The 7-time rejected omega

ILYANA’S POV“Mate,” his words resounded in my head again.The whispers increased. Everyone in the room was as shocked as I was. The ritual had not even begun. Why? What…“Did he just call her mate?” I heard someone say.“The ritual has not even begun, and she can feel the mate bond. Truly, she’s cursed,” another omega said.“She has done it to herself this time. Lady Selene was right. She should be dead. She’s a witch to other omegas like us.”But the words were like air, entering my ears and leaving just as quickly. My entire focus was on the man in front of me and how breathtakingly handsome he was.No omega had ever seen the Alpha King before. He was always in his pack, giving orders from his throne like a god. And a god he was, because everything about him was perfection.His sharp cheekbones. Perfect golden orbs. A body that made even a simple shirt look good.“You’re my mate?” he said again, more like a question, breaking me out of my thoughts.Cold dread dropped into my stomac

ILYANA’S POV.When I opened my eyes, someone was tapping me awake. I blinked and met the Alpha King’s gaze. I sat up immediately, apologies already on the tip of my tongue, but he beat me to it.“We’re here,” he said as the door opened.He stepped out first, and I followed. My eyes immediately widened, my body and wolf unable to mask my shock at the beauty of the house—or fortress, or castle—in front of me.It was like stepping into a magical land. The Alpha house in all of the pack houses had been plain, nothing too small but nothing extravagant either. A gate, cars in the compound, and a two-story house.But this… this was more.A water fountain stood in the middle of the entire compound, water flowing from the mouth of a wolf and down into a pond. Colorful flowers circled the rest of the building, and a long staircase led up to the entrance.“Carius will take you to freshen up. Follow him,” he said, breaking my trance before walking away immediately.I turned to Carius, who I guess

ILYANA’S POV.The Lycan roared, the sound ripping through the air and shaking the entire room before it lunged at me again. I moved fast, grabbing one of the canvases and throwing it at him, but he was faster. Before I even reached the corner I was aiming for, he was already there, lunging right back at me.I shifted into my wolf immediately, ruining the Alpha’s white shirt. Elara growled low, the sound vibrating through me, before using all her strength to lunge at him.I managed to tear into his neck as I brought him down to the floor.But he was stronger.Faster.Bigger.I barely had time to react before he flung me off. My body slammed into the wall, pain exploding through me as something cracked.I hit the ground hard.Before I could recover, he was already on me again.He lifted me with one hand and slammed me back down, roaring straight into my face, his breath hot and foul. His jaws opened, sharp canines glinting, ready to tear into me.Every one of my twenty-two years flashed

KAEL’S POVThe border has been breached, hordes of Lycans pouring in as if this were their home. This wasn’t an attack, this was an invasion—targeted exactly and well planned. I should have figured the minute one was in the room, but I had been too caught up by the sight of Ilyana, weak, frail, and injured on the ground.Her face flashed in my head—the disappointed look on her face when I had told her I didn’t want a mate. Truth be told, I’d never wanted a mate or a Luna. I loved my life alone, in my pack, protecting other wolf packs and conquering every single enemy of the wolves.I tore through the shores of the two-legged monstrous creatures, grabbing two of them and bashing their heads together, tearing through skulls, my claws finding the frail corner of their throats—the part that a puncture to would kill them.I didn’t even bother to shift. I didn’t need to. The first shift was because I was angry. Something had filled me at the sight of that Lycan on her, and I had killed him

ILYANA’S POVThree hours later, I was in the fourth shopping complex of the day, testing out clothes. I was already tired, my bones a bit weary. This was probably the twentieth cloth I had tried on, yet none of them was enough in the eyes of both Misha and Tina.“You’re the Alpha King’s mate. How will you be wearing something low like this? Change that, the color is ugly on your skin,” she had said in one store.“Nope. That’s ugly,” she said as I stepped out of the changing room in the current store wearing a long sequin dress. “Where are the good designers, for crying out loud!” she groaned.“Good designers are only for those who can afford it. Not riff-raff like you,” the shop attendant murmured quietly, but loud enough for us to hear.Embarrassment flushed my cheeks as I grabbed the hem of the dress tightly. It had been like this in every store we went to—eyes on us, disrespecting us, calling us all sorts of names.“Are you talking to us?” Misha was up quickly, her voice sharp like