All Chapters of Rejected by the alpha, claimed by his brother : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Selene’s POVMorning light slipped quietly through the heavy drapes, soft and golden, painting the room in a warmth that felt almost undeserved after everything that had passed between us.My body felt it first.The lingering ache, deep and unfamiliar, settled into my muscles as I shifted beneath the sheets. I tried to roll away from the warmth beside me, only to realize there was none.The space was empty.For a brief, terrifying moment, my chest tightened.Had it all been a dream?Aric’s voice, his touch, the way he had looked at me as though I were the only thing in his world… had I imagined it all?But then the memories came rushing back, vivid and undeniable, wrapping around me before I could stop them.The way he had held me.The way he had whispered my name.The way he hadn’t let me go, as though letting go was no longer an option.Heat rushed to my face, and I pressed my palms against my cheeks, trying and failing to cool the sudden warmth blooming beneath my skin.My heart st

Aric’s POVThe court was already assembled when I entered.The vast chamber, with its soaring ceilings and gilded arches, seemed to fall into a strained silence as my boots struck the marble floor. Each step echoed—slow, deliberate, controlled—as I made my way toward my seat at the right of the throne.Eyes followed me.Some wide with unease. Others narrowed with quiet resentment. Whispers stirred like restless insects, but none dared rise above the heavy silence pressing down on the hall.They all knew better. And at the far end, seated upon the throne, was my father.The king.His gaze settled on me immediately, heavy with disapproval, his mouth drawn into a thin line that promised confrontation. But I didn’t falter. I didn’t bow my head.If he expected submission, he would be disappointed.I reached my seat and lowered myself into it without a word, my posture relaxed but deliberate, a quiet statement in itself. Let them interpret it however they wished—defiance, control, arrogance

Aric’s POVThe heavy doors shut behind us, cutting off the murmur of the court like a blade slicing through noise.Silence followed.The chamber we stepped into was smaller, more intimate, yet the tension within it coiled so tightly it felt as though the air itself might crack under pressure. My father moved first, striding toward the long table at the center, his robes trailing behind him as his hand came up to press against his brow in visible agitation.Damon lingered near the hearth, arms crossed, jaw tight, his posture rigid with barely contained anger. Ivana stayed close to the king, her fingers brushing lightly against his arm as though she were the one wronged, the one in need of comfort.I remained where I was. Standing. Unmoving. Deliberate.Let them feel me there. Let them be aware that I would not shrink, would not be dismissed into silence.My father broke first.“Did that woman put you up to this?” His voice was sharp, edged with irritation, but beneath it lingered somet

Selene’s POVThe chamber was too quiet.The maids had long finished unpacking my things into Aric’s wardrobe, leaving no trace of movement behind, and Diana had gone to fetch food hours ago but hadn’t returned. Even the television had gone dark, its black screen reflecting my pale, restless face back at me.I couldn’t sit still.My feet carried me from the bed to the balcony, then back to the mirror, then again to the bed, over and over until the rhythm of my pacing felt etched into the floor itself. Every minute stretched unbearably, each second dragging into the next like time had decided to torment me.The press conference wouldn’t leave my mind.Damon stood at that podium, Ivana at his side, both wearing that composed, practiced calm that only victors could afford. His voice echoed in my head, smooth and calculated, every word deliberate.“I want to tell my wife she no longer has to hide. She can now come home, and we will work things out.”Home.As though I had ever truly had one

Selene’s POVThe morning should have felt ordinary, the air still cool from the night before, pale light slipping through the curtains and softening the edges of the room, and Aric’s presence beside me should have been enough to quiet every storm clawing at my chest, yet as I stirred awake, a strange weight pressed against me, something I could neither name nor shake.Something was different.Aric moved beside me with the same steady grace, every action deliberate, his expression unreadable as ever, but beneath that calm there was something else, something restrained, a tension that told me he was carrying a burden he hadn’t yet shared.I noticed, but I didn’t push.He had already done so much for me, shielding me from whispers and venom, standing against Ivana in open court, turning the tide for my parents when everything had seemed lost, and I could not bring myself to demand more from him, not when I understood the kind of man he was, a man who spoke when he chose, not when he was