I Chose My Omega Protector Over My Cruel Alpha Mate

The laughter kept coming. Wave after wave of it, crashing over me like I was drowning.

Someone in the back shouted, "At least Lilian knows how to have fun!"

Another voice: "Poor Weston, stuck with a mate who can't even shift."

My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking. Seven years of this. Seven years of swallowing my pride, of making excuses, of believing that love meant enduring anything.

But love wasn't supposed to feel like this.

I looked at Weston, still grinning like he'd done something clever. At Lilian, whose smirk had nothing innocent about it. At Marcus, who wouldn't meet my eyes. At the pack that had watched me break myself into smaller and smaller pieces, trying to fit into a space that was never meant for me.

My grandmother's amulet pressed against my chest, warm despite the cold spreading through my veins.

Something inside me cracked. Not broke—cracked. Like ice splitting under pressure, revealing dark water beneath.

"No," I said.

The word came out quiet, but the laughter died anyway. Maybe they heard something in my voice. Maybe they finally saw something in my face.

I stepped down from the altar. My legs felt steadier than they had in years.

"Zara—" Weston started, his grin fading.

"I, Zara Hayes," I said, and my voice didn't shake anymore. It rang clear across the clearing, carrying to every corner of the pack grounds. "Reject you, Weston Carr, as my mate."

The words hit like thunder.

The mate bond snapped. I felt it tear through my chest, a pain so sharp and sudden that I gasped. But it wasn't the agony I'd expected. It felt like ripping off a bandage that had been stuck to a wound for too long—painful, yes, but also freeing.

Weston stumbled backward, his hand flying to his chest. His face went white. "What—what did you—"

"I reject you," I repeated, and this time the words tasted like freedom.

The pack erupted into chaos. Voices overlapped, shocked and angry and confused. Marcus stepped forward, his Alpha aura pressing down on me, trying to force me to submit.

But I didn't bow.

I turned and walked straight to Eren. His golden eyes were blazing, fixed on me with an intensity that should have scared me. Instead, it made me feel seen for the first time in seven years.

I held out my hand.

He took it without hesitation. His palm was warm, steady, solid. Real.

"This is my chosen protector," I announced to the stunned crowd. "My partner. And anyone who has a problem with that can take it up with me directly."

Lilian's face twisted with rage. "You can't be serious. Him? He's an Omega. He's nothing."

"He's more than you'll ever be," I said quietly.

Weston was still clutching his chest, his breathing ragged. "Zara, you don't know what you're doing. The bond—the pain—"

"I know exactly what I'm doing." I looked at him one last time. "I'm choosing myself."

Eren's hand tightened around mine. "We need to go. Now."

He was right. The pack was recovering from their shock, and Marcus's face had gone from pale to red with fury. We didn't run—I refused to run—but we walked fast, Eren's body positioned between me and the crowd.

The Alpha suite felt different when we entered. Colder. Like it knew I didn't belong here anymore.

"Pack only what you need," Eren said, his voice low and urgent. "We don't have much time."

I nodded and headed for the bedroom. The door swung open, and the smell hit me like a fist to the gut.

Lilian's scent. Thick and cloying, mixed with the unmistakable musk of sex. And underneath it, Weston's scent, tangled with hers in a way that left no room for doubt.

They'd been here. In the bed I was supposed to share with him tonight. In our nest.

My knees went weak. I grabbed the doorframe to keep from falling.

"Zara." Eren was beside me instantly, his hand on my back. "Don't look. Just pack and let's go."

But I couldn't stop looking. The sheets were rumpled, stained. A red dress—Lilian's dress from earlier ceremonies—was draped over the chair like a trophy.

Seven years. And he'd been doing this the whole time.

"Oh, Zara."

I spun around. Lilian stood in the doorway, her expression dripping with false sympathy. "I'm so sorry you had to find out this way. I wanted to tell you, really, but Weston said—"

"Get out," I said.

She ignored me, gliding into the room like she owned it. Maybe she thought she did. Her eyes landed on my grandmother's amulet, sitting on the dresser where I'd left it this morning.

"You know," she said, reaching for it, "it's funny. All this time, you've been clinging to this little trinket like it made you special."

"Don't touch that."

Her fingers closed around it. "But you're not special, Zara. You're wolf-less. You're weak. You're—"

She lifted the amulet and let it drop.

It hit the floor and shattered. The moon-blessed silver scattered across the hardwood in a dozen glittering pieces.

"Oops," Lilian whispered, leaning close. "I guess a wolf-less girl doesn't need moon blessings anyway."

Something moved behind me. Eren stepped forward, and the temperature in the room dropped.

The sound that came from his chest wasn't a growl. It was deeper than that. Primal. It vibrated through the floorboards, through my bones, through the very air.

Lilian's smirk vanished. Her face went white. She stumbled backward, her body responding to something her mind couldn't process.

That sound—no Omega could make that sound.

"Leave," Eren said, and his voice carried a weight that made my breath catch. "Now."

Lilian fled.

I stared at Eren, at the way his golden eyes were glowing, at the power radiating from him in waves that made my skin prickle.

"Eren," I whispered. "What are you?"