All Chapters of THE ALPHA’S REJECTED BLADE : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

KAIA POV The moon temple smells like pine and burning sage. And fear. Mostly fear. I stand in the center of the stone circle, my leather armor catching the firelight, and my hands won’t stop shaking. Not from cold. From what I’m about to do. “You look beautiful.” Lyra squeezes my hand from beside me. My best friend since we were fourteen and stole cigarettes from the elder’s shed. She’s the only one who knows this isn’t a proposal I’m waiting for. It’s an execution. “I’m about to humiliate the Alpha’s best friend in front of three hundred people,” I whisper. My voice cracks. “Beautiful isn’t the word.” “Honest is,” she says. But her fingers are cold in mine. “And Rafe deserves honest.” Does he? Or does he just deserve to not be laughed at by the whole pack? The drums start. Low. Tribal. Like a heartbeat. Every wolf in the Blackmoon Pack is here. Three hundred pairs of eyes. The council on their stone thrones. The warriors I’ve bled with. The girls I train

KAIA POV The pendant is in my bed. I find it the morning after Lyra's funeral, placed right on my pillow like a love note. Silver chain. The little moon charm she's worn since she was fourteen. And caught in the clasp, just like Rafe promised: a strand of my dark hair. I don't touch it. I sit on the edge of my mattress and stare at it for fifteen minutes, and then I hear the knock. "Kaia. Council chamber. Now." It's Marcus. His voice is apologetic, which somehow makes it worse. I don't bother changing out of my sleep shirt. There's no point pretending I don't know what's coming. The council chamber is all stone and shadows. The Alpha sits on his throne—Damien's father, a man who's always looked at me like I was useful. Not anymore. Damien stands to his right, and he won't look at me at all. "Kaia Velen," the Alpha says, and his voice is tired. Disappointed. "The investigation into Lyra Morrison's death has been completed." My heart is in my throat. "We found ev

KAIA POV The training grounds are packed. That's Rafe's play, I realize. He's made sure everyone is watching. Warriors. Sentries. Council members standing on the sidelines with their arms crossed and suspicion in their eyes. He's set the stage for my execution. Damien doesn't look at me when I arrive. He just nods at the assembled pack and calls me out to the center of the arena. "Today we're testing endurance," he announces. "Kaia versus Viktor and Marcus. Back to back. No breaks until someone surrenders." It's brutal. It's designed to be brutal. And it's totally a perfect cover for whatever Rafe is planning. Viktor attacks first—he's all brute force, and I slip past his guard easily. Marcus is faster, more technical. I'd normally take them both down in under five minutes, but today I'm fighting tired. Still exhausted from the forest training. Still vibrating with terror about what Rafe knows. That's when my control starts to slip. A punch comes at my face. I parry.

The holding cell smells like rust and despair. I’ve been here for six hours. No trial. No formal charges read. Just a stone room with a single barred window and a cot that smells like the last person who was imprisoned here. I don’t want to think about who that was or what happened to them. The guard brings food I can’t eat and water I drink too quickly because it gives me something to do besides sit with my thoughts. That’s when Rafe arrives. He dismisses the guard with a single look—there’s power in that now, I realize. Power I gave him by refusing to stay silent about what he is—and closes the cell door behind him like we’re old friends meeting for tea. “You look terrible,” he says, settling onto the cot like he owns it. “Get out.” “Can’t. Your new boyfriend’s father is too busy dealing with the heir situation to pay attention to visitors.” He leans back and smiles. “Besides, I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.” I don’t respond. I just stand by the windo

KAIA VELEN POVThe cabin didn't look like salvation, but it smelled like it.Damien had pushed me through the forest for two days straight after we crossed the northern border, never explaining where we were going, just keeping my hand locked in his and moving forward like the hounds of hell were at our heels. Which they were. The Blackmoon Pack was behind us somewhere, arrows and curses and the weight of everything we'd destroyed.Then the trees opened up, and there it was. A cabin made of dark wood and stone, tucked into a valley where the mountains created a natural barrier. Smoke rose from the chimney like someone had been expecting us."Don't move," Damien said, and his voice shifted into something formal. Alpha language. "Let me do the talking."A woman emerged from the shadows—tall, scarred, with grey running through her dark hair like silver streaks. Behind her were three wolves in half-form, weapons drawn but not raised. A threat that could become a defense if we gave them re