Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by the King

I stormed through the corridors of the Silver Creek Pack house, my heart pounding against my ribs like a caged animal. The image of Sloane's smug smile burned in my mind as I searched for Derek. He had promised—*promised*—to help my grandmother. Yet here he was, giving priority to a sprained wrist over a dying woman.

"Where is he?" I muttered, my fingers curling into fists at my sides.

I caught a familiar scent as I approached his office—Derek's distinctive pine and smoke aroma, now intertwined with something floral and sickly sweet. Sloane's perfume.

Without knocking, I pushed open the heavy oak door.

Time stopped.

Derek had Sloane pressed against his desk, his large hands tangled in her golden hair. Their bodies were so close they might as well have been one person. The air around them shimmered with their mingled scents—his pine smoke now dominated by her cloying flowers.

They broke apart at my entrance, but not quickly enough. Not guiltily enough.

"Naomi," Derek said, his voice steady despite being caught. No shame. No embarrassment. Just mild annoyance at the interruption.

Sloane's lips curled into a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Oops," she said, not bothering to hide her triumph.

"You promised," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "You promised to help my grandmother."

Derek straightened his shirt, his gray eyes never leaving mine. "Plans change, Naomi."

The casual dismissal in his tone ignited something primal inside me. "Ten years," I said, my voice shaking. "Ten years I've supported you. Ten years I've believed in you."

Sloane giggled, adjusting her perfectly styled hair. "Maybe you should have been more... attentive... to your Alpha's needs."

I lunged forward, but Derek caught my wrist in a grip that would leave bruises.

"Enough," he said, his Alpha tone vibrating through my bones. "We need to discuss this privately."

---

The main hall of the Silver Creek Pack house buzzed with activity when we arrived. Pack members stopped their conversations, sensing the tension crackling between us.

"Let go of me," I hissed, trying to pull away from Derek's grip on my arm.

He released me but positioned himself between me and the exit. Sloane stood slightly behind him, her hand resting possessively on his shoulder.

"I have an announcement to make," Derek called out, his Alpha voice silencing the room instantly.

My stomach dropped as pack members gathered around us, their curious eyes darting between Derek and me.

"For those who don't know," Derek continued, his voice carrying effortlessly through the hall, "Naomi Peterson has been my companion for ten years."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd. I stood frozen, unable to comprehend what was happening.

"However," he said, his tone hardening, "I need to clarify something important."

He turned to face me directly, his gray eyes cold and unfamiliar.

"I, Derek Richards, Alpha of the Silver Creek Pack, deny any mate bond with Naomi Peterson."

The words hit me like physical blows. Each syllable tore through my chest, ripping apart the connection we'd shared for a decade.

"She was never my true mate," he continued, his voice devoid of emotion. "Sloane Wagner is my chosen mate—the only woman worthy of standing beside an Alpha."

Sloane stepped forward, her smile radiant as she took Derek's hand.

"You've been convenient," Derek said to me, his voice dropping to a level only those closest could hear. "Until I found someone truly worthy of my position."

The room spun around me. Pack members whispered, some with pity, others with barely concealed satisfaction at my public humiliation.

"You can't do this," I whispered, my voice breaking. "The Moon Goddess herself—"

"The Moon Goddess gives us choices," Derek interrupted. "And I choose Sloane."

---

Something inside me snapped.

Ten years of loyalty. Ten years of sacrifice. Ten years of believing in a lie.

"No," I said, my voice stronger now. "You don't get to rewrite history."

I reached into my bag and pulled out a thick folder—one I'd kept for years, documenting every contribution I'd made to Derek's rise to Alpha.

"Let me tell you what I've done for this pack," I said, my voice carrying through the suddenly silent hall. "Let me tell you what I've done for *you*."

I opened the folder, my hands steady despite my inner turmoil.

"Financial contributions," I began, pulling out detailed records. "Training schedules I organized. Diplomatic meetings I arranged with neighboring packs."

Derek's face paled slightly as I continued listing my sacrifices.

"Nights I spent helping you prepare for Alpha challenges while you were too drunk to function."

Gasps echoed through the hall as I laid out page after page of documentation.

"And now," I said, my voice trembling with rage rather than pain, "you deny me? You deny my grandmother a healer because your girlfriend sprained her wrist?"

The pack members around us shifted uncomfortably, their loyalty visibly wavering as they processed the evidence before them.

Derek stepped forward, his Alpha aura flaring threateningly. "That's enough, Naomi."

But it was too late. The truth was out—and there was no taking it back.