Omega’s Rejection, Luna’s Rise

Brielle’s POV

Aziel’s expression shifted in an instant, the guilt in his eyes hardening into something colder. He instinctively pulled Kaia behind him, his eyes glowing a fierce red as his Alpha aura flared. His roar echoed through the room. “Brielle, what are you doing?!”

Ignoring him, I glared at Kaia with my golden yellow eyes and snarled, “You’d better keep your mouth shut, Kaia!”

Kaia’s eyes shimmered with feigned innocence as she clung to Aziel, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “Was I wrong? If your mother hadn’t faked that curse and forced Aziel into marrying you, he wouldn’t have had to go through with it.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I turned to Aziel, searching his eyes for the truth. “Is it true?”

He didn’t answer. But the truth was there, written plainly in his gaze, in the way he didn’t deny it. My heart sank, the last of my hope crumbling to dust.

Half a year ago, my mother was cursed by a witch, her life draining away with every passing day. Her final wish was for me to find happiness with the man I loved, to marry him, and to secure my future before she passed. Desperate to fulfill her wish, I begged Aziel for the wedding, even though it was the natural course of our bond as fated mates. But he believed my mother was lying, manipulating him to speed up a union he never truly wanted.

Perhaps he had always looked down on me. Aziel, with his royal blood, the proud Alpha of the Crimson Shadow Pack, and me, the Omega who had fallen hopelessly in love with him at first sight, shamelessly pursued him for four long years.

When I learned he preferred women who were obedient, I molded myself to his desires, always bending to his will, and giving him everything he wanted. But then Kaia came along, and I saw a different side of him. He was gentle with her, attentive. She could tease him, hold his hand, embrace him in ways I never dared.

Once, in a desperate attempt to be closer to him, I tried to imitate Kaia and acted like a spoiled child. But he shoved me away with a scowl. “Brielle, stop it. It doesn’t suit you.”

His words were a slap in the face, leaving me humiliated and broken as I watched him walk away. After that, I never dared to show affection in that way again.

He never once reached out to hold my hand. When we were together, I was always a step behind him, a shadow in his life. The only person who could stand by his side was Kaia. He never refused her touch, never hesitated to show her off in front of the pack. To everyone else, they were the real mates, the true pair, while I was nothing more than a shadow, a title without meaning.

If it hadn’t been for my mother’s final days and my desperate pleas, there never would have been that sham of a wedding.

I looked at Aziel now, the man I had loved for nearly a decade, and felt the sharp sting of disillusionment. How had I been so blind?

Kaia, ever the manipulator, whimpered as she touched her bleeding cheek. “Aziel, please check my cheek. It stings. She’s so vicious!”

Aziel’s gaze immediately snapped back to her, his expression softened into worry.

Afterward, his expression darkened, and he roared at me, “Brielle, apologize!” His voice carried the weight of an Alpha’s command, but it only fueled the fire inside me.

I met his eyes with defiance, my voice unwavering. “What if I don’t?”