THE ROGUE KING'S SUBSTITUTE QUEEN

Cassia’s POV

“....till death do us part, to love and to cherish you forever,” I said to myself, rehearsing my line over and over again, picturing the moment Talon my mate and soon-to-be Alpha of Glowridge pack will say his vows to me and I will say same to him marking me as his mate.

I smiled to myself and read the vows silently to myself one last time.

I had been waiting for this day my whole life. I had pictured it, imagined it, and planned it in every detail.

This beautiful moment was supposed to be the day I would marry my mate, Talon. I couldn't wait to see the joy and admiration in his eyes as he saw me walking up to him and the members of the pack flanking on both sides.

We had been best friends since eight then when I turned sixteen he asked me to be his girlfriend. At eighteen when my bullies realized I didn't have my wolf they hated me and treated me like trash. But Talon had told me that it doesn't matter and today I would be his mate and Luna of Glowridge pack.

The excitement washing inside me was too much for me to handle. My heart fluttered in my chest as I slipped into the white dress, a gown that sparkled in the light, every stone and detail precisely chosen, every inch of it perfect.

It felt more like a dream but this was reality. Jasmine was supposed to help me with my makeup but maybe she was too excited to see me leave because she had joined the decorating committee in the hall.

Jasmine, my step-sister, and I didn't get along, but now the happiness in her eyes was genuine, and I was grateful we had finally been best friends.

I was ready.

Ready to become Talon’s mate in front of the pack, in front of everyone. The moment had eventually come, and now, no more hatred and Talon would love me exceptionally.

But when I walked into the grand hall where the marriage was supposed to take place, everything changed. My heart stopped, the floor was dancing underneath my legs and I almost passed out.

I stopped in my tracks.

The room was filled with people, all of them gathered for the marriage but it wasn’t mine.

Not for my marriage but for—

It couldn’t be.

Tears clouded my vision and rolled down my cheeks.

Talon stood there, tall and handsome, on the balcony, but he wasn't alone; his eyes were locked on someone else.

Jasmine. My step-sister.

I froze.

My heart dropped to my stomach and I swallowed the bile that formed around my throat.

The knots in my chest tightened with every step I took forward.

Was I dreaming?

What was happening?

Was this a kind of joke?

I blinked my eyes and pinched myself several times.

I realized it was real.

My breath caught and I couldn't speak as my mouth had suddenly become dry, and I tasted the saltiness of my tears.

“Cassia, what are you doing here?” Jasmine’s voice cut through the shock in my mind, filled with mockery. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said and everyone turned to look at me. “Darling, who invited her?”

Darling?

Did she just call him that?

I turned to Talon and he looked at me coldly like I was dirt beneath his fingers.

My mind was fighting, trying to make sense of what was happening. I had been so certain of Talon’s love for me until now.

The words eventually came, but they didn’t feel real.

“Talon. What's this? What’s going on? ” my voice was hoarse, filled with pain as they darted to Jasmine and Talon.

I took in his facial features. This was the face of the man I thought I knew. I stared at him with pleading eyes, hoping his gaze would soften, but it didn’t.

He didn’t even show the smallest trace of remorse, rather, it was as cold as the gravestone of my late mother.

“Cassia, I can't pretend that this isn't real.” He began. “You know this pack is known to be the strongest and everyone demands something better from me. Besides Jasmine here is already carrying the heir to this pack.”

“Pregnant? That's impossible.” I rebelled.

My heart felt like it was being ripped from my chest. The words soaked in, each one a blow, each one wringing deeper into my soul.

“So I have come to the conclusion that I can't have you as my mate. You are an omega.” He said casually.

I shook my head, my voice filled with hopelessness. “Please, Talon. Please. You can’t be serious. I’m your mate. We’ve always been — ”

“No,” he interrupted, his tone harsh, final. “You are wolfless.”

The word hit me like a brick. Wolf-less?

I had lost my wolf as a child because of him. It was the incident that no one talked about — the incident where we had both been children, playing in the woods, when rogue wolves attacked us, and I had to save him, losing my wolf in the process.

But no one knew that.

No one but me, and Talon. And now, he was using it against me?

Tears welled in my eyes. “You know what happened. I don't deserve to be treated like this.”

He turned down, ignoring me fully, and his attention shifted to Jasmine, the woman who stood at his side now. She smiled, her eyes flashing with something dark and victorious.

“I’m sorry, Cassia, ” he murmured, slightly looking at me, “ But Jasmine is my true mate. I’ve always loved her. Therefore, I, Talon Malcolm, reject you as my mate.”

My world shattered.

Everything I thought I knew about love, about trust, crashed before me.

Talon, the man who I thought would stand by me forever, was rejecting me.

For her.

For Jasmine. My double faced sister.

“Please,” I begged, my voice raw, my heart in pieces. “Talon, you can’t — please consider everything I have been through.”

He pretended like I was the worst thing ever. His words were like bricks targeted to my skull. How did he suddenly become this person?

The room spun around me forcing me to collapse to my knees, pain shot through my entire body like pricking needles. Tears clouded my vision and I felt my heart hammering in my chest, shredding into pieces. My skin was on fire, it was like raw flames from a furnace.

But just when I thought I was out of my misery, that it was all over. Jasmine stepped forward, her smile cruel and triumphant.

“I have something to say." She looked around her. “She tried poisoning our soon-to-be Alpha.”

Everyone gasped.

I shook my head, and before I could say anything, Talon slapped me hard across the cheeks.

“Leave and never return. Until you get proof that you are innocent, you stand a risk of being banished from this pack.”

“You should leave, Cassia. Now. Before things get worse.” Jasmine said.

Tears rolled down my cheeks as a knot tightened in my stomach. “You’re lying, Jasmine! I didn’t poison him! I would never — ”

But before I could finish, she cut me off with a sharp laugh. “You were always trying to tear us apart. You’ve been planning to poison him for months, isn't that what you told me?”

Her words were like daggers plunged deep in my chest.

Me?

Was she really doing this to me? In front of everyone? My body quivered with the force of what was happening.

I had never hurt Talon. I loved him. Even now I still love him.

But it didn’t matter. Talon didn’t seem to care. He stood there, silent, his eyes staring coldly at me.

“Cassia, I need you to leave,” he said flatly, his voice devoid of emotion. “Now.” He thundered, making my knees buckle.

The world was closing in around me.

My world crumbled before me into thousands of irreplaceable pieces and I wondered why my life had always been filled with bad luck.

I have never had anything good in life and when I do something or someone whisks it away.

Never in a million years would I believe my life would turn out this way, humiliated before the entire pack by the man I love, my mate, and my step-sister.

A steely resolve took over. I will proof to you that you lost something precious when you rejected me. I wiped my tears. Gritting my teeth to send back the pain.

“Get out. You’re not welcome here.” Someone shouted from the crowd.

"You murderer." Another voice came weighing heavier than the first.

Was this how much they all hated me?

Talon had made his choice. And now I was nothing more than a memory. I walked out carrying my head up high on my shoulders but deep down I was near my breaking point.

The door slammed behind me, and I sank to the ground, shivering in the cold night air, I stood up again still sobbing.

I had nowhere else to go but I knew of one place that would welcome me.