All Chapters of Rejected By My Alpha: His Second Chance : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

(Aria's POV)The wind wailed across the Black Fang Territory, cold and bitter, carrying the scent of pine, something rotting in the distance, and the heavy metallic taste of blood. I wrapped my thin dress tighter around me as I walked faster along the woodland path. My body trembled, not just from the cold, but from the weight of everything I carried: herbs in my basket, sorrows deep in my heart, and pain buried deep in my bones. The moon hung low overhead, a crescent form casting dim light, as if it were mocking me.I'm Aria Lane, and I've never known peace. Not even for a moment.At eighteen, I've learned that omegas like me exist in shadows. We're tools to be ordered about or ignored. Growing up as an orphan under this pack's strict rules means never resting, never speaking unless spoken to, and never hoping for anything at all. Being the lowest rank is a lesson in survival, nothing more.But tonight felt different. A small part of me dared to hope.The Blood Moon Festival was thre

The courtyard’s cold stone pressed against my back as I stood beneath the rising moon. Its silver light felt like ice on my skin, sharp and watching.I tilted my head up, eyes tracing the stars as they danced above me. They looked like they were rejoicing.My chest pulled an odd sensation again, the exact one I felt in the forest. It tugged at me painfully.Nyra hadn’t shut up since this morning. She’d been restless, clawing at my insides, pushing words into my mind I couldn’t always hear and certainly couldn’t understand.I rubbed my fingers over the crescent moon tattoo on my neck. It tingled again, burning just a little, like it had something to do with the pounding in my chest.The Blood Moon Festival was here. The first night of it anyway.Dancing, music, and maybe, if the Moon Goddess deemed me worthy, my mate.But everything that happened yesterday was still heavy in my mind.The way Kael looked at me, storm-gray eyes boring through everything I tried to hide.A spark of hope h

The words echoed in the sudden silence like stones dropped into still water."I, Kael Blackthorne, Alpha of the Black Fang Pack, reject you, Aria Lane, as my mate."Time seemed to fracture around me. The great hall, filled with hundreds of wolves, felt like a tomb. Every eye was fixed on us, on the impossible scene unfolding before them. Their Alpha, bound to an omega. Their Alpha, about to sever that bond in the most brutal way possible.My legs gave out.I dropped to my knees on the cold stone floor, my hands clutching at my chest as the first wave of pain hit me. It felt like someone had reached inside my ribcage and started tearing out my heart piece by piece."No," I whispered, the word barely audible. "Please, no."But Kael's face was carved from stone. His storm-gray eyes held no warmth, no mercy. Only cold determination and something that looked dangerously close to disgust."The ritual must be completed," Elder Mara said, her voice heavy with regret. "If the Alpha truly wishe

Healer Mira cleared her throat, breaking the strangling silence."Alpha, perhaps it would be best if you visited after the patient has had time to recover more," she answered diplomatically, but I caught the steel beneath her gentle voice.Kael's jaw clenched, a twitch in his cheek. For a moment, I foolishly hoped that he might speak, might finally break the horrific silence that had fallen between us. His lips parted slightly, and I found myself holding my breath already, hoping for anything from him: an word, an explanation. Anything.And then his face set and he simply nodded curtly to Healer Mira."Of course," he replied, his tone as harsh as rocks. "We don't want to disturb her... recovery."The way he said the word 'recovery' made it sound like something distasteful, something he wished would be over with soon so he wouldn't have to think about it anymore.Celeste moved to walk beside him, her arm curling around his own in a possessive gesture. The gesture was clearly made to se

The forest swallowed me whole.Each step away from the BlackFang territory was one step further into my own doom. The trees closed in around me, their bare branches reaching for the star-filled sky like skeletal fingers. My panting was a quick, wispy cloud in the cold air, and each shadow hid unknown dangers.I'd been walking for hours, covering as much distance as possible between myself and the pack. My legs screamed at me with exhaustion, and the drain on the broken bond left every step feeling like I was dragging chains behind me. I couldn't stop. Not yet. Dawn would have to arrive, and with it, the hope that someone would look for me to ensure that I was truly gone.The thought sent a fresh wave of pain through my chest. Not pain in my body that time, but something much stronger. The realization that I was truly, terribly alone.When walking was no longer an option, I collapsed against the trunk of a giant oak tree, its trunk vibrating against my back through the thin fabric of m