Chapter 001: Rejected.

Kiara.

I woke up in a room I’d never seen in my life. The lights were way too bright that my eyes stung like I’d been dragged out of sleep by force and not by my choice.

I bolted upright too fast which caused my whole head to spin and the blanket on me to slip off slipped—

I froze.

I was naked.

Stark freaking naked.

I couldn’t even scream. My breath choked itself before it could make a sound. I grabbed the robe at the edge of the bed like my life depended on it and yanked it over my skin hoping it could erase everything, or something?

What the hell?

What the actual hell?

Only after I covered myself did I see them.

Two men. One on either side of the bed. Watching me with smirks on their faces.

It was as if they’d been waiting. Almost like they’d already seen it all.

“Who… how…” Heck, my voice didn’t even sound like me.

The last thing I remembered—no. I had to focus. The last thing was drinks. Just drinks. At the bar. With my sister. That’s all it was. Just one glass. I only had one.

I felt dizzy almost immediately and now—

Now I was here.

Naked. In bed. With strangers.

With no memory about what had happened or how I even got here.

Something was wrong. No, everything was wrong. Nothing about this made sense.

I tried to remember what happened after I stood from the barstool. I tried so hard to chase any thought, any second of memory that could lead me to this room but there was absolutely nothing.

I couldn’t remember anything.

I pinched my arm, hard. I wanted it to be a dream.

But the pain was sharp and very real. This is so not a dream.

“You enjoyed it, didn’t you?” one of them said.

And then he laughed. Loud, obnoxious, rocking back and forth like it was a goddamn joke. Like I was the joke.

Like I asked for this.

My stomach twisted. My chest felt like it was caving in.

“Who the hell are you?” I asked. But my voice wasn’t strong, not really.

It was scared.

I was scared.

I could barely stay upright. But I kept trying to think. Something had to connect. Maybe I left the bar with someone? Maybe I walked out? Maybe I made a mistake?

But there was nothing.

No faces. No streets. No scent trails. Just this room and this headache and my skin crawling.

And I was supposed to be getting married soon.

My wedding was coming up.

And I was in bed with two men.

“What the heck did you do to me?” I said, my voice rising now. I tried to push away, to move back, to get out—

But then a hand touched my shoulder, it was ice-cold and it shoved me back down like I was nothing.

And I didn’t fight it.

Because I couldn’t.

I should’ve been able to shift, claw, scream, rip them apart.

But it felt like my wolf was gone or silenced. Like someone had turned off a switch.

I couldn’t feel her. I felt nothing.

I was empty and weak.

I had to have been drugged. I just had to be.

“Did… did you touch me?” I asked.

My voice cracked, but I asked again anyway. “Did you?”

I didn’t think they had. But what if I was wrong? What if I just didn’t feel it yet?

“What do you think?” Blondie said, and he was still smiling. Still laughing.

I wanted to rip it off his face. I hated him. I hated both of them.

“Let me go!” I snapped, trying to rip my hand back as he grabbed it too tight, like he wanted me to scream.

His grip was rough but it wasn’t the pain that shook me.

It was his eyes. They weren’t right.

They weren’t wolf like . They were empty and Soulless.

Just then we heard the Knock knock sound and we all froze.

My heart stopped.

And then there was another knock.

The two of them looked at the door like it wasn’t supposed to happen. Like whoever was out there had ruined their plan.

Soon, the sound of something started jingling. Keys.

It clinked and clinked then it was the sound of the it turning the door knob.

Soon enough, the door flew open.

And Chase stood there.

Everything inside me dropped.

He was standing right there. One hand on the doorknob. The other frozen midair like he was about to grab something, do something—like he hadn’t expected this either.

His eyes moved.

They saw me.

And then the rest of the persons in the room.

And he didn’t say a word. But he didn’t have to.

His growl made the walls vibrate.

His eyes went red. Alpha red.

And just like that, the two guys were on their knees, heads lowered, shaking.

The weight of his fury hit them like a wave.

I’d never seen him like this.

I’d never seen him look at anyone like this.

And it was because of me.

“Chase… no,” I whispered. I didn’t even know what I meant by that.

He didn’t look at me.

He didn’t move toward me.

He only spoke in a scarily calm and cold tone.

“Leave the room now, Kiara.”

It wasn’t a request. It was a warning.

And I knew what would happen if I walked away.

It’d be over. There would be no explanation. No fixing it, this.

“I don’t want to,” I said. My voice shook. “Let me explain myself, Chase. Please.”

“I want you to go,” he said again. This time with something dark in his voice. “Because I fear you will hate seeing what I’m about to do here.”

He meant it. He was seconds away from killing them.

I shook my head.

“I can’t let you taint yourself like this, Chase,” I said, even though my throat was dry. “Please.”

He still wouldn’t look at me. His eyes were on them. Locked.

“You didn’t think you’d get away with this?” he said.

His voice was quieter now. Which made it worse.

“You didn’t think there’d be consequences?”

The blond one stammered. “She asked us to accompany her. She said she was lonely. Seduced us and—”

“That’s a lie!” I snapped, my hands grabbing the sheets like I could tear through the truth.

Chase’s eyes finally turned to me.

“You are pitiable, Kiara.”

Each word landed like a blow.

“You’re naked in a room with wolves and you think you still have the guts to tell me you can explain?”

“I wasn’t… I’m not—”

My voice didn’t work. Nothing came out right.

Why couldn’t I speak? Why now? Why did every word feel stuck in my throat?

“Chase…”

He looked at me. And what I saw there—

Red.

Pain.

Rage.

The kind of rage that could destroy everything.

And then he lunged.

He grabbed the blond guy by the throat with one hand and lifted him like he was nothing.

The other guy didn’t even breathe.

“An Omega?” Chase growled. His voice was filled with pure disgust. “This is what you fall for? This is what you risk everything for?”

His grip tightened.

The guy turned red and started struggling.

Just then, Chase stopped.

He let him go. Not because he forgave.

But because he seemed to remember who he was.

The Alpha. The Leader. Not a killer.

“Get out before I snap your necks in two,” he snarled.

They immediately ran, leaving no room for any form of hesitation.

And now it was just us. Alone.

I stood there, robe clutched around me.

I wanted to explain. I needed to.

“Nothing happened,” I said. “Chase, I swear—nothing happened.”

There was no response.

I moved closer and reached for him.

My hand touched his shoulder and he immediately flinched. Recoiled even, like I was dirt.

He finally turned to face me, even though it seemed like it took every of his willpower to do that.

His eyes were unreadable now.

“I don’t want you anywhere near me,” he said.

Even then, his voice had that Alpha edge. Even though it was soft, it stung a lot.

“Chase, this isn’t what it looks like.”

I was pleading now. It was pathetic, but I didn’t care.

“I, Chase Knight, Alpha of the Valley Pack…”

He said it like a final sentence.

“…reject you, Kiara Farkas, as my mate and future Luna.”