LOGINShare
CHAPTER 27
publish date:
2026-03-04 20:01:15
Latest chapter
THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 46
Noah’s POVThe smell of the Council Chamber always reminded me of a funeral, old wood, cold stone, and the suffocating scent of jasmine that had been bred to mask the smell of rot. I sat at the head of the mahogany table, my hands clasped tightly in front of me, trying to ignore the way my palms were sweating against the polished grain.To my right sat my father, a silent monolith of disapproval. To my left, the twelve Elders of the Southern High Houses were arranged like a row of vultures on a fence, their eyes sharp and unkind. They weren't here to celebrate my announcement, they were here to perform an autopsy on my authority."A secretary, Noah?" Elder Vane’s voice was like dry parchment rubbing together. He leaned forward, the emerald signet on his finger catching the dim light of the overhead chandeliers. "You expect us to sanction the elevation of a common clerk to the position of Luna? The Thorne bloodline is not a playground for your mid-day dalliances.""It is a strategic
THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 45
Marie’s POV "I don't care what the Council says!"The words didn't come out as a shout. They were a low-frequency vibration, a guttural rasp that seemed to rattle the very marrow in my bones. Noah stood by the massive hearth, his fingers gripped so tightly around the edge of the stone mantel that a spiderweb of cracks began to bloom beneath his touch. He didn't look like the composed, glacial ruler who had offered me sanctuary, he looked like a primordial force of nature that had finally found its breaking point."Noah, listen to yourself!" I cried, my voice cracking against the brittle silence of the room. I stepped toward him, my boots clicking sharply on the rug, my hands balled into trembling fists. "You are talking about an unprovoked breach of a sovereign border. If you go down there, if you pay this surprise visit, while the High Houses are already looking for an excuse to dismantle your authority, you aren't just protecting me. You are handing them the matches to burn this
THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 44
Noah’s POVThe sun rose over the Southern District not as a herald of a new era, but as a pale, sickly eye peering through a haze of humidity. I stood on the elevated marble dais of the estate’s grand plaza, the weight of the traditional Alpha mantle, heavy with gold thread and the scent of cedar feeling like a leaden shroud across my shoulders.Below me, the sea of faces was a tapestry of suppressed judgment. The heads of the lesser houses were there, their silks shimmering in the heat, along with the district’s elite and the swarm of press cameras that hummed like metallic insects. Usually, a Thorne announcement was met with a roar of anticipation, a vibrating energy of power. Today, the air was flat. It tasted of dust and defeat.My father stood three paces to my right. He was a statue carved from obsidian, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression so stoic it bordered on the inhuman. He didn't look at the crowd, he looked through them, as if he were already presiding over
THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 43
Marie’s POVThe air in the Northern citadel had changed. The oppressive, freezing weight that had sat on my chest since Noah’s letter arrived had lifted, replaced by a strange, humming stillness. I was sitting by the hearth in my chambers, the firelight dancing off the heavy velvet of my skirts, trying to make sense of the silence. For days, the castle had been a drum of war, boots echoing on stone, the metallic ring of whetstones against steel, and the low, terrifying vibration of Astance’s fury.Now, there was only the crackle of cedar logs.The heavy oak door groaned open. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. The temperature in the room dipped just enough to make the flames flicker, a silent announcement of the Archon’s presence.Astance stepped into the firelight, his silver-grey cloak sweeping behind him like the wings of a predatory bird. Kaelen followed a step behind, that maddening, sharp-edged smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.I stood up, my hands kno
THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 42
Astance’s POVThe scent of old parchment and cold stone usually calmed me, but tonight, the study felt like a pressure cooker. I had maps of the Southern border spread across my desk, weighted down by daggers and obsidian stones. My mind was a chaotic grid of supply lines, flank manoeuvres, and high-altitude strike points. I was ready to burn it all. For Marie. For the insult to my house. For the sheer, unadulterated arrogance of a man who thought he could reach into my mountains and pull a leash.The heavy doors creaked open. I didn't look up, my fingers tracing a jagged ridge on the topographical map. "I told you I didn't want to be disturbed unless the Southern militants had crossed the treeline, Kaelen.""Then it’s a good thing I’m here to disturb you for an entirely different reason," Kaelen’s voice rang out.There was something wrong with his tone. It wasn't the clipped, soldierly cadence he’d carried since the letter arrived. It was light. I looked up, my eyebrows furrowing i
THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 41
Noah’s POVThe walk from my shattered glass villa to the Patriarch’s wing of the estate felt like a march to the gallows. Every footstep on the manicured gravel sounded like a bone snapping. The Southern air, usually so warm and inviting, felt like a humid shroud. I could still feel the phantom grip of Solara’s power on my throat, and the ringing in my ears wasn't just from the glass he’d shattered, it was the sound of my life collapsing.I had lost.The realization sat in my stomach like lead. Marie was gone. The silver mines were safe from Solara, but I was no longer safe from my father.I pushed open the heavy oak doors of the main study. My father was standing by the fireplace, his back to me, staring at a portrait of our ancestors, men who had conquered the marshes with blood and iron. He didn't turn when I entered. The silence was so heavy I could hear the crackle of the embers dying in the hearth."Solara left," I said, my voice sounding hollow, stripped of the Alpha’s timber
THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 19
Astance’s POVThe hallway didn’t just grow quiet, it died.Every step I took toward Noah felt like the grinding of tectonic plates. I could feel the heat radiating off my skin, a physical manifestation of the black, oily rage that had been brewing in my chest since I saw the blood on Marie’s temple
Last Updated : 2026-03-23THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 20
Marie’s PovThe door to Room 412 might as well have been a vault made of reinforced titanium. Even through the heavy wood and the hiss of the hospital’s ventilation, I could sense him. The air in my room had changed, it had become charged, thick with the scent of cedarwood, rain, and the lingering,
Last Updated : 2026-03-23THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 14
Valerie’s POVThe silence that followed Astance’s departure was more deafening than the roar of the engines in the parking lot. I watched from the shadows of the hospital room as the black SUVs, the only wall standing between us and a shallow grave began to peel away, one by one. The silver crests
Last Updated : 2026-03-20THE REJECTED BETA CHAPTER 13
Astance’s POVI felt a small, involuntary smile crack the mask I had spent all morning carving into my face. It was a muscle memory I thought I had purged, a reflex triggered by the sharp, indignant bite in her voice. Even when she was broken, even with blood matting her hair and a soul-deep ache i
Last Updated : 2026-03-20
You may also like
IN THE ARMS OF MY ALPHA
Cassandra M671.7K viewsMated in the Shadow of My Sister
Lady Gwen1.3M viewsTHE BETA AND I
Cassandra M505.7K viewsThe Lycan Princess and the Temptation of Sin
Moonlight Muse623.5K viewsShe Belongs to the Gammas
R. F. Ewele259 viewsTHE ALPHA'S SACRIFICIAL MATE
Clar_issa52 viewsThe Pack's Hacker
Cooper20.6K viewsThe Alpha’s substitute mate
Andrea Jason 451 views
