REJECTED BY THE ALPHA : CLAIMED BY THE CROWN

ISABELLA'S POV

“I swear, if Nyra talks about her skin care  for one more second, I’m going to have to start stabbing myself in the leg with a fork,” I said with a playful smile. “Just for something to do.”

The evening air was a nice change from the stuffy pack meeting we’d just escaped. My best friend, Mira, looped her arm through mine as we walked with our footsteps echoing on the quiet street.

Mira laughed at my words. 

“You’re so dramatic, it wasn’t that...”

Her sentence was cut off by a sharp whistle through the calm from across the street. We both ignored it.. it was basically background music.

“Hey now! Damn, sweetheart,” a guy’s voice called out. “You can’t just walk around looking like that.... It’s a public hazard.”

I kept my eyes straight ahead, my expression remained flat, Mira, however, squeezed my arm, a smirk in her voice. 

“And the crowd goes wild for Isabella Lockhart, ladies and gentlemen, another victim claimed by the killer curves!”

I rolled my eyes so hard that I almost saw my own brain. 

“Oh, please, shut up.”

“I’m just saying, it’s a scientific fact. Your body is a perfectly calibrated man-trap. Click, whirr, snap. They don’t stand a chance!”

“Yeah, a man-trap that’s been closed and collecting dust for five years, and it has an ‘Off-Limits’ sign that says ‘I’m married,’ in case you forgot,” I shot back.

The words were automatic.. a shield I've been carrying for a while but on the inside, they left a bitter taste in my mouth. 

Married.. I had married Klaus Lockhart because I was stupidly completely head-over-heels in love with the guy and I thought he felt the same. I dreamed of a life together, a family, and for a little while, it was perfect. Then I got pregnant with Liam.

Something in him just… switched off. The warmth vanished, replaced by this polite, icy distance. I told myself it was stress, new father jitters. I thought once Liam was born, once he held his son, things would go back to the way they were.

I was a world-class idiot.

Liam is five now... a funny bright little kid who asked where his daddy’s smiles were, and Klaus? He was colder than a winter frost.

The guy from across the street decided to ramp up his efforts, jogging over to our side. 

“Hey, come on, don’t be like that, I just want to talk to a pretty girl... What’s your name, gorgeous?”

Mira, who knew my whole story because she’s my person and you tell your person these things, leaned her head on my shoulder and her teasing faded into sympathy. 

“I’m sorry, Iz, I shouldn’t joke. It’s just… it’s so obvious he’s an idiot. You know some of the girls at the salon think he has someone on the side?”

I shook my head, watching my boots on the pavement. 

“Nah, I don’t think so, he’s just… Klaus.... He’s married to the pack. He doesn’t have the time or the energy for an affair.” 

It was the story I told myself to make the loneliness hurt less, if it was just work, it wasn’t another woman.... It wasn’t me.

The guy finally got right in front of us, blocking our path with a cocky grin. 

“Alright, the silent treatment? I like a challenge, how about you and I...”

His eyes finally focused past the streetlights and the flirty haze, landing squarely on my face. 

The grin melted off his like someone had set it on fire, his skin went pale, and his bravado vanishing in a single sharp gasp.

“Oh, moon goddess, Luna Isabella!” He stammered, taking two hurried steps back and practically bowing. “I am so sorry! I didn’t... I didn’t recognize you from over there! Please, forgive me!”

I just waved a hand, too tired to even be annoyed. 

“Just keep walking.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He scurried away like his pants were on fire. Mira and I looked at each other and a moment later, we were both laughing.

“See?” She giggled. “Even they know that they’re unworthy, after all Luna's aura is too powerful.”

We reached my street corner and she pulled me into a tight hug. 

“Call me tomorrow, okay? Don’t let the iceman get you down.”

“I won’t... Good Night, Mira.” I watched her turn and walk back the way we came, her figure getting smaller under the lamplight.

The two guards at the doors of the pack house gave me a subtle respectful nod as I approached. I offered a small smile in return and slipped inside. The grand foyer was quiet, almost too quiet.

My heels clicked on the floor and the urge was a stupid ancient habit.. a little kernel of hope that never seemed to die no matter how many times it was stomped on. I took a breath to call out, to say, ‘Honey, I’m home!’

The words dried up in my throat dead before they even became a sound.. because I heard it.

A rhythmic creaking from upstairs and then a moan and a deep masculine groan I knew all too well. My heart didn’t just sink. It plummeted through the floor and kept going.

No. No, no, no…. You’re hearing things... You’re just tired…

I stood frozen at the bottom of the staircase, my hand gripping the banister. Then her voice came through the silence, sharp and clear.

“Yes! Oh, yes! Fuck me harder! Come on, daddy, harder!”

The world tilted, my heart was pounding against my ribs so loud I was sure they could hear it upstairs. 

My body moved without my brain telling it to. I was up the stairs, my breathing shallow, each step feeling like I was wading through mud.

The door to our bedroom... my bedroom... was slightly open. A sliver of light spilled onto the dark hallway floor and the sounds were louder now, obscene and unmistakable.

I didn’t think much, I just pushed and the door swung open silently.

And there they were.. in our bed. Klaus, my mate, my husband, his powerful body moving with a passion I hadn’t seen from him in years. Underneath him, a woman with her head thrown back in pleasure.

They didn’t stop immediately, they were so lost in it. It was Klaus who noticed me first. He looked over his shoulder and his face didn’t show shock or guilt. It was just… annoyance like I was a fly buzzing around his dinner..!

The woman beneath him giggled, pushing at his chest. 

“We’ve got company, alpha.”

They finally stilled. Klaus got off her with a sigh of irritation, grabbing a robe from the foot of the bed and tossing it to her before wrapping one around himself. As she sat up, pulling the robes around her shoulders, the light finally hit her face.

Alice Morningstar…!

My stomach twisted into a nauseous knot. Alice. The pack’s favorite cum bucket! Well, not for everyone.. just for the high-ranking Alphas and Betas who wanted a no-strings-attached good fuck time. She was famous for it.. a professional seductress.

Tears welled in my eyes, hot and humiliating. I couldn’t stop them. 

“Klaus?” My voice was a broken whisper. “How… how could you?”

Alice laughed in a light tinkling sound that grated on my nerves. 

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Isabella. It’s just a bit of fun. You weren’t around.”

I ignored her, my eyes locked on my husband. 

“In our bed, Klaus? How could you? And so loudly! What if Liam had heard? What if our son had walked in?”

The thought of my little boy hearing this filth sent a new wave of horror through me.

Alice laughed again but this time it was colder and sharper. 

“What son?”

It was such a weird cruel thing to say. Almost as if she’d summoned him, a small figure appeared in the doorway behind me, padding softly into the room in his dinosaur pajamas.

Liam.

He walked right past my legs, his little face strangely calm, his eyes a little glazed like he was sleepwalking. He didn’t look at me and he didn’t look at his father.

He went straight to Alice, who opened her arms with a sickly-sweet smile. He hugged her, burying his face in her robe and then he looked up at her, his voice clear and sure and utterly, chillingly creepy.

“You’re my mommy…”