Chapter 4 Rejected by the Alpha, Desired by the King

The training yard was already alive with the sharp clash of metal and the guttural commands of seasoned warriors. Arielle stepped into the open field with the stiffness of someone who still hadn't accepted her place, her boots crunching over frost-laced dirt, breath misting in the dawn air.

"Late again," General Kaelen barked from the center of the arena, his arms crossed over his chest like slabs of iron. His gray eyes pinned her like twin blades. "Royal blood doesn't exempt you from discipline."

Arielle met his gaze but said nothing. She wasn't sure if her silence was defiance or fear. Maybe both. Her body ached from yesterday's brutal drills, bruises blossoming under her tunic like a second skin, but she forced herself forward.

"You'll partner with Jarek today," Kaelen announced, nodding to the towering male who stepped from the crowd. A scar traced his jawline like a lightning bolt, and his smile was more of a sneer.

Jarek tossed her a wooden staff. "Try not to embarrass yourself, princess."

The staff nearly slipped from her fingers; her palms were still raw from gripping it too tightly yesterday. But she squared her stance, remembering how Kaelen had scolded her for leading with her right foot instead of her left.

"Again," he'd snapped each time she'd faltered. "You don't survive with hope and hidden bloodlines. You survive with skill."

Jarek lunged without warning. She barely had time to raise her staff, the wood cracking against his with a jarring force that rattled through her bones. He twisted, feinted, then slammed her weapon aside and swept her legs.

She hit the ground with a grunt, pain flashing across her ribs. The training yard snickered.

"Enough," Kaelen called. "Again."

Arielle pushed herself up. Her lip bled, a thin line of crimson she wiped with the back of her hand. Jarek waited, casually spinning his staff in one hand.

This time, when he attacked, she sidestepped quicker, letting instinct override thought. Their staffs collided again, but she held her ground. A thrill surged through her chest-brief, but real.

He pressed harder, but she was adapting. Dodging. Moving with more fluidity. For a moment, something inside her-hot, ancient, restless-seemed to stir.

Jarek faltered.

She saw his eyes widen in confusion for the briefest moment before she slammed the butt of her staff into his side, knocking him off balance.

He stumbled. The crowd quieted.

"Well done," Kaelen said, breaking the silence. "That's the difference between a pup and a wolf. Again."

They sparred until her limbs shook with fatigue, but she didn't fall again. By the end of the hour, even Jarek was breathing hard. He didn't sneer this time when they finished-he merely nodded and stepped back.

Kaelen dismissed the group but beckoned her to stay.

"You felt it," he said without preamble. "Didn't you?"

She blinked at him. "Felt what?"

"The power inside you. Your instincts turning sharper. You're not just fighting, Arielle. You're awakening."

"I..." She hesitated. "I don't know what I felt. But something changed."

Kaelen's eyes softened-just barely. "That something is your birthright clawing to the surface. You were raised as prey. But you were born to lead predators."

She didn't know what to say. Her heart pounded from more than just training now.

"Come," he said. "There's something you need to see."

He led her down the corridor behind the palace's northern wing, a place she'd never ventured. The air grew cooler, the stone walls narrowing into a spiraling staircase that seemed carved from the mountain itself. At the bottom stood a massive iron door flanked by two guards, who stepped aside without question at Kaelen's approach.

Inside was a chamber that pulsed with silence. Torches lined the walls, casting flickering light over ancient murals painted in bloodred and gold. Wolves with crowns. Wars between clans. A woman who looked eerily like Arielle with eyes that glowed like embers.

She stepped closer, mesmerized.

"That is Queen Solara," Kaelen said beside her. "Your grandmother. The last true ruler of the Northern Realms."

"She looks like me," Arielle whispered, her fingers brushing the image.

"She was a seer, a warrior, a sovereign. They said her howl could stop the heart of any Alpha who opposed her."

Arielle's breath caught. "What happened to her?"

"Assassinated by those who feared her power," he said darkly. "The throne has been empty since. Until now."

Arielle turned to him, heart thudding. "But I... I don't know anything about ruling. Or fighting wars. Or-"

"You're learning. Faster than any of us expected. It's in your blood. We just need to unlock it."

He reached into a niche in the wall and pulled out an ornate box. Inside was a pendant-simple, silver, shaped like a wolf's head with emerald eyes.

"She wore this into battle," he said, fastening it around her neck. "Now it belongs to you."

The pendant was warm against her chest. The moment it touched her skin, something stirred deep inside-an echo, a whisper, like a memory not hers.

She flinched. "What was that?"

"Your blood remembers," Kaelen said. "That's good. You'll need it for what's coming."

A knock at the door interrupted them. One of the guards leaned in.

"A messenger has arrived from the Bloodmoon Pack," he said.

Arielle's breath stilled.

Kaelen's jaw clenched. "Kade."

"Why would he-?"

"He knows," Kaelen growled. "Or suspects. He always was a possessive bastard."

"I don't want to see him," she said, too fast.

"You may not have a choice," Kaelen said. "But next time you face him... you won't be the weak little omega he threw away."

Arielle looked back at the mural of her grandmother. The crown painted on her brow looked heavy, beautiful-and terrifying.

The throne room was colder than usual.

Arielle stood beside General Kaelen, her posture rigid, the silver wolf pendant burning against her chest as if warning her of what was to come. The carved doors groaned open as two guards entered, escorting him.

Alpha Kade Blackthorn.

Her mate.

Her betrayer.

He stepped into the light with the same arrogant grace he always carried-tall, broad-shouldered, his obsidian-black hair tied at the nape, jaw clenched as though war brewed behind his teeth. His piercing gray eyes swept the room, then locked onto her.

The smirk died on his lips.

Good, she thought coldly.

He barely masked his surprise. "Arielle?"

She said nothing. The name tasted bitter when he spoke it. His voice hadn't changed-it was still low, dangerous, laced with Alpha power. But now it held confusion... and something like guilt.

She wore the uniform of the royal court: black leathers, a thin silver crest pinned to her chest-one she'd earned in blood and bruises. Her hair, once a mess of disobedient curls, was pulled back in a braid that exposed her scarred cheek. Her stance had changed, too. Not the timid hunch of an unwanted omega, but straight-backed and ready for war.

"What is he doing here?" she asked Kaelen without looking at Kade.

Kaelen's expression was stone. "He requested an audience. The King permitted it."

She arched an eyebrow. "The King is too kind."

That earned a twitch of Kade's jaw. "I came because rumors reached us. About you. About the girl we thought-"

"Discarded?" she snapped, her eyes flashing. "Broken? Pathetic?"

His gaze faltered, just for a moment. "I made a mistake."

"No," she said, stepping forward slowly, her boots echoing on the stone floor. "You made a decision. In front of the entire pack. You rejected me and handed my fate to my sister like I was some mangy pup left in the cold."

"I thought you were weak," he said, blunt and raw. "That's what I saw. A mistake I've come to regret every night since."

She stared at him. "And yet you're here. Why? To take me back? To lay claim again to something you threw away?"

Kade took a step closer, ignoring Kaelen's sharp glare. "I didn't know who you were. What you were. If I had-"

"If you had?" she laughed, humorless. "If I'd been powerful enough, royal enough, useful enough, then maybe I'd have been good enough to be your Luna?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Didn't you?"

His hands curled into fists at his sides. "You've changed."

"Or maybe I always was like this," she said softly. "You just didn't bother to see."

The silence that followed was a taut thread stretched between them. Kaelen watched with hooded eyes, but did not interfere.

"What do you want, Kade?" she asked at last.

"I want to protect you."

Her head snapped back in a laugh, sharp and cruel. "You had your chance. And now you think you get to come here, into the King's court, and protect me?"

He stepped forward again. "You don't understand what's coming. There are forces moving against the throne-against you. Alliances forming. You're not safe here, no matter how powerful you think you've become."

Kaelen shifted. "Is that a threat?"

Kade didn't flinch. "It's a warning."

"I'm not a damsel," Arielle said, voice low. "And I don't need your protection. Not anymore."

For a moment, he looked at her like a man who'd just realized he'd watched a wildfire bloom-too late to stop it, too mesmerized to look away.

But then his voice changed-darker. "Your power is new. You don't know how far they'll go to extinguish it."

"They?"

He hesitated. "There are whispers. The Crescent Fang Pack is rallying. Old enemies of the King. And not all are thrilled to see a lost royal returned."

"Why would they fear me?" she asked.

Kade looked at her, something unreadable flickering in his eyes. "Because you were never meant to survive."

Her pulse thudded.

Kaelen stepped forward. "You've delivered your message. You may leave now."

Kade looked like he wanted to argue-but then his eyes fell once more to Arielle, softer now. "I know you won't forgive me. Maybe you shouldn't. But if you ever need me-"

"I won't."

He bowed his head slightly. "Then goodbye, Arielle."

She didn't respond. She waited until his footsteps vanished down the corridor and the doors slammed shut before her knees buckled.

Kaelen caught her.

"Easy," he said, steadying her. "You did well."

"I wasn't ready," she breathed. "I thought I could face him without feeling..."

"Like your heart is breaking again?" he finished quietly.

She nodded, blinking back the heat in her eyes.

"That means you still feel. That's not weakness, Arielle. That's what separates us from monsters."

She looked up at him. "Do you believe him? About the danger?"

Kaelen's mouth was a grim line. "I believe Kade is not a fool. If he risked coming here, it means something's moving in the shadows."

"Then I need to be stronger."

Kaelen nodded. "We'll train harder tomorrow."

"No," she said. "Tonight."

He studied her, then gave the smallest smile she'd ever seen from him. "Very well, Your Highness."

That night, under a sky torn with stars and storm clouds, Arielle stood in the training yard again-barefoot, breathless, facing Kaelen in a ring of torchlight. Her muscles screamed, but she didn't stop.

She couldn't.

For the first time in her life, someone wanted her dead-not because she was weak, but because she was powerful.

And that meant she was finally becoming what she was born to be.

Not a forgotten omega.

Not a mate to a cruel Alpha.

But a queen. A weapon. A storm wrapped in skin.

And she would never be discarded again.