Rejected

The laughter started before I even stepped into the hall.

I heard it through the heavy wooden doors of the Crescent Night packhouse—low whispers first, then sharp giggles that sliced through the air like blades. My hand froze on the iron handle.

They already knew.

Of course they did. In Crescent Night, nothing stayed secret for long—especially not something as humiliating as this.

I pushed the door open anyway.

Warm light flooded my eyes, lanterns hanging from dark beams above the great hall. Wolves filled the room, their scents heavy in the air—pine, smoke, sweat, power. Music played softly in the background, but the moment I entered, it faltered.

Dozens of heads turned.

And the whispers grew louder.

“There she is.”

“The wolfless girl.”

“I heard the Moon Goddess made a mistake.”

“Alpha Kael must be furious.”

My chest tightened, but I forced myself to keep walking.

I had known this day would come.

Since I turned eighteen without shifting, I had lived under the weight of their pity. No wolf meant no rank, no power, no place in a pack built on strength. I was tolerated only because my father had once been a respected Beta.

Once.

Now he couldn’t even meet my eyes.

The pack gathered tonight for the **Full Moon Ceremony**, the night when mates were revealed. Most wolves celebrated it.

For me, it was a public execution.

Because the Moon Goddess had chosen a mate for Alpha Kael.

And somehow… impossibly…

It was me.

I felt him before I saw him.

His presence crushed the air itself—an Alpha’s aura, raw and suffocating. Wolves instinctively stepped aside as I moved deeper into the hall, creating a path straight toward the raised platform at the front.

Where **he** stood.

Alpha Kael.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dark hair falling carelessly over sharp eyes that held no warmth tonight. He looked carved from stone, dressed in black, power radiating from him like heat from a flame.

Beside him stood the Elders.

Waiting.

Judging.

The moment our eyes met, something twisted painfully inside my chest.

The mate bond.

It burned through me like fire.

My knees nearly buckled from the force of it.

A murmur rippled through the crowd as the Elders raised their hands toward the moonlight streaming through the open ceiling.

“Moon Goddess,” the eldest spoke. “Reveal the fated pair chosen under your light.”

The silver glow intensified.

My heart pounded.

Please… I begged silently.

Please let this be wrong.

But the light shifted.

And settled on me.

Gasps exploded across the hall.

“She’s the mate?”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“A wolfless omega with the Alpha?”

My throat went dry.

The bond surged stronger, dragging my gaze back to Kael.

For one brief moment… something flickered in his eyes.

Shock.

Then it vanished.

Replaced with something far colder.

Disgust.

He stepped forward slowly, his boots echoing across the hall until he stood directly in front of me.

Every wolf watched.

My hands trembled.

“Alpha…” I whispered.

The bond screamed for me to kneel.

Instead, I forced myself to meet his eyes.

His voice cut through the hall like a blade.

A few wolves laughed nervously.

I felt the humiliation burn across my skin.

Kael’s gaze swept over me—taking in my plain dress, my lowered shoulders, the truth everyone already knew.

No wolf.

No power.

Nothing worthy of an Alpha.

His lip curled slightly.

“This is a mistake.”

The words landed harder than a physical blow.

One of the Elders cleared his throat nervously. “Alpha, the Moon Goddess does not make—”

“I **reject** her.”

The hall fell into stunned silence.

My heart stopped.

Rejection.

He said it so easily.

So publicly.

Kael’s voice rose, carrying through every corner of the packhouse.

“I, Alpha Kael of Crescent Night, reject Liora as my mate.”

The bond snapped violently inside my chest.

Pain exploded through me.

I gasped, collapsing to my knees as the force ripped through my body like lightning. Wolves around me stepped back quickly, afraid to touch the aftermath of an Alpha’s rejection.

My vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall.

Above me, Kael didn’t move.

Didn’t hesitate.

Didn’t care.

“You are wolfless,” he said coldly. “Weak. Unfit to stand beside an Alpha.”

Another wave of whispers surged through the crowd.

“She deserved it.”

“Poor thing.”

“No Alpha would want that.”

My fingers dug into the stone floor as humiliation crushed the air from my lungs.

Kael turned away as if I no longer existed.

The bond still burned—broken, jagged, tearing through my chest with every breath.

For him, this was just a mistake corrected.

For me…

It felt like my heart had been ripped out under the full moon.

And the worst part?

The Moon Goddess remained silent.

Just like always.