Scarred By The Alpha

The crowd gathered under the silver glow of the full moon, their murmurs echoing like whispers of doom in my little ears.

My heart pounded against my chest so loudly, I was sure everyone could hear it. This was supposed to be the most magical night of my life - the night I'd shift for the first time and meet my fated mate.

But something in the air felt wrong. Very wrong.

I stood at the edge of the circle, trembling in my thin dress, barefoot in the snow-covered clearing. The cold bit into my skin, but nothing compared to the icy dread crawling down my spine.

My name was Aria Nightshade - the omega no one wanted, the girl the pack forgot until they needed someone to scrub floors or bleed. I was always the least choice in everything.

Yet, tonight, they were all watching. Watching with so much disgust on their faces.

Because tonight, fate would bind me to my mate.

And fate, as always, hated me. I was so unlucky when it came to fate.

The elders began the ritual, chanting ancient words that hummed in my blood. A strange warmth spread through my chest, colliding with a sudden, violent tug. It was like an invisible thread wrapping around my ribs and yanking - hard.

I gasped. My knees buckled.

Across the circle, Alpha Kael Draven turned to me, looking like a beast about to devour me with so much hate in his eyes.

The moment our eyes met, the bond hit like a thunderstorm - electric, breathless, undeniable. My soul screamed for him. My wolf stirred inside me for the first time, clawing to get to him with desperation I couldn't understand.

He was mine. My mate, that I thought.

Kael's expression didn't change, still as fierce as and wicked as ever.

His storm-grey eyes darkened, and his jaw tensed. Not with recognition. Not with awe. But with disgust. Like he'd just been served rotting meat.

He looked at me like I was dirt on his boots.

"No," he said, voice like a blade. "The Moon Goddess made a mistake."

For a moment, no one reacted. Not even me.

I was too stunned to even utter a word.

My breath caught in my throat.

What... what did he mean, no?

Whispers began to stir. One woman gasped. A warrior across the circle chuckled cruelly. But I stood frozen, unable to move, to breathe my world started spilling.

Kael stepped forward, towering, god-like in his black ceremonial armor. Power radiated off him in waves - strong, ruthless, untouchable.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he didn't let me.

"I reject you, Aria Nightshade, as my mate."

The words landed like a slap across the face - sharp, humiliating, final.

The crowd reacted instantly. Some gasped. Others laughed. A group of young warriors high-fived one another like this was a victory.

I didn't understand.

He was my fated mate. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"No..." I choked. "You can't. You-"

"I won't be bonded to an omega disgrace," he snapped, cutting me off. His voice dripped venom. "You're weak. Worthless. Not worthy to be Luna."

He spat the last word like poison.

Pain erupted in my chest - not the kind you can see or explain, but something deeper. A soul-deep crack. Like my heart was being ripped apart from the inside out.

My wolf whimpered - a soft, barely-there sound in my head - and then... silence.

She was gone.

The crowd started whispering again. Some were enjoying the show. Others just turned away like I didn't exist.

Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall.

I dropped to my knees, humiliated.

Cold.

Bare.

Exposed and bitter

My mate, the one destined to love me, had just shattered me in front of the entire pack.

One of the elders - Elder Varra - stepped forward hesitantly. "Alpha, perhaps the bond-"

Kael cut her off with a glare. "Do you question me?"

The elder fell silent and stepped back. No one else said a word.

"Strip her of her title," Kael ordered. "She's no longer one of us."

There it was. The final blow.

I waited for someone to stop him. For someone to speak up. But none did. Looked like they were all enjoying this scene.

They didn't see a rejected girl. They saw a problem that had solved itself.

I wanted to scream. To run. But I was too broken to move. I was too stunned to even utter a word.

As I knelt in the snow, the soft flakes biting my skin, a single thought echoed through the hollow of my mind:

If this is fate... then fate is cruel.

And fate was just getting started.

I stared at the ground, waiting for the earth to swallow me. Waiting for the pain to fade. But it only grew sharper - heavier - suffocating.

A sound tore from my throat. Not a sob. Not a cry.

A howl.

Soft. Cracked. Full of sorrow.

And suddenly - violently - my body jerked. My spine arched. My bones shifted.

My first shift had begun.

Too late.

My skin burned. My muscles twisted. I screamed as claws tried to push through my fingertips, my vision blurred-

Then everything stopped.

A sharp, white-hot pain struck me from behind.

I gasped. The snow beneath me turned red. My eyes widened.

I tried to move. To breathe.

But I couldn't.

The world faded around the edges. My body collapsed into the snow, numb and broken and hurt deeply.

In the final seconds of life, I turned my head toward Kael.

He wasn't shocked, he looked like he was having the best time of his life.

He was smiling. With so much satisfaction written all over his face.

He had done this. Or let it happen. Maybe both.

I died there, in front of them all - rejected, humiliated, betrayed.

But death wasn't the end.

It was my beginning.