Contract Over: I Rejected My Alpha Husband First

Author's pov

The grand hall of the Frostwood Pack House glowed beneath rows of crystal chandeliers, every polished surface reflecting gold light, expensive gowns, tailored suits, and the kind of easy laughter that belonged only to people who had never worried about where they would sleep tomorrow.

Tonight was Alpha Jonas's welcome ceremony.

After four years at the prestigious Alpha Academy, Jonas Harlan was finally returning to officially take over the Frostwood Pack. Every ranked family had come dressed in their finest clothes, eager to welcome the young Alpha home and remind him of their loyalty before his new rule began.

Freya Gilbert stood near the back entrance with a silver tray in her hands. Her black Omega uniform was stiff and ugly, the collar too tight around her throat. The sleeves were slightly too long, hiding the bruises on her wrists, and the hem brushed against her knees whenever she moved. It was not a dress she had chosen. It was a uniform given to her after the pack stripped away everything else.

Once, she would have entered through the front doors, people would have lowered their heads and greeted her as Beta Gilbert's daughter.

Now, she stood with the servants,as an Omega.

Freya tightened her fingers around the tray until the metal edge bit into her skin.

"Careful," her wolf, Vicki, whispered in her mind, her voice soft but tense. "If you drop that, they will use it as another excuse to punish us."

"I know," Freya answered silently.

Of course she knew.

For the past month, every mistake had been recorded. Every spilled glass, every delayed order, every dirty look someone claimed she gave them. The pack no longer treated her like a girl who had grown up among them. They treated her like a stain that needed to be scrubbed from the floor.

All because of her father.

A month ago, Freya had returned home from art school to find strangers in dark suits standing outside the Gilbert estate. Court officers, debt collectors, pack auditors. Their vehicles had filled the driveway, and yellow seizure notices had already been pasted across the front door.

At first, Freya had thought there had to be some mistake.

Her father, Matthew Gilbert, had been the Beta of Frostwood Pack for years. He was proud, charming, and careless with money, but Freya had never imagined he was capable of destroying them completely.

Then the lead auditor handed her the documents.

Her father had emptied the family accounts and fled with his mistress.

What he left behind was worse than silence.

Over 2.6 million dollars in debt.

Loans. Penalties. Gambling markers. Private agreements with dangerous lenders. And at the bottom of the final contract, written in her father's signature, was the clause that had changed Freya's life.

If Matthew Gilbert failed to repay the debt, his daughter, Freya Gilbert, would be pledged to Frostwood Pack as bonded labor until the debt was cleared.

The Council had accepted the contract because Matthew had once been a Beta, and because powerful men always found legal words for ugly things.

Freya had begged them to let her work outside the pack. She had promised to repay every cent. She had even offered to sell her paintings, her mother's jewelry, anything she still had left.

The elders barely listened.

A disgraced Beta's daughter with no money, no protector, and no wolf strong enough to defend her had no bargaining power.

Within three days, she was demoted to Omega.

Within a week, she was moved into the Omega quarters.

Within a month, the girl who had once sat beside Alpha Jonas during childhood lessons was scrubbing floors and serving drinks to the same people who used to smile at her father's table.

Freya swallowed against the tightness in her throat and looked toward the main staircase.

Jonas would appear there soon.

Her heart betrayed her with one painful, hopeful beat.

Jonas.

Even thinking his name made her chest ache.

They had grown up together before Alpha Academy took him away. When they were children, Jonas had once helped her climb the old cedar tree behind the training field because she wanted to see the whole pack from above. When she fell and scraped both knees, he had carried her home on his back and told everyone she had fought a rogue wolf.

When other children laughed because Freya was too gentle to enjoy combat drills, Jonas had stood beside her and said not every wolf needed to bare its teeth to be strong.

For years, Freya had kept those memories hidden like stolen jewels.

She knew it was foolish.

Jonas was the Alpha's son. She had been the Beta's daughter once, but even then, she had never truly stood beside him as an equal. Now she was an Omega with a debt collar hidden beneath her uniform.

Still, a desperate part of her could not stop hoping.

Tonight, Jonas was returning as Alpha. Tonight, he would see what had happened to her. He would remember the girl who used to share books with him beneath the cedar tree. He would ask questions.

Maybe he would help.

Maybe, now that she had come of age, the Moon Goddess would finally show mercy and make him her mate.

The thought made Freya's face warm despite everything.

"Freya," Vicki said quietly, not cruelly, only sadly. "Do not put all our hope in one person."

"I don't have anyone else," Freya replied.

Before Vicki could answer, a sharp voice cut through the noise behind her.

"Well, look what the debt collectors dragged in."

Freya's shoulders stiffened.

She knew that voice.

Berea Maddox.

The daughter of the new Beta.

Beta Ronan Maddox had taken her father's place two weeks after Matthew Gilbert disappeared. The promotion made his family one of the most powerful households in Frostwood Pack, and Berea had wasted no time enjoying her new status.

She walked toward Freya in a pale blue gown that shimmered like moonlit water. Her blond hair had been styled into perfect waves, and a diamond necklace rested at her throat, glittering just enough to make everyone notice it.

Two girls followed behind her, both dressed beautifully, both wearing the eager smiles of people who enjoyed watching cruelty as long as it was not aimed at them.

Freya lowered her eyes. "Good evening, Miss Maddox."

Berea laughed softly. "Miss Maddox. How polite. I almost forgot you used to think you were one of us."

One of the girls beside her covered a smile.

Freya said nothing.

That was usually safer.

Berea stepped closer, her perfume sweet and expensive enough to make Freya's stomach turn. "Tell me, Freya, is it true your father sold you to pay his gambling debts? Or did he just forget to take you when he ran off with his whore?"

The words hit like a slap, but Freya forced her face to remain still.

"My father's actions are not mine."

"Oh?" Berea's eyebrows lifted. "That's a brave thing to say for someone wearing an Omega uniform."

Freya gripped the tray harder.

She could feel several nearby guests turning to watch. The humiliation crawled over her skin like insects, but she knew if she reacted, Berea would only enjoy it more.

Berea glanced down at the drinks on the tray. "Are those for the guests?"

"Yes."

"Then serve me."

Freya lifted a glass carefully and held it out.

Berea did not take it.

Instead, she tilted her hand just enough to knock the glass sideways.

Cold liquid splashed across Freya's chest and soaked into the front of her uniform.

The girls behind Berea gasped, then began to laugh.

Freya froze, the empty glass still in her hand. The wine was cold against her skin, but not as cold as the stares gathering around her.

"Oh, Freya," Berea said with false sweetness. "How clumsy. No wonder they made you an Omega."

"It was not my fault," Freya said before she could stop herself.

The smile faded from Berea's face.

"What did you say?"

Freya knew she should lower her head. She knew she should apologize and step back. But something in her chest, something bruised and exhausted, refused to fold that easily.

"I said it was not my fault."

Berea stared at her for two seconds, then slowly smiled again.

That smile was worse.

"You're right," Berea said. "A little wine isn't enough."

Before Freya could move, Berea grabbed a full glass of chilled champagne from the tray and poured it over Freya's head.

The liquid ran through Freya's hair, down her temples, over her cheeks, and into the collar of her uniform. Her dark hair clung to her face in wet strands.

The laughter around her grew louder.

Freya stood motionless, humiliation burning behind her eyes.

"Much better," Berea said. "Now you look like what you are."

She set the tray down on a nearby table with careful hands, afraid that if she kept holding it, she might throw it at Berea's perfect face.

"Excuse me," Freya said, her voice barely steady. "I need to clean up before Alpha Jonas arrives."

She tried to step away.

Berea caught her wrist.

"Not so fast."

Freya looked down at the hand gripping her. "Please let go."

"Please?" Berea's eyes brightened. "That's better. But before you run off, I seem to be missing something."

The hall around them had grown quieter.

Freya's pulse quickened.

Berea touched her bare throat with dramatic surprise. The diamond necklace that had been there moments ago was gone.

"My necklace," she said loudly. "Where is my necklace?"

One of her friends gasped. "Berea, you were wearing it just now."

"I know." Berea turned her gaze slowly toward Freya. "And then this Omega bumped into me."

Freya's stomach dropped.

"I did not touch your necklace."

Berea's voice rose enough for the nearby guests to hear. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"No. I am saying I did not take it."

"Search her," one of Berea's friends said immediately. "Everyone knows the Gilberts are drowning in debt. Maybe she thought a diamond necklace would help pay her father's bills."

The whispers began at once.

"How embarrassing."

"Her father stole from half the pack. Like father, like daughter."

"An Omega thief at the Alpha's welcome ceremony? Disgusting."

Freya's face went pale.

If they accused her of stealing from the new Beta's daughter during Alpha Jonas's welcome ceremony, she could be punished publicly. Worse, Jonas might see her as nothing more than a desperate thief before she ever had the chance to speak to him.

"Berea, please," Freya said, forcing down her panic. "You know I did not steal anything."

Berea stepped closer, her voice dropping so only Freya could hear. "I know exactly what you are, Freya. A debt-slave in an Omega uniform. Don't pretend you still belong here."

Pain tightened Freya's chest.

Then Berea raised her voice again, full of wounded innocence. "Someone call security. I want her searched before Alpha Jonas comes down."

Freya looked toward the staircase with desperate eyes.

The music was changing.

The crowd was shifting.

At the top of the grand staircase, the pack's announcer stepped forward.

"Members of Frostwood Pack and honored guests," he declared, his voice echoing through the hall, "please welcome home our Alpha, Jonas Harlan."

Applause exploded across the room.

Freya's heart slammed against her ribs.

Jonas appeared at the top of the staircase in a dark suit, taller and broader than she remembered, his presence calm and luminous beneath the chandelier light. For one painful second, Freya forgot the champagne in her hair, the accusation hanging over her, and the people waiting to search her like a criminal.

He was here.

Freya stared at Jonas from across the glittering hall, her heart beating so hard it almost hurt.

He was standing at the top of the grand staircase, surrounded by applause, admiration, and the golden light of the chandeliers. Four years had changed him. He looked taller now, broader in the shoulders, more composed than the boy who used to climb trees with her behind the training field.

For one desperate second, Freya forgot the champagne soaking her hair and the cruel fingers locked around her wrist.

"Jonas," she tried to call, but her voice came out hoarse and thin beneath the roaring applause.

Berea's grip tightened sharply.

Freya winced and turned back to her. "Let me go. I need to speak to him."

That sentence made Berea's eyes turn cold.

Before Freya could react, Berea raised her hand and slapped her hard across the face. The sound cracked through the nearby space, sharp enough to make several guests turn their heads.

Freya's face snapped to the side. Burning pain spread across her cheek, and for a moment, she tasted blood at the corner of her mouth. The hall blurred in front of her eyes, but she refused to fall.

"Know your place," Berea hissed. "Alpha Jonas just returned. Do you really think anyone wants his welcome ceremony ruined by a filthy Omega thief?"

"I didn't steal your necklace," Freya said, pressing a trembling hand to her cheek.

Berea lifted her chin and glanced toward the guards.

"Take her away before she embarrasses the pack any further."

Two guards moved at once.

Freya's panic exploded.

"No!" She twisted hard, trying to pull free. "Jonas! Jonas, please!"

Her voice cracked as she shouted his name, but the music had started again, louder than before, and the announcer was speaking over the applause. The crowd's attention had already returned to their Alpha, to his perfect suit, his graceful smile, and the ceremony that mattered far more than one drenched Omega being dragged away near the side of the hall.

Freya saw Jonas turn slightly.

For a heartbeat, she thought his gaze might find her.

But a group of elders stepped forward to greet him, blocking his view completely.

The guards clamped down on Freya's arms and hauled her backward.

"Jonas!" she cried again.

No answer came.

Only Berea's soft laugh followed her.

Freya fought until her shoes scraped uselessly against the polished floor. Her wet hair clung to her cheeks, her uniform dripped champagne onto the marble, and the guests who noticed only looked away with practiced indifference. Some even smiled, as if seeing Beta Gilbert's daughter dragged out like trash was a satisfying piece of entertainment before dinner.

By the time the guards shoved her through a side door, the music and applause had become muffled behind the heavy walls.

Cold night air hit her face.

Freya stumbled onto the terrace outside the banquet hall. The Frostwood Pack House garden stretched before her under moonlight, elegant and silent, with trimmed hedges, white stone paths, and a large swimming pool glowing blue beneath the outdoor lamps.

One of the guards twisted her arm behind her back.

"Please," Freya gasped. "I didn't take anything. Let me explain to Alpha Jonas. Just let me talk to him for one minute."

The guard snorted. "You think Alpha Jonas has time for a debt-slave?"

The other guard looked her up and down with disgust. "Miss Berea said you stole her diamond necklace. If you don't want to be handed over to pack prison tonight, you'd better return it."

"I can't return something I never took!"

The first guard shoved her forward.

Freya lost her balance and nearly fell to her knees beside the pool.

"Miss Berea gave clear instructions," he said coldly. "She said the necklace must have fallen into the pool while you were trying to hide it. Find it."

Freya stared at him in disbelief.

The pool was large and deep, its water glittering dark blue beneath the lights. The night wind moved across the surface, sending small ripples toward the stone edge.

"You want me to search the pool?" Her voice trembled. "At night?"

"You heard me."

"My uniform is soaked already. I can barely stand. Please, I-"

The second guard cut her off with a cruel smile. "Then you'd better find it quickly before you freeze."

Freya took a step back, horror rising in her chest. "This is insane. There are cameras. There are people inside. You can't just-"

The first guard pushed her.

Freya screamed as she fell backward into the pool.

Cold water swallowed her instantly.

The impact knocked the breath from her lungs. For a terrifying moment, there was only darkness, bubbles, and the burning pressure of water closing over her head. Her soaked uniform dragged her down, heavy as chains, and panic clawed through her chest as she kicked desperately toward the surface.

When her head finally broke through, she sucked in a ragged breath.

The guards stood at the edge of the pool, looking down at her without a trace of pity.

"Search," one of them ordered.

"If you don't find it," The guard's expression did not change. "Miss Berea will report you for theft. With your father's debt record, no one will believe you. You'll be locked up before sunrise."

Freya's heart sank.

Pack prison.

For an Omega debt-slave, that was not just a cell. That was a sentence she might never escape.

She looked toward the glowing windows of the banquet hall. Through the glass, she could see shadows moving, dresses spinning, glasses raised in celebration. Somewhere inside, Jonas was smiling for his people, accepting congratulations, stepping into the future that had always been waiting for him.

And she was outside in the cold water, searching for a necklace planted by another woman.

"Vicki," Freya whispered in her mind, her teeth chattering. "Can you sense it?"

Her wolf was weak, exhausted, but still there. "The water is too cold, and there are too many scents from the garden. But there is something metallic below us. Near the left side."

Freya drew a shaking breath and forced herself to dive.

The cold seized her again.

She opened her eyes underwater, but everything was blurred and distorted by the pool lights. Her fingers brushed along the tiled bottom, searching between shadows and drain covers while her lungs burned. Twice she came up gasping, only to hear the guards tell her to go back down.

Her arms grew numb.

Her legs started cramping.

The slap mark on her cheek throbbed beneath the freezing water, and every breath felt like broken glass scraping her throat.

Still, she searched.

Because she had no choice.

Because if she failed, Berea would call her a thief, the guards would drag her to prison, and Jonas would never even know she had come to him for help.

On her fourth dive, Freya's fingers finally brushed against something thin and cold near the pool drain.

She grabbed it.

A diamond necklace shimmered in her hand.

Exactly where Berea had known it would be.

Rage and exhaustion twisted together inside her, but she had no air left to feel either properly. She kicked toward the surface with the necklace clenched in her fist.

When she broke through the water again, she was shaking so badly she could barely speak.

"I found it," she choked out, holding up the necklace. "I found your precious necklace."

The guards exchanged a glance.

One of them reached down and snatched it from her hand.

Freya dragged herself toward the edge of the pool. Her arms trembled as she tried to pull herself up, but her soaked uniform weighed her down, and her body had gone weak from the cold.

Neither guard helped her.

She tried again, fingers slipping against the wet stone.

Her breath came in broken gasps. Her wet hair covered half her face, and water streamed from her sleeves onto the terrace. She felt pathetic. Worse, she felt invisible.

Then the air changed.

At first, Freya thought it was the cold making her dizzy.

A scent drifted through the night, rich and intoxicating, cutting through the sharp smell of chlorine and wet stone.

Freya froze.

Her pulse jumped.

The scent grew stronger with every second, wrapping around her senses until the world narrowed to that single overwhelming pull.

"Vicki?" Freya whispered inwardly.

Her wolf surged awake with a force that nearly tore a sob from her throat.

"Mate."

The word hit Freya like lightning.

No.

No, that was impossible.

She had come here for Jonas. She had prayed for Jonas. She had built her last fragile hope around the boy she had loved for years.

But this scent was not Jonas's.

This scent was darker, colder, more dangerous, and far too powerful to belong to anyone she knew.

The guards suddenly straightened.

Their faces changed from boredom to fear.

Freya lifted her head slowly.

A man stood at the terrace entrance, tall and imposing beneath the moonlight.

He wore a custom black suit that fit his broad shoulders with ruthless perfection. His tawny hair caught the silver light, and his cold, piercing eyes swept across the terrace with the kind of authority that made even trained warriors lower their heads without being told.

He was devastatingly handsome.

But there was nothing gentle about him.

Everything about him felt lethal, from the hard line of his jaw to the controlled stillness of his body. A dangerous, oppressive aura rolled off him, heavy enough to make the air itself seem thinner.

The guards immediately bowed their heads.

"Alpha," one of them stammered, his voice shaking. "This Omega was caught stealing. Miss Berea ordered us to-"

The Alpha did not look at him.

His gaze was fixed on Freya.

Freya tried to pull herself out of the pool again, but her strength failed. Her fingers slipped from the wet stone, and she nearly sank back into the water.

In the next second, the Alpha moved.

He crossed the distance so fast Freya barely saw him. Strong arms reached down and lifted her from the pool as if she weighed nothing.

The cold air struck her soaked body, and she shuddered violently.

Before she could collapse, he pulled her against his chest.

Heat surrounded her instantly.

His scent crashed over her again, deeper and more consuming up close. Freya's body went weak in his arms, not only from exhaustion, but from the mate bond roaring awake inside her.

She raised her head with difficulty.

His jaw tightened as he looked at her wet hair, trembling lips, and the red slap mark burning across her cheek.

Then his gaze dropped to the debt collar half-hidden beneath her soaked Omega uniform.

Something dark and terrifying flashed in his eyes.

Freya's throat moved, but no sound came out.

The Alpha leaned closer, his voice low, rough, and full of restrained violence.

"Who did this to you?"

Freya trembled in his arms.

She did not know his name.

She did not know why the Moon Goddess would give her to a stranger who looked powerful enough to ruin kingdoms.

But before she could answer, his eyes locked onto hers, and the word left his lips like a claim written into fate.

"Mate."

The moment Niklaus Lockwood called Freya his mate, the entire terrace seemed to fall into a deadly silence.

The two guards who had thrown Freya into the pool stood frozen beside the water, their faces pale with terror. Only a few minutes ago, they had treated her like a criminal Omega who could be shoved, threatened, and humiliated without consequence. Now she was trembling in the arms of one of the most powerful Alphas in the territory.

His arms tightened around Freya's soaked body, and his cold blue eyes swept over the guards with such crushing pressure that both men dropped to their knees at once.

"Alpha Lockwood," one of them stammered, his forehead nearly touching the wet stone floor. "We didn't know she was your-"

"Mate?" Niklaus finished for him, his voice low and dangerous.

The guard shuddered so violently that his shoulders shook.

Freya leaned weakly against Niklaus's chest. Her soaked Omega uniform clung to her skin, her wet hair stuck to her cheeks, and the slap mark on her face burned painfully beneath the night air. She should have felt embarrassed to be held like this, but his body was so warm, and his scent was so overwhelming, that for a moment she could barely think.

Vicki was restless inside her, pressing toward him with desperate joy.

"Mate."

"Mate."

"Mate."

Freya closed her eyes for half a second.

But was not Jonas.

Niklaus looked down at her. His gaze lingered on her wet hair, her trembling lips, the red mark on her cheek, and finally the debt collar half-hidden beneath her soaked uniform.

His expression darkened.

"Who ordered this?" he asked.

Neither guard dared to answer.

Freya's fingers curled weakly against his suit jacket. "It was... Miss Berea. She said I stole her necklace."

Niklaus's jaw tightened. "Did you?"

"No." Freya's voice was hoarse from cold and humiliation. "She planted it in the pool and made me search for it."

The air around Niklaus turned colder.

Before either guard could beg for mercy, Niklaus lifted Freya fully into his arms and turned toward the banquet hall.

"Alpha Lockwood," one guard cried desperately. "Please, Miss Berea said we should not let her disturb the ceremony-"

Niklaus stopped.

He did not turn around, but the pressure rolling off him was enough to make the guard choke on his next word.

"Then Miss Berea should have chosen a quieter way to die."

Freya's breath caught.

Niklaus carried her through the side doors and back into the Frostwood Pack House.

The music inside the banquet hall faltered first. Then the conversations died one by one as guests turned toward the entrance and saw Niklaus Lockwood walking in with a drenched Omega in his arms.

Freya felt hundreds of eyes fall on her at once.

Her face burned. She instinctively tried to hide against Niklaus's chest, but his arm held her steady, not allowing her to shrink away.

Berea, who had been standing near the refreshment table with her friends, went stiff the moment she saw them. The diamond necklace had already returned to her throat, glittering coldly beneath the lights, but her face lost all color when Niklaus's gaze landed on her.

Jonas stood not far from the center of the hall, surrounded by elders and ranked families. His welcoming smile slowly disappeared.

For a moment, Freya's eyes met his.

Something flickered across Jonas's face. Shock, confusion, and then a darkness she had never seen before. He looked from Freya's soaked body to Niklaus's arms around her, and his expression tightened as if someone had pressed a blade against his ribs.

"Freya?" Jonas said quietly.

Her heart twisted.

That was all she had wanted earlier.

For him to see her.

For him to say her name.

But now it was too late.

Niklaus's voice cut through the hall before Freya could answer. "Who is Berea Maddox?"

The entire room went silent.

Berea's lips trembled, but she quickly forced out a smile and stepped forward. "Alpha Lockwood, I think there has been a misunderstanding. Freya was caught stealing my necklace, and I only asked the guards to-"

"To throw her into a pool?" Niklaus asked.

Berea froze.

"To accuse her of theft during Alpha Jonas's welcome ceremony? To have guards threaten her with prison while you wore the necklace she supposedly stole?"

Berea's friends instantly stepped away from her.

Whispers spread across the hall like sparks catching dry grass.

Berea shook her head quickly. "No, that's not what happened. I only wanted to protect the ceremony. Freya has always been unstable since her father ran away, and everyone knows she is desperate because of her debt. I was afraid she might-"

"Enough."

Niklaus's single word crushed the rest of her explanation.

Berea went pale.

Jonas finally stepped forward. His eyes were fixed on Freya, but his words were directed at Berea. "Is this true?"

Berea looked at him, panic flashing through her eyes. "Alpha Jonas, I was only trying to prevent trouble. She came here dressed as an Omega servant and kept trying to approach you. I thought-"

"You thought humiliating her in front of my guests would please me?" Jonas's voice was calm, but the warmth Freya remembered from childhood was gone.

Berea's mouth opened and closed.

Jonas looked at the wet marks on the floor beneath Freya, then at the red slap mark on her cheek. His expression grew darker.

"I will investigate everything that happened tonight," Jonas said. "If you abused your authority as Beta Maddox's daughter, you will be punished according to pack law."

Berea's face crumpled. "Jonas, I-"

"Alpha Jonas," he corrected coldly.

The room inhaled as one.

Freya should have felt relieved.

A month ago, hearing Jonas defend her would have been enough to make her cry. But now, held in another Alpha's arms and marked by a bond she had never expected, the relief came mixed with something painfully hollow.

Jonas had spoken too late.

Before the tension could settle, a sharp female voice broke through the crowd.

"Niklaus?"

A beautiful brunette in an elegant champagne dress pushed through the guests. Her eyes were wide, her carefully composed face already breaking apart.