I Rejected My Fated Alpha, Reborn Queen

The door swung open. A heady cloud of rose perfume flooded through the gap at once, drowning out the faint, warm scent of burning firewood that had filled the room.Lila stood in the doorway, dressed in a brand-new moon-white silk gown, a delicate tray balanced in her hands. On it sat two slices of golden-baked rye bread and a steaming mug of milk. Her face was split into a flawless, sweet smile, her amber eyes brimming with sisterly concern.“Sister, I was worried you’d wake up late and go hungry, so I went to the kitchens to get you breakfast.” Lila stepped into the room, setting the tray down naturally on the wooden table, one of its corners chipped and worn.Eira leaned against the doorframe, not moving, not speaking.She stared at Lila, her gaze drifting from that guileless face down to her hand, hanging stiffly at her side. Her fingers were white-knuckled around the hem of her skirt, crumpling the smooth silk into deep, unforgiving creases.It was a habit Lila had carried since

South of Silver Moon City, at the Black Rock Clan’s outpost.The heavy oak doors were slammed open with brutal force, a frigid wind carrying shards of ice surging into the spacious hall. Two rows of fully armed Black Rock guards stood rigidly at attention, but the second they saw who had entered, every single one of them instinctively held their breath. Not a soul dared make a sound, their gazes locked rigidly to the floor before their feet.Kaelen strode across the threshold. The hem of his solid black leather trench coat swirled behind him, trailing a frigid wind thick with bloodlust. He marched straight to the wide throne carved from a single slab of volcanic rock at the far end of the hall, turned, and sat down.Not a single unnecessary sound escaped him through the entire motion, yet the silence itself hung over the hall like a suffocating, terrifying weight.Bruno followed close behind, closing the doors behind him with a soft click. He glanced at his Alpha’s face, dark with a r

Midday on the third day. Over the central marketplace of Silver Moon City, the sun was blotted out by heavy, roiling clouds, the air thick with cloying, humid heat.It was the busiest quarter of the city, and the place where gossip spread faster than wildfire.Eira, dressed in a simple grey linen gown and carrying a wicker basket of medicinal herbs, had barely stepped into the market street when the raucous cries of the vendors dropped off, eerily quiet.Dozens of eyes fixed on her, clinging like sticky cobwebs to her every move.“That’s her. Heard she lost her mind after the ceremony, snapped from the shock.”“Snapped? I heard from the outpost that after Lord Kaelen rejected her, she’s been colluding with the Dark Blood Clan to get revenge on Black Rock!”“How is this shameless woman still in the clan? She’s a stain on the Moon Goddess’s glory!”Hushed, vicious whispers drifted to Eira’s ears from behind stalls on every side.Eira paused at a stall selling moonfruit, reaching out to pi

It was the night of the full moon.On the banks of Moon Lake, on the outskirts of Silver Moon City, silver moonlight draped the still waters like gossamer. The surrounding reed beds rustled softly in the night wind.Eira sat cross-legged on a flat bluestone boulder.She wore a thin white robe, her hands resting palm-up on her knees. In her left hand lay the silver medallion she’d unearthed from the wooden chest beneath her bed.Three days had passed since the Coming-of-Age Ceremony. She knew full well that after she’d torn up the fated bond in front of the entire continent, and exposed Lila’s true colors in the marketplace, the elders of the Silver Moon Clan would never let her be.She had to break the seals within her body before the clan made its move.Eira closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath, and began to guide the faint moonlight energy radiating from the medallion. It flowed along the meridians in her arm, gathering slowly, inch by inch, toward her heart.The seat of her wo

Early morning of the sixth day, the central square of Silver Moon City was shrouded in a thick, clammy fog.The registration booth for the Continent-Wide Young Warriors Tournament was set up beneath the towering War God Statue at the very heart of the square. Four long tables, hewn from solid black ironwood, were arranged in a neat row, with eight joint examiners from the four great clans seated behind them. The square was packed with young werewolves who’d come to sign up, the air thick with the acrid stench of sweat, cheap tobacco, and raucous, vulgar jeers.Eira wore her faded grey linen gown, covered by a coarse wool cloak with its hood pulled low over her face. Serena walked at her side, her signature pale green leather armor standing out starkly against the sea of burly, rough-hewn men clad in drab grey and black hides.Ahead of them in line, every single one of the waiting warriors was a man standing well over six and a half feet tall, their bulging muscles straining against th