After My Alpha Rejected Me, I Became Lycan Queen

Two days after my world collapsed, I lay curled on a thin mattress in the Omega quarters, my body still aching from the loss. The cramping had subsided to a dull throb, but the hollow emptiness inside me gaped wider with each passing hour.

A knock at the door startled me from my stupor.

"Package for you," announced a voice I didn't recognize. "From the Alpha's quarters."

I dragged myself to the door, wincing at the pain that shot through my abdomen. A small box sat on the threshold—plain brown paper wrapping with a silver ribbon. No note.

With trembling fingers, I unwrapped it to find a small tablet. It powered on automatically, displaying a notification from the pack's mind-link forum.

"New exhibition opens today: 'The Barren She-Wolf' by Beta Izabella."

My stomach lurched as I clicked on the link. The screen filled with images that made my blood run cold.

There, displayed on pristine white walls, was my humiliation captured in excruciating detail. Izabella had painted my body—my naked, painted body—on massive canvases. But worse was the centerpiece: a glass case containing stained sheets from the platform where I'd lost my baby.

"The ultimate expression of rejection," read the description beneath. "When even the Moon Goddess denies a vessel."

Comments flooded the bottom of the page:

"Disgusting."

"Should have been thrown out with the trash."

"The Alpha deserves better."

And then, most damning of all: "Alpha Knox commissioned this series to remind the pack of the consequences of weakness."

Knox had sanctioned this. He'd allowed Izabella to turn my deepest trauma into entertainment.

I threw the tablet across the room, my body shaking with sobs. There was nothing left for me here—no dignity, no hope, not even the memory of what Knox and I once shared.

"I can't stay," I whispered to the empty room. "I can't survive this."

---

The storm rolled in that night, lightning splitting the sky as rain lashed against the windows. Perfect cover for what I needed to do.

I packed lightly—a change of clothes, what little money I had saved, and the silver pendant Knox had given me on my sixteenth birthday. A reminder of better times.

The Omega quarters were deserted as I slipped out, rain soaking through my thin jacket within seconds. I kept to the shadows, avoiding the patrol routes I'd memorized during my years with Knox.

The coastal cliffs lay three miles east—a treacherous path in good weather, dangerous in a storm. But it was my only chance to escape without being tracked.

I'd made it halfway when I sensed them.

Rogues.

Their scent hit me like a wall—unwashed bodies, stale blood, and something feral. I froze, scanning the darkness as yellow eyes emerged from the shadows.

"Well, well," drawled a voice I recognized with a chill. "The little bitch who got away."

They circled me slowly, five of them, their wolves partially shifted—a grotesque half-human state that spoke of their instability.

"You're a long way from home, Omega," snarled another, his teeth elongated into fangs.

"You know who I am?" I asked, backing away slowly.

The leader laughed, a harsh sound that sent shivers down my spine. "We've been waiting for you. Your precious Alpha may have rejected you, but he still wants you gone."

My heart stuttered. "Knox sent you?"

"Let's just say your new Luna arranged it." His eyes gleamed in the darkness. "She told us exactly where to find you. Said you'd be running tonight."

I looked back toward the pack lands, rain blurring my vision. "Knox knows?"

"He knows everything." The Rogue licked his lips. "He's not coming to save you."

---

They herded me toward the cliffs, the drop to the churning ocean below hidden by darkness. Lightning flashed, illuminating the sheer drop for a heart-stopping moment.

"Please," I begged, though I wasn't sure what I was asking for anymore. "I'm not who you think I am."

"You're the daughter of James and Sarah Spencer," the leader growled. "The ones who killed our brother during that border skirmish fifteen years ago."

My parents. The Gamma warriors who'd died protecting our pack.

"Your Alpha doesn't care if we finish what our brother started," another Rogue taunted.

I backed up until I felt loose rocks shift beneath my feet. The ocean roared below, invisible in the darkness but somehow calling to me.

Fifteen years of memories flashed before me—Knox and me in the orphanage, sharing stolen bread and promises. Knox holding me after nightmares about my parents' death. Knox swearing he'd always protect me.

All lies.

"I loved him," I whispered, more to myself than to them.

"And he loved power more," the leader sneered.

I looked down at the black water below, then back at the approaching Rogues. There was no escape. No future. No reason to keep fighting.

"Goodbye, Knox," I murmured, thinking of the boy he once was—the one who'd held me close and promised forever.

Then I turned and jumped into the void.

The impact with the water knocked the breath from my lungs, coldness engulfing me instantly. As consciousness faded, I felt something snap inside me—the pack link severing as the ocean closed over my head.

Miles away, I imagined Knox collapsing as he felt my "death," the mate bond finally breaking completely.

But it was too late for both of us.