I Reject You, Alpha

(Clara's POV)"Are you sure you want to burn all of this? Miss Clara, these are worth at least a billion dollars!" The servant gasped.I didn't even blink. I tossed the ruby necklace encrusted with diamonds straight into the roaring flames.Every single piece was a gift from Damien—Alpha of the Black Moon Pack.Three years ago, I was nothing but a worthless Omega, seconds away from being torn apart by rogues. He was the one who saved me, dragging me from their jaws and bringing me back to the pack. He gave me a second life, taught me how to fight, and even handed me the most critical management responsibilities in the entire pack.Everyone envied my place at his side. But what they didn't know was that I wasn't just his subordinate—I was the true mate chosen for him by the Moon Goddess herself.Because of my lowly Omega status, he'd kept putting off the mating ceremony.I told myself it was only temporary. I told myself that if I proved my worth, he would eventually take my hand and an

(Clara's POV)"The Hunt. Win The Hunt, and I'll let you go." Damien's voice was offhand, as if he was certain I wouldn't dare accept.The Hunt—the pack's oldest tradition. Once a year, contestants survived three days and three nights in the Northern Wastes, hunted assigned prey, and returned alive with a trophy.The victor could make one request of the Alpha that could not be refused. It was pack law—ironclad.Over the years, countless top-tier warriors had died in The Hunt. An Omega entering was, in everyone's eyes, suicide.He was deliberately setting an impossible condition. He wanted me to back down and stay—his obedient little pet."Deal." I didn't hesitate.Damien's expression shifted instantly, shock flickering across his features.But he buried it just as fast, grinding out a single cold word: "Deal."At that moment, Wendy descended the stairs and threaded her arm through Damien's."Perfect timing." Damien glanced at me. "Allow me to make proper introductions. Wendy, this is Cl

(Clara's POV)I knew the weight of that notebook.Damien had inherited it from his father—the pack's silver mine locations, the Elder Council's cipher codes, the rotation passwords for the northern defense line. All of it in one palm-sized leather journal. In the entire Black Moon Pack, no one besides Damien himself had ever touched that notebook.Except me.Two years ago, I'd accidentally lost it during a blizzard. I went insane, crawling through the snow inch by inch.My fingers went numb. My knees cracked against ice until they bled. I called Damien sobbing: "I'll find it. I swear I'll find it."He could have sent someone. He could have screamed at me and dispatched a search team. But he didn't.He walked two miles through the blizzard alone, found me, and crawled through the snow beside me all night. Just before dawn, he discovered the notebook wedged beneath a dead tree root. He handed it back to me without a word.It was the one thing he'd only ever entrust to family.And now I w

(Clara's POV)"Just got here," I said.Wendy straightened from Damien's embrace, wiping the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand—deliberately making sure I could see her swollen lips."Oh, Clara." She smoothed her hair and glanced at Damien, then back at me with a small, apologetic smile. "I should have closed the door. I didn't want anyone to see Damien looking so vulnerable — he hates that, you know."My face showed nothing. I turned to leave."Wait." Wendy stopped me. Her voice softened even further. " Clara, this is awkward, but…Didn't Damien give you a ring before? A Luna ring?"My feet stopped.That ring. Engraved with Black Moon's wolf-head crest. On the inside band, in Damien's own hand: "Under the same moon."When he'd given it to me, he'd said: "There's only one Luna ring. Once it's on, don't take it off." That was two years ago. I'd worn it every single day since—through showers, through sleep, through combat training."I noticed it the first day I arrived, actually

(Clara's POV)The hellhound startled at the sound. Its head snapped up, nostrils flaring twice as it scented the air.Then it bolted in the opposite direction and vanished into the dense trees within seconds.The Alpha's scent. The hellhound had sensed Damien and fled.I closed my eyes and swallowed the string of profanity rising in my throat. Hellhounds were rare. A perfect ambush opportunity like that was once in a lifetime."Clara?" Wendy's voice came from behind me, bright with surprise. "You're here too! Oh, good — I was just worrying you might be scared all by yourself."I stood up from behind the bushes and brushed the mud off my knees. "I'm hunting."Wendy hurried over, her face a picture of genuine concern. "All alone? These woods are so dangerous… I heard something moving earlier, and my heart's been in my throat ever since." She reached out and clasped my hand, her fingers warm, her tone tinged with embarrassment. "Did we interrupt you? I'm really sorry."I pulled my hand fr