The Alpha Who Bought Me

  Laura was still seething when the Moon Match ended, and it showed in the way she walked out of the hall with her chin high and her hands clenched at her sides, her eyes too bright with rage for someone who had just been given a mate. She didn't cry or scream or cause a scene, but I knew her well enough to understand that the Moon pairing her with a regular wolf, someone she considered beneath her, had humiliated her more than any insult ever could.

  I stayed close to Sage as we slipped away from the crowd and headed back toward the omega quarters, keeping my head down even though I could feel the stares pressing into my back. Everyone had heard my name spoken alongside Sean Valen's, and no matter how hard I tried not to think about it, his face kept replaying in my mind, the way his mouth had twisted when the shaman said it, like he'd tasted something rotten, like he wanted to spit.

  Inside my small room, Sage shut the door and leaned against it, then turned to face me. The space smelled faintly of soap and damp stone, familiar and small, the only place in the pack where I ever felt even slightly safe.

  "Kyra," she said gently, "breathe."

  I sat down on the edge of the bed, pressing my hands together, trying to still the shaking in my fingers but it wasn't working. "Do you think he'll come?" I asked, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

  Sage's expression softened in a way that made my chest ache, like she already knew how fragile my hope was. "Mates are mates," she said carefully. "Maybe he just needs time."

  I nodded because I needed that to be true, because believing it felt easier than facing what might happen if it wasn't.

  Then a knock on the door came hard and fast.

  Sage froze, then pushed herself away from the door and opened it, sean Valen stood there.

  He looked wrong in the omega quarters, too tall and broad for the narrow hallway, too clean and powerful for the thin walls and cold floors. Power and authority clung to him naturally, like the world had shaped itself to fit him. His dark hair was slightly messy, his jaw tight, and when his eyes landed on me, there was no softness in them at all, then his scent hit me.

  Warm pine and clean rain filled my chest in a way that made my breath hitch, something deep and dizzy pulling at me before I could stop it, like my body had been waiting for him even when my mind knew better. My stomach twisted painfully.

  My mate, he was my mate . A big strong Alpha like him was my mate, that thought ran through my mind over and over. 

  Sage stepped back and swallowed. "Alpha you're -"

  Sean didn't even look at her,his eyes yes we're still on me. "Leave." She hesitated, her eyes flicking to me, worry written all over her face. "It's fine," I said quickly, even though my heart was racing and my hands were shaking again. I didn't want him to see me like this before he even spoke.

  Sage stepped out, and Sean shut the door behind her. The sound of it closing made the room feel smaller, like the air itself had left the room too.

  He stared at me for a long moment, and without thinking, I stood and smoothed my plain dress, hating myself for the instinct, for the foolish hope that maybe looking composed could make me worth choosing.

  "Sean," I said quietly.

  He laughed, not in surprise and not in warmth, but in disbelief, like the Moon itself had played a cruel joke on him, something inside me faltered.

  "This is sick," he said, the laugh still lingering in his voice. "This is a sick joke, the Moon pairing me with you." My throat tightened, I could feel my tears rising at the back of my eyes. "Why?" I asked, my voice breaking despite my effort to hold it together. "I didn't do anything. I'm your fated mate-"

  He crossed the room so fast I barely had time to register it before his hand closed around my throat and slammed me back against the wall.

  Pain shot through my shoulders and spine as the air vanished from my lungs. My hands flew up, clutching at his wrist, but it was useless, like trying to move iron with bare fingers. His grip tightened as I struggled, black spots dancing at the edges of my vision.

  "There's no way I'm accepting you," he said quietly, his eyes dark and unforgiving. "A filthy omega. A wolfless cunt."Tears burned in my eyes, born of panic and shame, and my body began to give in, my strength slipping away as he showed no mercy at all.

  When he released me, it was sudden. I sucked in air violently, coughing as he shoved me aside, and I hit the floor hard, pain flaring in my hip and shoulder. Before I could even try to move, his hand tangled in my hair and yanked my head back. I cried out, tears spilling freely now, my scalp burning.

  "You don't deserve the bond," he hissed. "You don't deserve my name. You don't deserve to stand in the same circle as me you mutt."

  My chest ached so badly it felt like it was already breaking apart. He straightened, his voice rising, loud and clear, as if he wanted the Moon itself to bear witness.

  "I, Sean Valen, reject Kyra Hale as my mate."

  Something inside me tore open, the pain came sharp and sudden, like claws ripping through my ribs, stealing my breath and blurring my vision. I screamed because my body couldn't hold it in, because the bond breaking felt like my heart was being split in two.I collapsed forward, shaking and sobbing, the cold floor biting into my palms as Sean looked down at me with nothing but disgust, he spat on me and walked out.

  The room spun violently, my throat burning, my chest feeling empty and bleeding all at once. I tried to lift my head, but the darkness rolled in too fast, too heavy. I couldn't hear or feel anything anymore, all I was met with was a high pitch spun in my ear. 

  I don't know for how long I was out, but I woke to hands shaking me. "Kyra," Sage whispered urgently. "Kyra, wake up." I blinked, confused, my body screaming in pain as I tried to sit up. I I wished I could all be a dream, but it wasn't, Sean rejected me. "They're coming," she said, her face pale with fear. "You need to run." 

  "Who?" I whispered, still trembling. "The warriors," she said, her voice cracking. "They're saying you tried to kill the Alpha for Sean rejecting you." I stared at her, disbelief crashing into me. "What? how ? I was here. He rejected me, I-"

  "I know," she said quickly. "But Rowan is with them. They want you dead. Kyra, you have to run." A shout echoed outside, close enough to freeze my blood.Sage grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. "There's no time for you to sulk, Go. Now. Out the back."

  My legs barely held me, but fear kept me moving. I stumbled through the back door and into the night, the cold air slapping my face as voices rose behind me.

  "Kyra!"

  More joined in, sharp and hungry. What was going on? And why would they make such allegations against me. 

  I ran, I had no  wolf, my body was weak from the rejection, and my chest still felt torn open, but I ran anyway, throwing myself into the dark because Silver Fang had turned into a hunt.

  And I knew, with a sick certainty, that if they caught me, I wouldn't see morning.