Rejected At The Altar, Claimed By The Alpha King

Aysel.

The phrase "And they lived happily ever after" was actually all bullshit. There is no happily ever after. At least for me.

I used to believe I could have a happy ending but I knew that was far fetched as long as Celestine was still around.

So here I was, standing with my mate on our third rescheduled bonding ceremony about to take our blood oath.

I had imagined this moment countless times, when I would finally become Damon's mate in the eyes of every pack in the region.

Damon stood before me, his ceremonial blade already drawn across his own palm. His eyes met mine with that familiar intensity that had once made my heart race. Now, after so many delays, I felt only a hollow anticipation.

"By blood and bond," the Elder intoned, his voice carrying through the grand hall of the Blackwood pack, "let this union be sealed before the ancestors and all who bear witness."

I reached my bleeding hand toward Damon and just as he raised his to meet mine, a scream split the air.

Celestine burst through the doors barefoot in a white dress that trailed behind her. Her dark hair was wild around her face, and her eyes, those eyes that had always looked at me with barely concealed malice, were wide with feigned terror.

"Kael!" she shrieked, stumbling forward. "Kael, you're alive! I knew it! I knew they lied to me!"

My blood continued to drip from my open palm and I saw a flash of triumph in her eyes that only Skylar and I seemed to catch.

She was crying and reaching for my mate with trembling hands.

"Kael, please...I've been so lost without you. Please don't leave me again."

Evelyn, my mother or better still her mother, because she seemed to have forgotten that I was her daughter ever since Celestine came. She gathered Celestine in her arms, stroking her hair with a tenderness she had never shown me.

"My darling, my sweet girl," She murmured, her voice breaking. "You're safe. No one is leaving you."

And then my brother, my older brother, who had always been distant but had never actively chosen against me, also rushed forward.

Damon's hand fell away from mine and he rushed down the dais without even looking at me. He had that guilty expression I had grown to despise.

"Another relapse," he murmured to my mother as he took Celestine from her hands. "I'll handle it."

Relapse? As though she had an illness. As though she wasn't standing there, fully aware of what she was doing and relishing every moment of it.

I almost screamed out. Are you all blind? She is pretending!!! But I knew that if I did that I would be the crazy one.

I watched them gather around her, my mother, my brother, my betrothed and I felt my face burn with humiliation. The assembled guests, representatives from a dozen packs, whispered among themselves. I caught some fragments of their murmurs.

"...poor thing, she never recovered from Kael's death..."

"...Damon is so honorable to care for her like this..."

"...perhaps it's time to reconsider the arrangement. Celestine should be his mate, it's only right..."

"...she was Kael's wife, after all. The brother should..."

Through everything I remembered what Celestine had told me the day before.

She had found me in the garden when I had been alone, trimming the rose bushes my mother had planted when I was a child.

"The ceremony is tomorrow," she had said. "I do hope it goes better than the last two attempts."

I had continued pruning, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a reaction. "It will."

"Will it?" She had circled me slowly, "You know, Aysel, I've always admired your persistence. It's almost admirable, how you keep trying even when everyone knows you'll fail."

"Everyone?" I had stopped pruning then, turning to face her. "Is that what you think?"

Her smile had been a beautiful, terrible thing. "I don't think it, cousin. I know it. Damon will always choose me. It doesn't matter that you've been promised since childhood. It doesn't matter that you want this match. What matters is that I am Kael's widow, and Damon owes me. He will always owe me."

"You're not even trying to hide it anymore."

"Why would I?" She had laughed. "Who would believe you? You're the jealous cousin, the bitter girl who couldn't accept that her betrothed's heart belonged to someone else. They'll see what I want them to see, a grieving widow, a woman driven mad by loss. And you'll be the villain, just like you always were."

I had gripped my shears so tightly my knuckles turned white. "You don't love him. You never even loved Kael."

"Love?" She had tilted her head, considering the word as though it were a foreign concept. "Perhaps not. But I love what he represents. Power. Position. And I will not let you take that from me, little cousin. Tomorrow, when I interrupt your precious ceremony, I will make certain everyone sees you for what you truly are."

"People will see through it..."

"No one would see through it." She had stepped closer. "By this time tomorrow, Damon will be mine. He will reject you in front of everyone, and you will be left with nothing. Just as you deserve."

I had stood frozen as she walked away

"See you at the ceremony, cousin. Try not to cry too hard when it all falls apart."

Now, watching her performance unfold, I realized she had been right about everything.

Celestine was wailing now, clutching at Damon's clothes with desperate hands. "Kael, why are you wearing your brother's clothes? Why are you pretending to be Damon?" She looked wildly around the hall, her eyes landing on me. "Who is she? Kael, tell me who she is!"

Damon knelt beside her, trying to calm her dow. "Celestine, look at me. I'm not Kael. Kael is gone. I'm Damon, remember?"

"No!" She recoiled as though struck. "You're lying! You're trying to trick me!" Her gaze found me again, and this time the malice was unmistakable, though only I could see it. "Is it her? Are you leaving me for her?"

Gasps rippled through the crowd. I heard someone whisper, "The poor thing can't even understand what's happening. How cruel of Lady Aysel to continue with the ceremony knowing Celestine's condition."

Damon glanced at me then with a pleading look in his eye. He was telling me to be patient like always.

I had seen that look so many times over three years. Now, I felt nothing but despair. I didn't even feel angry, that would have required energy I no longer possessed nor sadness because that would have required tears, and I had cried so many over Celestine's manipulations that I had none left.

So it was just despair.

"You need to reject her," Celestine was saying."Kael, if you love me, you'll reject her right now. Tell her you choose me. Tell her..."

"Celestine, you're not well.." Evelyn began.

"Reject her!"

Damon was going to do it. I could see it in his posture, in the way he glanced at me with that apologetic expression, already preparing his excuses.

The blood had dried now but my wedding gown was ruined.

I remembered the day Celestine arrived, a thin, frightened girl of eleven, clutching a single bag. Her parents had died in a border fight, and my mother had taken her in without hesitation. She had been so determined to make Celestine feel welcome.

I had tried, too. I had shown her my room, introduced her to my dolls and offered to share my sweets. She had smiled at me and thanked me with such sweet sincerity that I would never had believed that she didn't like me.

It had taken years for me to understand that my cousin hated me. She had slowly turned my family against me, starting with my brother, then my mother, and finally my father who was also by her side right now. She played the victim so perfectly that no one ever questioned her.

And then she had mated with Kael because he was the heir to the Blackwood pack. Now she wanted to take Damon, too. And she was succeeding.

Skylar, my best friend who was standing beside me, couldn't stand it anymore.

She burst through the crowd, her face contorted with rage. "This is lies! Can't any of you see what she's doing? She's faking it! She was completely fine yesterday... I saw her laughing in the garden...."

Celestine screamed as though she had been struck, clutching at Damon's arm. "She's attacking me! Kael, make her stop!"

Damon moved before I could react, shoving Skylar away with more force than was necessary. My friend stumbled backward and her head struck the edge of a pillar as she fell to the floor.

"Skylar!"

I rushed forward and fell to my knees beside Skylar. There was blood, so much blood, and I pressed my hand to the wound. She sat up with a dazed look.

"Skylar, are you okay?" I asked franctically.

She tried to smile "Aysel... I'm fine, as okay as anyone with a head wound can be."

"Okay, stop talking. Let's take you to a healer."

Celestine was still wailing, still demanding rejection. "Kael, you have to choose! Please! I can't bear it...I can't bear watching you with someone else!"

Damon was torn, I could see it in his eyes. He wasn't cruel but Celestine's hold on him was firm, forged in guilt and obligation.

"I," he began in a strained voice, "Kael Blackwood...."

But I was done with this. I was done with all of this!

"Damon," I cut in.

Damon turned to me startled.

I looked at him, with cold bitterness. "I, Aysel Stormborn, reject you Damon Blackwood as my mate." I finished.

Aysel

I watched Damon's face shift through a series of expressions I couldn't bring myself to care about. Shock first, then confusion, then something that might have been panic.

But I ignored them.

I tried to hoist Skylar up but I couldn't and because I knew no one was going to help me so I tried again, drawing strength from inside. I hooked one arm beneath Skylar's shoulders, ignoring the blood that soaked through my torn wedding gown, and hoisted her up into my back.

"Aysel..." Skylar gasped, "What are you..."

"Save your strength," I said through gritted teeth.

Behind us, I heard Damon call out to me in alarm. "Aysel! Wait!"

I turned but Celestine's hand shot out to grab his arm with surprising force. "Kael, don't leave me. Please, I need you. I need..."

Damon turned back to her with a torn expression on his grace.

I let out a bitter laugh. Damon could chase after me, or he could stay and soothe her hysterics. He couldn't do both and he would never choose me.

I left the hall, half-carrying Skylar down the corridor. My feet stumbled over the hem of my ruined gown, but I didn't slow.

"Aysel, slow down," Skylar pleaded, her voice weak. "I can walk, I promise..."

"Not yet." My jaw ached from clenching it. "Just a little further."

We rounded the corner, leaving the main building behind, and I dragged us both into the forested area that bordered the Blackwood estate and suddenly my knees gave out. I tried to catch myself, but I fell hard with Skylar tumbling beside me. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs, and I lay there for a moment, staring up at the canopy of leaves through blurred vision.

Then I began to sob.

The tears came out uncontrollably. All the years of humiliation, cruelty, all the moments I had been dismissed and overlooked and betrayed, it all came flooding out. I pressed my hands to my face, but I couldn't stop the sounds that tore from my throat.

"I'm sorry," I choked out. "I'm so sorry, Sky. Your head..."

"Stop." Skylar cut in. "Just stop, Aysel."

I felt her arms wrap around me and she held me as I sobbed, her hand stroking my hair with a tenderness I hadn't felt from anyone in years.

"Aysel," she murmured, "listen to me. Something better is waiting for you. I know it. This wasn't your happily ever after, but that's okay. There's something else out there. Something that won't make you feel like this."

I wanted to tell her that I believe her but before I could form a

But before I could even form a response, I felt a prickle on my spine.

I snapped my head up, and I shoved Skylar away with enough force that she tumbled backward against a tree trunk. Her eyes widened with shock, but I was already scrambling to my feet, my body moving on pure instinct.

"Run, Sky!" I shouted. "Run, now!"

Three figures emerged from the shadows between the trees. I recognized the emblem on their clothing there were from the Shadow Fang pack. Damon's enemies. My enemies by extension.

I threw myself in front of Skylar. "Stay behind me!"

The first attacker lunged. I swung wildly, catching him across the jaw, but the blow barely staggered him. His companion came at me from the side, and I felt claws rake across my shoulder, tearing through the already ruined fabric of my gown.

I screamed and stumbled backward into Skylar. She caught me, her hands gripping my arms.

"Aysel!" she cried. "Your shoulder-"

"Run!" I shoved her again, but she refused to budge. "Skylar, please, just go!"

The attackers surrounded us, three against two. I could hear the distant sounds from the chapel. They were too far. They wouldn't hear me. They wouldn't help me.

I opened my mouth to scream anyway, to try one last desperate plea but a hand clamped over my mouth.

I thrashed against the grip, my eyes wild as I looked past the trees toward the chapel. I could see Damon carrying Celestine in his arms. My mother was beside him, her hand resting on Celestine's shoulder saying something I couldn't hear.

Celestine kept looking over Damon's back towards our direction in the bushes. Why was she doing that? Did she know something was going to happen? Did she plan this.

I had no time to dwell on that because one of the attackers hissed in my ear. "Your mate doesn't seem to care much about you,"

My vision began to blur at the edges and then I saw one of them turn toward Skylar.

"No!" I tried to lunge forward, but the arms around me held fast. "Don't touch her! She has nothing to do with this!"

"Doesn't she?" The attacker laughed. "She seemed so precious to you."

He unsheathed his claws and was about to swipe Skylar when I let out a low guttural growl. I felt a warm heat spread to my body and the pain on my shoulders slowly faded.

I began to feel an immerse pain deep in my bones and I heard them crack.

The three attackers stumbled backward, their confidence evaporating in an instant. The man who grabbed Skylar screamed as I or whatever was empowering me, launched myself at him.

I slashed his throat and his scream died in his throat. The rest of them fled into the forest and I tried to follow them but something warm fell over my head.

It smelt like cedar and the smell of the earth after it just rained. The scent wrapped around me and soothed my body which was pumped with adrenaline. I pulled it and found out it was a large jacket.

"Cover yourself," a voice said.

I whirled around, to see the silhouette of s man already moving past me to chase after the fleeing attackers. I caught only a glimpse of broad shoulders, dark hair, and the glint of something metallic at his hip.

He was gone before I could open my mouth.

I looked down at myself. My wedding gown was torn beyond repair, the fabric hanging in ribbons from my shoulders. One of my sleeves had been completely ripped away and it was safe to say that I had almost flashed my attackers.

I immediately buttoned it over my ruined dress. It was far too large, the sleeves hanging past my hands, but it was warm.

Who was he?

"Aysel." Skylar's voice was weak but conscious. "Are you okay? What the fuck just happened? Who the hell was that man?"

"Okay, hold your horses. I have no idea what happened." I said, turning back to stare into the darkness where he had disappeared. "I don't know who that man was. He threw me his jacket and then... then he chased them."

"A man?" Skylar struggled to sit up. "One of the attackers?"

"I don't know." I shook my head, forcing myself to focus. "I don't know who he is or what he wants. You go get help and I will check if he is one of the attackers."

"Are you crazy?" Skylar asked, looking at me like I had grown two heads.

"What if he is one of them?"

"That's what I need to find out." That and who he is.

"Aysel, you can barely stand. You've got injuries on your back." She pointed out.

"I'm fine, Skylar. Just get back to the pack and go get help. And some treatment."

She sighed exasperatedly. "You are not even listening to me. If you're not back in an hour, I'll come looking for you."

I nodded "Okay. Try not to get into trouble."

"Me?" Skylar's weak laugh was cut short by a wince. "You're the one chasing a mysterious stranger into the woods while wearing a blood-soaked wedding gown and a borrowed jacket."

I snorted and turned toward the direction the man had gone to give chase.

Magnus

I had been in Moon Valley for three days before the wedding ceremony.

I didn't come out of my room much. I was only here because of Kael. I walked to the window and stared out at the estate. It's been five years since he died. Five years, and the wound still bled like it was fresh.

"Nathaniel," I called.

My Beta appeared in the doorway. He was a good man, loyal to a fault, but sometimes I caught him looking at me with worry in his eyes. He thought I was losing myself to grief. Maybe I was.

"Alpha," he said. "The ceremony starts in two hours."

"I know," I said. "I'm going to the lake for a walk."

Nathaniel's brow furrowed. "The lake? Alpha, with respect, that's not on the grounds of the ceremony. You'll miss the..."

"I know what I'll miss." I turned from the window, and the look on my face must have been enough because Nathaniel closed his mouth and bowed his head.

"Of course, Alpha. Should I send warriors with you?"

"No. I would like to be alone."

I thought of the last time I had seen Kael, he had been so in love with his mate even when I warmed him that something was off about her. But Kael had always believed in the goodness of people. It was what made him a great warrior and a terrible judge of character.

"And watch for anything that seems out of place," I said. "I'll be back before nightfall."

The lake was still the same. The trees around it had grown taller in the years since I had last been here.

I sat down on the large flat rock near the water's edge. Kael and I had sat here a hundred times, sharing stories and whiskey and dreams of the future. Until Celestine had come along, and everything had changed.

I picked up a smooth stone and skipped it across the lake.

"I can't believe you are really gone, Kael. And I'm left trying to figure out what actually happened to you," I said aloud.

They had told me that Kael's death was caused by a rogue wolf who attacked, and Kael had been too slow to defend himself.

But I didn't believe it.

Kael had been the strongest wolf I had ever known. He could take down a full-grown bear with nothing but his claws. There was no way a single rogue wolf had killed him.

Unless someone had helped it.

Of course, Celestine was my first suspect. The woman was an expert at manipulation. Immediately after Kael's death, she clung to Damon like a leech.

And poor, foolish Damon who was Kael's younger brother, was busy nursing his guilt towards the woman who had probably killed his brother.

The ceremony was starting soon but I had only come to Moon Valley to say goodbye to my friend properly.

"I'm going to find the truth," I said. "I swear it. Whatever it takes. Whoever I have to destroy. I'll find out what happened to you, Kael."

The sun was starting to set when I finally stood up to leave but a scent stopped me in my tracks.

It was faint and it sent a jolt through my body that made my wolf shudder.

"The scent of the werewolf king." Mael, my wolf said.

That can't be possible. It had been nearly a century since anyone had smelled the werewolf king's bloodline. The last bearer had died in the Great War, and the bloodline had been scattered. Every Alpha, every warrior, every ambitious wolf who dreamed of ultimate power had hunted for the bloodline.

The scent was sweet and sharp, like honey and lemon mixed together. It filled me with the instinctive need to submit.

I began to follow the scent and it led me away towards the chapel around the forested area that bordered the estate. I moved quietly, scanning the darkness for any sign of movement. The scent was getting stronger and it was mixed with the smell of blood.

I was close to the edge of the forest when I saw three rogues, from their smell, surrounding a familiar woman in a torn white gown. I recognized her as Damon's mate. Aysel Stormborn. She was standing in front of another woman, her arms spread wide to shield her from the attackers.

She was outnumbered three to one but she didn't seem scared at all. I realized that the scent was pouring off her in waves. The rogues took a half-step back, their bodies instinctively responding to the presence of something greater than themselves.

I watched as Aysel launched herself at the nearest attacker.

She was faster than any wolf I had ever seen. Her claws slashed the throat of the one closest to her and the remaining two rogues fled into the forest.

Aysel was about to follow them but I pulled my jacket off and moved towards her without thinking. Her dress was barely hanging on her body. She was about to run half-naked into the forest, chasing her attackers.

She was so focused on her pursuit that she didn't hear me coming. I lifted the jacket and dropped it over her head, covering her exposed body.

"Cover yourself," I said.

She whirled around, her eyes wide with surprise. I was already moving past her, to chase the fleeing rogues. I caught only a glimpse of her face before I disappeared into the trees. Green eyes with brown curly hair.

She was beautiful.

But that wasn't what interested me.

What interested me was the power I had just felt pulsing through her veins. Her blood could bring me the truth about Kael's death.

I caught the first rogue near the stream. He was slow and clumsy, his fear making him sloppy. I took him down with a single blow. The second one was faster, but not fast enough. I caught him against a tree and squeezed his throat until he went limb in my hands.

Someone had hired them to hurt Aysel Stormborn.

I turned to walk back toward her but she was already standing behind me with my jacket buttoned and a suspicious look on her face.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

I rose an eyebrow. She wasn't even thanking me for saving her but then she hadn't asked me to.

"Magnus," I said. "Magnus Ashford."

Her eyes widened slightly and she stepped back. "You are the Alpha of shadowbane. What are you doing here?"

"I was invited to the wedding." I nodded toward my jacket, where the invitation was still tucked in the pocket. "The one you just walked out of."

She reached into the jacket and pulled out the invitation. I watched her face change when she saw her name printed next to Damon's. Pain? Loss? It was gone before I could name it.

"Why did you give me your jacket," she asked.

"I was saving a damsel in distress dignity, is that a crime?" I replied.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. "So you're not working with them."

"If I were working with them, I wouldn't have saved you. And those rogues could never afford a suit like this."

She looked down at the jacket, then back at me. Her eyes narrowed. "Why did you save me?"

I could have told her the truth about how the scent of her bloodline had pulled me to her but something told me she wouldn't appreciate being treated like a resource.

"You remind me of someone I used to know."

"You should leave," she said finally. "This place isn't safe for you."

"It's not safe for you either."

She smiled bitterly at that. "I know."

She turned away from me and walked away.

Nathaniel found me twenty minutes later with two of my warriors behind him.

"Alpha," he said. "We smelt the blood. Are you injured?"

"I'm fine."

I looked toward the direction the wedding had been held. "I want you to find out everything you can about Aysel Stormborn."

"Aysel?" Nathaniel frowned. "The bride?"

"Everything," I repeated. "Her history. Her family. Her connection to Celestine. I want to know every detail."

Nathaniel nodded, "Of course, Alpha. But... what are we looking for?"

"I don't know yet." I turned away from the clearing. "But I'll know it when I see it."