The Great Hall of the Red Hollow Pack was suffocating.
The air smelled of expensive pine incense and roasted meat, a scent that usually made me feel at home. But tonight, standing under the massive crystal chandeliers, I felt like a ghost. I smoothed the fabric of my simple dress, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
Tonight was the Mating Ceremony. The night every shifter dreams of.
In the center of the hall, Prince Kayden Draven stood like a god. His dark hair was swept back, and his formal black tunic made his shoulders look impossibly broad. He was the future of our pack, powerful, handsome, and terrifyingly cold.
As he began to walk through the crowd, searching for his fated mate, the air suddenly changed. It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck the floor between us. My skin started to hum. A warmth I had never felt before bloomed in my chest, spreading through my veins like liquid gold.
Mate.
The word echoed in my mind. My wolf, usually so quiet and suppressed, gave a tiny, hopeful yowl.
Kayden stopped dead in his tracks. He turned toward me, his nostrils flaring as he caught my scent. For a heartbeat, I saw a flicker of shock in his dark eyes. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it was replaced by something sharp and cutting disgust.
"I, Kayden Draven, Alpha Prince and heir to the throne… reject you, Alyse, as my mate."
The words didn't just hurt; they hit me like a physical blow to the stomach. The Hall went deathly silent, then the bond snapped.
It felt like a thick, iron chain had been ripped out of my soul. A cutting pain tore through my chest, twisting deep inside my heart. I couldn't help it, a strangled cry escaped my throat, and my knees crashed against the cold floor. The pain was so intense I thought I might actually die right there.
My wolf whimpered, a sound of pure agony, and then she went completely silent. It was as if she had crawled into a dark corner of my mind and vanished.
The silence didn't last long. It was quickly replaced by the sound of whispers. They spread across the hall like a wildfire.
"Did he just reject her?"
"An Omega? She actually thought she could be a Luna?"
"Look at her. She's pathetic."
Each word felt like another knife being driven into my back. I pressed my shaking hands against the cold floor, trying to hold the broken pieces of my heart together.
"An Alpha will not be bound to weakness,"
Kayden's voice rang out, cold and clear.
I forced myself to look up. He was standing over me, tall and perfect. The firelight danced in his eyes, but there was no warmth there. No regret, nor hesitation. To him, I wasn't his fated partner. I was a stain on his reputation. I was a mistake made by the Moon Goddess herself.
Behind him stood my stepsister, Seraphina.
She looked like a dream in her shimmering silver gown, but the look she gave me was a nightmare. A small, cruel smile curved her lips. I knew that smile. It was the same one she wore when we were children, right before she'd tell our father I had broken something she'd actually destroyed herself.
She had always wanted the crown. She had always wanted everything that was mine.
"Alpha…" one of the Elders spoke up, his voice trembling. "The mate bond is sacred. It is the will of the Goddess. Are you certain?"
Kayden didn't even look back at the Elder. "I have never been more certain of anything in my life."
He looked down at me one last time, his eyes filled with such hatred that I felt my soul shrivel. Then, he turned his back on me.
With a smooth, elegant motion, he reached for Seraphina's hand. She placed her delicate fingers in his palm, her eyes glowing with triumph.
"Our future Luna!" someone shouted.
The Hall erupted. The music started up again, louder and more cheerful than before. People began to laugh and clink their glasses. Servants rushed past me with trays of food as if I were nothing more than a crack in the floor. My humiliation had become the night's entertainment.
With shaking legs, I forced myself to stand. My body screamed in pain, the rejection was a physical wound that was still bleeding, but I ignored it. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and stood tall, even as the world blurred around me. But Kayden wasn't done with me.
"Remove her," his voice boomed over the music. The celebration quieted just enough for everyone to hear his final blow. "And make sure she never returns to this pack again. She is exiled."
The heavy doors shut, locking me out of the only life I had ever known.
I stood there alone beneath the full moon. The air was freezing, and a light mist was beginning to roll in from the forest. My wolf was gone. My family was gone. My home was gone.
I wrapped my arms around myself, shaking violently. "Why?" I whispered, my voice cracking.
I looked back at the palace walls, the sound of the party still muffled behind the stone. The Red Hollow Pack had tried to break me. They had humiliated me and cast me out like trash.
But they had made one fatal mistake.
They let me live.