged.

Without thinking, I shifted into my small, silver wolf form, throwing my body directly at the enforcer to block him from reaching Leo. I bit down hard on his arm, tasting thick, metallic copper, but he slammed a heavy fist directly into my ribs. A loud, sickening crack echoed through the trees, and I collapsed into the mud, shifting back into my weak human form as I coughed up blood.

"Aria!" Leo screamed in terror.

Marcus grabbed Leo by the collar of his wet sweater, lifting him completely off the ground. Leo thrashed wildly, kicking his legs, but his sickly body was no match for a fully grown, trained werewolf.

"Let him go!" I shrieked, trying to crawl forward through the mud, but my broken ribs pinned me to the earth. "Please! Take me! Do whatever you want to me! Just let him go!"

"Jaxon said we only need you alive," Marcus said with complete indifference. "This useless half-blood is just waste."

Marcus raised a heavy, silver-tipped dagger, the blade catching the flash of lightning above.

"No!" I screamed.

With a sudden, miraculous burst of adrenaline, Leo leaned forward and bit Marcus’s wrist as hard as he could. Marcus roared in pain, dropping the dagger into the mud. Leo scrambled backward, but instead of running toward the bridge, he threw his entire small body against the enforcer pinning me down, knocking the man off balance.

"Run, Aria!" Leo yelled, his voice cracking with the last of his strength.

Before I could reach him, Marcus recovered. His face was distorted in pure, animalistic rage. He lunged forward, his heavy, closed fist striking Leo square in the chest.

The immense force of the blow sent Leo's small body flying backward. He hit the rotting wooden railing of the bridge. The ancient wood snapped instantly.

In agonizing slow motion, I watched my little brother fall into the dark, churning depths of the freezing river below.

"LEO!"

My scream tore from my throat, raw and utterly broken, louder than the thunder crashing above us.

I threw myself toward the edge of the ravine, but the violent river had already swallowed him. There was nothing but black, rushing water.

He was gone. My sweet, gentle little brother was gone.

"Clumsy kid," Marcus muttered, wiping the rain from his face as if it were nothing. "Get the girl. Let's go before we freeze."

Something inside of me snapped. The sudden, crushing grief was so heavy that it completely suffocated the pain of the broken mate-bond, the pain of my broken ribs, and the pain of Jaxon’s rejection. It left behind a cold, hollow, burning vacuum of pure rage.

I looked up at Marcus. If I let them take me now, Leo’s sacrifice was for absolutely nothing.

"I will kill every single one of you," I whispered, my voice chillingly calm, devoid of any fear.

Before their hands could grab me, I stepped backward, off the edge of the ravine, and let myself fall into the freezing, roaring abyss.