Chapter 3 The Public Rejection

Pain woke her.

Not the sharp kind.

Not the fleeting kind.

But the deep, soul-wrenching agony that felt like something inside her was being ripped apart and crushed at the same time.

Ivy gasped, jerking upright on the narrow cot in the guard chamber, her lungs burning as though she'd been underwater for too long. Cold stone walls surrounded her. Iron bars cut across the narrow window. Torches flickered, casting trembling shadows.

A prison cell.

Her chest tightened.

Memory crashed down on her in a brutal wave.

Rowan.

Gloria.

The announcement.

The rejection.

Her wolf howled inside her, raw and wounded.

She curled forward, pressing her fist to her sternum, trying to breathe through the agony. Every beat of her heart sent fresh lightning through her veins.

They had locked her away like a criminal.

A knock echoed.

Before she could respond, the door swung open.

Two guards entered, their expressions stiff, uneasy.

"The Alpha King summons you," one said.

Her heart stuttered.

Summons.

Hope flared before she could stop it.

Maybe

No.

She crushed the thought before it could bloom.

They escorted her through long corridors carved from ancient black stone. The deeper they went into the royal wing, the heavier the air became, thick with dominance and authority. Powerful wolves lined the hallways elite guards, council members, noble bloodlines.

Every gaze turned toward her.

Some curious.

Some hostile.

Some openly contemptuous.

The omega who dared claim the Alpha King.

The doors to the Great Hall opened.

And Ivy walked back into her nightmare.

The hall was even more crowded than before. Representatives from surrounding packs had arrived, their scents foreign and sharp. The tension in the air was suffocating.

At the front, Rowan stood upon the raised dais, flanked by the Elders.

And beside him

Gloria

Her hand rested lightly on Rowan's arm, possessive. Her posture was flawless. Her chin lifted.

The future queen.

Ivy's steps faltered.

The bond inside her screamed.

Rowan's eyes found her.

Something dark flickered there conflict, tension, something dangerously close to regret.

But his face hardened.

Cold.

Controlled.

Royal.

She was guided to the center of the hall.

Alone.

Exposed.

Elder Corvin stepped forward, his voice echoing. "Ivy Hale, you stand accused of claiming a false mating bond with the Alpha King."

Murmurs erupted.

Shame burned up her throat.

"I did not lie," Ivy said, her voice shaking but loud. "I felt the bond. He felt it too."

Every muscle in Rowan's body tensed.

"You dare persist?" Elder Corvin snapped.

"I dare speak the truth," she whispered.

Gloria let out a soft, delicate laugh. "This is becoming embarrassing," she said gently. "Poor thing. The mating heat can cause delusions in low-ranked wolves."

Laughter rippled through the hall.

Ivy flinched.

Rowan said nothing.

Elder Corvin raised his staff. "Alpha King Rowan Blackthorn. Do you acknowledge this omega as your fated mate?"

The hall went dead silent.

Every breath held.

Every eye locked on Rowan.

Ivy's heart pounded so violently she thought it might shatter her ribs.

He looked at her.

For a long, unbearable moment.

Their bond pulsed wildly, screaming, pulling, begging.

She could feel his wolf.

Conflicted.

Furious.

Restrained.

Then his jaw tightened.

"No," Rowan said.

The single word struck like a blade through her soul.

"I do not," he continued coldly. "There is no mating bond. This omega is mistaken."

Gasps.

Outrage.

Shock.

Ivy swayed.

The world tilted.

"No..." she whispered.

Rowan stepped forward, his gaze hard as steel. "I reject you."

The hall erupted.

But Ivy heard nothing.

Her bond exploded.

Agony tore through her veins, searing, violent, absolute.

She screamed.

The pain was beyond anything she had ever known worse than broken bones, worse than burns, worse than death itself.

It felt like her soul was being ripped in half.

She collapsed to her knees, clutching her chest as white-hot lightning ripped through her body.

Her wolf howled in agony.

Her heart fractured.

Her vision blurred.

She barely registered Rowan's sharp intake of breath.

Barely saw him stagger back a step.

Barely heard the elders shouting.

The pain intensified.

Her skin burned.

Her bones vibrated.

Something inside her snapped.

Power surged.

Not omega power.

Not beta power.

Something ancient.

Something forbidden.

The torches lining the walls flickered violently.

Wind exploded through the hall.

The marble floor cracked beneath her palms.

The scent of dominance flooded the air.

Not Rowan's.

Hers.

A thunderous shockwave blasted outward, throwing warriors back several feet. Noble wolves slammed into pillars. Elders stumbled.

Rowan cried out, dropping to one knee.

A strangled gasp tore from his throat.

His aura flickered.

Shattered.

Ivy's head snapped up.

She stared at him in horror.

The Alpha King on his knees.

Power drained.

His dominance crumbling.

"What is happening?" Elder Corvin roared.

Ivy could feel it.

She was pulling something from Rowan.

Draining him.

Consuming his Alpha authority.

"No" she whispered, terrified. "Stop please"

But her body no longer obeyed her.

Energy surged uncontrollably.

Rowan collapsed fully, both hands braced against the floor, his breath ragged, veins standing out in his neck.

The hall descended into chaos.

"Kill her!"

"Stop her!"

"Shield the Alpha!"

Warriors surged forward.

Elder witches began chanting frantically.

But the power only intensified.

Runes burned to life beneath Ivy's skin.

Her eyes flashed molten gold.

Her wolf roared.

And then

Silence.

The power snapped back into her body.

The hall went deathly still.

Ivy slumped forward, collapsing onto the shattered marble.

Rowan lay several feet away, pale, trembling, his dominance completely gone.

Horrified whispers swept through the hall.

"She drained him..."

"She stole his Alpha power..."

"She's a monster..."

Ivy tried to move.

Tried to breathe.

But darkness closed in.

The last thing she saw was Rowan struggling to reach her.

And Gloria screaming in fury.