His Rejected Omega: A Second Chance with the King

For seven years, I was the rejected mate of Alpha Kaelan Blackwood.

But he never wanted me; he only ever wanted Livia, the woman he'd grown up with.

When Livia framed me for stealing a priceless necklace, Kaelan didn't even hesitate.

"You disgusting Omega," he spat. "You are not even worthy of licking the dirt from her shoes."

Then he had his guards cuff me in silver and drag me to the cells, all while Livia wept crocodile tears in his arms.

As they hauled me away, I saw him flinch, a flicker of pain from our severed bond crossing his face.

But he did nothing. In that moment, seven years of foolish hope finally died.

The next day, after my mother bailed me out, a rival Alpha found me at the airport.

He offered me a position as his Chief Strategic Advisor, with one goal: to destroy Kaelan's empire.

I accepted without a second thought.

Chapter 1

Seraphina POV:

The message sliced through my mind, cold and sharp. It wasn't a voice, but a feeling, an official stamp of finality pressed onto my soul.

"The Elders' Council hereby confirms that the Moon Goddess has witnessed the severing. The seven-year observation period between Alpha Kaelan Blackwood and the Omega, Seraphina Vale, is concluded. Your claim to the title of Luna is permanently nullified."

I stood in the shadows of the grand ballroom, the crystal chandeliers of the Black Moon Pack's annual gala casting a mocking glitter over the scene. My fingers tightened around the tray of empty champagne flutes I was meant to be clearing.

Across the room, Livia Thorne was the center of it all, her laughter like tinkling glass. She was celebrating a recent business victory, but everyone knew the real celebration was this. My final, official demotion.

"Look at her," one of Livia's friends sneered, her voice a whisper in the physical world but a shout in the pack's shared mental space. "Still pretending she has a place here."

Livia's eyes, bright and cruel, found mine. She glided over, a predator in a silk dress.

"Seraphina, darling," she cooed, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "Still working so hard. You must be exhausted. But I suppose it's what your kind is good for."

She gestured vaguely at my simple servant's uniform. "It's a shame, really. Your mother was such a gifted healer before... well, you know." She smirked. "At least she could hear the pack's needs. A deaf healer. What a tragic waste. I do hope she doesn't pass on that defective blood of hers."

A low growl rumbled in my chest, a sound I hadn't made in years. My mother. She could insult me, degrade me, but my mother was the line.

"Don't," I said, my voice raspy from disuse. "Don't you dare talk about her."

"Or what?" Livia laughed. She picked up a glass of red wine from a passing tray. "Will the little Omega bite?"

I shoved her. Not hard, just enough to make her step back. It was a foolish, impulsive act. An Omega should never lay a hand on a Beta of high standing.

Livia's eyes widened in theatrical shock before narrowing into pure malice. With a flick of her wrist, she flung the contents of her glass at me.

A searing pain erupted across my cheek and down my neck. It wasn't just wine. I smelled it instantly-the acrid, burning scent of silver. Just a few grains, enough to cause excruciating pain and ugly, blistering marks on a werewolf's skin, but not enough to be lethal.

Gasps echoed around us. I clutched my face, the burn a white-hot agony.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The voice cut through the noise like a whip crack. It was deep, resonant, and laced with an authority that made every wolf in the room, including me, freeze. The Alpha's Command.

Alpha Kaelan Blackwood stood there, his imposing frame radiating power and fury. His eyes, the color of a stormy sky, were fixed on the scene.

"Livia!" he snarled.

Livia's face immediately crumpled. "Kaelan! She pushed me! This... this Omega, she attacked me!"

"She is my rejected Mate," Kaelan said, his tone dangerously low. "And she is still under my protection. You will not harm her."

Tears welled in Livia's eyes. "Your protection? For seven years, Kaelan! Seven years you've kept her here, this constant reminder of your bond. You told me it was to make me jealous, to make me realize what I'd lost!"

Kaelan's jaw tightened. He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over my blistering skin before landing back on Livia. A muscle worked in his cheek.

"And what makes you think," he asked, his voice suddenly void of all warmth, "that I would wait for you forever?"

He grabbed my arm, his touch sending a familiar, agonizing jolt through me-the ghost of our broken bond. He pulled me away from the gawking crowd, his grip firm as he led me out of the ballroom.

In the sterile silence of his car, the scent of leather and his own powerful aura-like a pine forest after a thunderstorm-filled my lungs. He dabbed a sterile wipe from the car's first-aid kit onto my cheek. I flinched.

"Stay still," he ordered, his voice softer now. He finished cleaning the wound, his expression unreadable.

He tossed the wipe aside and started the car. "I'm sorry about Livia," he said, not looking at me. "I'll deal with her."

I said nothing.

He drove for a few minutes in silence, the city lights blurring past the window. Then, he spoke again, a strange note in his voice. "I just realized... today is the anniversary."

The anniversary. The day we first met, the day our wolves had recognized each other. The day he had looked at me with disgust and uttered the words that shattered my world. The day he rejected me.

"I'll buy you something," he offered, as if that could fix anything. "A compensation."

I finally turned to look at him, my face a mask of calm I did not feel. "That day doesn't mean anything to me anymore, Alpha."

A flicker of something-surprise? annoyance?-crossed his face. Before he could respond, a frantic, cloying voice invaded my mind, because it was directed at him, and the remnants of our bond still allowed me to feel the echoes.

"Kaelan, please come get me. I'm scared of the dark. You know I am."

It was Livia. Of course, it was.