Chapter 2 The Alpha's Rejection

Malakai's POV

The prisoner was silent when I carried her across the borders of Shadowclaw, her wrists bound, her hair tangled, her scent trailing behind me like smoke I couldn't shake.

Mate.

What a useless coincidence.

The word still lingered in my skull, poisonous, unwanted. Tharros, my wolf paced in my head, snarling and restless, desperate to claim what I had no intention of claiming.

Not her. Not his daughter.

The fortress rose ahead, spiked towers cutting against the night sky. Shadowclaw's stronghold was no palace; it was a fortress meant to keep enemies out and subjects in line. And tonight, it would witness the humiliation of the girl I carried.

Lyrianna stirred, groggy but stubborn, muttering under her breath. "If you're going to kill me, at least drop me before you get to your home. Spare me the view."

I almost laughed at her sarcasm. Almost.

"You wish for death too quickly," I told her coldly, tightening my grip when she squirmed. "Don't worry, omega. You'll learn how long life can feel when you're in the wrong hands."

Her mouth snapped shut, but her glare, fragile though she was burned against my jaw.

The courtyard was full when I arrived. My wolves had gathered, curious about the prize I'd dragged home. Their whispers filled the air like buzzing flies.

I love attending auctions for fun and getting my servants myself, she looks dirtier than all the other servants I've purchased during the times, but I never expected to see a female Starweaver being betrayed and sold by her own family. She doesn't believe it yet that her family sold her out yet but soon she will. But why? What was the reason?

The moment the guards dragged Lyrianna out, whispers ignited.

"She looks... dirty and weak."

"Why bring such useless meat into Shadowclaw?"

I didn't look at her. I looked at them, my pack, my people. Their faith in me had been forged by blood and fear, and I would not falter. To them, she had to be nothing. Less than nothing.

"Who is she?"

I dropped her on the cold stone floor in front of them. She winced, but she didn't beg. Not yet.

I let silence stretch, let her humiliation sink deeper before I spoke. "This," I announced, my voice carrying over the crowd, "is Lyrianna Starweaver. Daughter of Alpha Stellan Starweaver. The spoiled jewel of our enemy. Daughter of the Alpha who sent his armies against us. Daughter of the man who killed your sons, your brothers, your mates."

Gasps rippled. The name was poison here, her father's war had cost us too many lives.

I watched her flinch, though she lifted her chin stubbornly. Brave little liar.

"Who...who are you?" She whispers, for only me to hear.

"She is my mate."

The words cracked through the courtyard like thunder. Gasps surged, wolves craning closer, torn between awe and dread.

For one heartbeat, the crowd held its breath, was this fragile omega to rise as Luna? Her wide eyes lifted to mine, hope flickering where fear had lived. I let the silence stretch, cruel and heavy, until it choked the air itself. Then I bared my teeth.

"But don't mistake what that means. She is not my Luna. She is my enemy's daughter. A tool. A pawn. And I reject her."

Her lips parted. Shock, then horror, then fury crossed her face. "You can't just-"

"I reject you, Lyrianna Starweaver, daughter of Alpha Stellan Starweaver, Alpha of Moonwhisper pack," I cut her off, my voice like iron. "I, Malakai Windrunner, Alpha of Shadowclaw pack, reject you as my mate."

I watched the shocked flickers in her eyes from hearing my name.

The pack erupted in cheers and cruel laughter. I had given them a show, given them blood without shedding it. And she-sweet little omega was at the center of it all.

Her voice cracked as she whispered, more to herself than to me, "Mate bonds aren't supposed to be this cruel."

I ignored the twist in my chest. "You'll find I make my own rules."

The pack leaned forward as my words rang out, rejection sharp as a blade. They waited for her scream, for the collapse, for the bond to shatter her from the inside. But Lyrianna did not fall. She stood trembling, wrists bound, chin lifted, eyes blazing through the sting of silence. Confusion rippled through the crowd, whispers breaking like cracks in stone.

Tharros clawed inside me, restless, growling that something was wrong, she should be writhing, broken. But nothing. No snap, no pain. Just her, defiant, unbroken. And for the first time, I felt the cold bite of doubt.

"Why isn't she breaking? Why isn't she screaming?" Tharros clawed at me, furious. And then, realization cut through me. Her wolf. Dormant. Untouched. The bond remained unbroken.

"How can you reject me without an active wolf?" She said, low enough for me to hear.

"No...you can't," Tharros, my wolf said in unison, "No wonder I couldn't feel the pain of the broken rejection."

That was when Ava appeared.

She stepped forward from the crowd, dark-haired and graceful, her lips curved in a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She had grown up in this fortress with me, the sister of my Beta, loyal and clever. Too clever.

"My Alpha," she purred, her gaze sliding to Lyrianna with open disdain. "You brought her here?"

"She is no guest," I said flatly.

Ava's smile sharpened. "Then what is she?"

I turned to the girl on the ground, who trembled but refused to bow her head. She still had some fire left. Good. I'd burn it out of her myself.

"She is my prisoner," I declared. "A pawn. A breeder, if I feel like mocking her father further. But she will never be my equal."

Laughter roared around us, cruel and cutting. Someone spat at her feet. Others jeered. Ava's eyes gleamed with triumph as she stepped closer, circling Lyrianna like a vulture.

"What a shame," she crooned. "To be fated to the Alpha, only to be unwanted. Rejected." She leaned down, her voice a whisper meant to wound. "Do you feel it, omega? The bond snapping like brittle glass?"

Lyrianna's jaw clenched, and her voice, though small, was sharp enough to cut. "Better glass than chains."

The crowd jeered louder, but Ava's smile faltered, just for a second. I noticed.

I should have been amused. Instead, I felt Tharros rear inside me again, furious that anyone mocked her but me. I shoved him back.

She was mine to break.

.

.

Later, when the crowd dispersed, I had her dragged into the fortress and locked in a stone chamber. Chains bound her wrists to the wall.

"You think rejecting me proves something?" she snapped, her voice raw but steady. "All it proves is you're afraid of me."

Afraid. The word stung, though I kept my face blank.

"Afraid?" I repeated slowly, stepping close enough that she had to crane her neck to meet my eyes.

"No, little omega. I despise you. I despise everything your bloodline stands for. You will never be more than a tool to me."

Her lips trembled, but she lifted her chin. "Then use me. Break me. Sell me. But don't mistake me for my father's weapon. He doesn't care about me."

The words gave me pause. For a heartbeat, I searched her face, trying to decide if it was truth or clever manipulation. Tharros whined, desperate to believe her.

I shut him out.

"Lie to yourself if it makes you feel better," I said coldly. "But I know your kind. And I'll never fall for your games."

I turned to leave, ignoring the way her scent lingered, maddening and sweet.

"You can beg. You can cry. But I'll never see you as anything more than the daughter of my enemy," I growled over my shoulder.

Yet even as I spoke, I knew my eyes betrayed me, burning with the pull I refused to accept.

She thought she was broken already. She hadn't yet learned what it meant to be humiliated at Shadowclaw's hands... or at mine.

She had no idea-rejecting her might destroy me instead