Rejected

Veyra POV

Kieran steps closer, lowering his voice so only I can hear. “You should have given me the pack when you had the chance.”

I meet his gaze, my own unwavering. “You should have never betrayed me.”

Turning, I face my father, I have to try and save the pack. My heart slams against my ribs as the weight of his decision presses against me. Of all the people he could give the title to it’s Kieran after he married Lyra. Has he forgotten what her pack did to us?

I straighten my shoulders, my voice cutting through the silence. “You can’t just cast me aside. I am your daughter. I am this pack’s rightful Alpha!”

My father steps forward and towers over me; his presence is suffocating. “You were my daughter. You were meant to be Luna, you were meant to be a wife. Your role was to support your mate. Instead, you chose power over duty, and now, you’re nothing.”

His words send a sharp pain through my chest. I lift my chin, refusing to show it. “You can strip me of the alpha title, but you can’t take away who I am.”

His lip curls. “Oh, I can.”

I don’t have time to react before he raises his voice, his next words sealing my fate.

“From this moment forward, Veyra is no longer of Alpha blood. She is stripped of her rank, her title, and her status within this pack. She will take her place as an omega.”

Gasps echo through the hall. My knees nearly give out. I force my body to fight back as the pain floods through me, his alpha command tearing into me.

Omega. The lowest rank. Treated as little more than a servant, barely above a rogue.

“You can’t do this,” I whisper. My body shakes as the burning intensifies.

“You have no mate. You have no title. You have no claim to this pack. If you wish to stay, you will earn your place like every other omega does.”

Kieran chuckles beside Lyra. “Oh, this is perfect. From Alpha to nothing in a single night. How poetic.”

Lyra smirks. “Don’t worry, Veyra. Maybe we’ll let you clean our quarters. If you beg.”

“Oh, and Veyra?” Kieran grips my chin, and I fight to stay standing through the pain. “I, Kieran Blackthorn of the Nightveil pack, reject you, Veyra Draven of the Dravenwood pack, as my mate.”

A scream erupts from within me, and I fall to my knees. The crushing weight of his rejection burns through me. There’s gasps from people around us.

“No, that will kill her!” Someone’s voice cuts through the room.

“Of course it will, because no alpha, not even a beta, will claim Veyra. Not quick enough to stop the curse.”

I feel my nails dig into my palms, my body trembling with rage, with the need to fight back. Standing, my body shakes harder from the pain.

“As per tradition,” my father continues, “Veyra will enter the Howl for Love trials.”

I stand frozen, my father’s words echoing through my mind like a death sentence.

“Veyra will enter the Howl for Love trials.”

A cold dread seeps into my bones as the weight of his decision settles over me. The Howl for Love trials aren’t about honor. They aren’t about proving oneself. They are a punishment.

A cruel, twisted tradition where omegas are thrown into the arena to fight, not for power, not for freedom, but for the chance to be claimed by a ranked wolf. To survive. It’s all about the show, people get amusement out of watching it. Betting on who will win and who will lose.

Those who fail are cast into exile. Left to the rogues, and left to die.

The murmurs in the hall grow louder, some filled with disbelief, others with sick amusement.

“You can’t be serious!” I shout, my voice rings out.

My father’s expression remains stone-cold. “It is the only place for a disgraced wolf.”

Disgraced, that’s what I am to him now.

Not his daughter. Not the Alpha who trained her entire life. Just another omega, thrown to the wolves, literally.

“You wanted power, Veyra,” he continues. “Now you’ll see what it’s like to have none.”

Kieran lets out a sharp laugh, shaking his head. “Oh, I love this. Veyra, the untouchable Alpha, reduced to nothing more than a desperate little omega, begging to be claimed.”

Lyra sighs dreamily, pressing a hand to her stomach. “I bet she doesn’t last a day.”

The pack watches me, waiting for me to react. Waiting for me to break. I won’t. I lift my chin, keeping my shoulders squared, refusing to show weakness.

Inside, I know the truth. I’m about to be thrown into a bloodbath, I will have to fight to survive, and now, I’m on a time limit. A rejected wolf needs to be claimed to survive the rejection.

The stories are awful, the pain that lasts for months, the way the body becomes harder to control, until shifting becomes the most painful thing.

It’s a slow, painful death for the females who are rejected. I need to run, if I can get far enough away, then I can escape the trials.

Kieran steps closer, lowering his voice just enough that only I can hear. “This is what happens to women who refuse to submit.”

I keep my gaze locked on his, my voice quiet but firm. “This is what happens when men like you fear women like me.”

His smirk falters for just a second, but I don’t wait. I turn and walk toward the doors, ready to leave. To run, to hide if I have to. The burning in my body is worse, from both the rejection and my father stripping me of everything.

“Grab her.” Kieran’s voice is loud, and I run, pushing myself toward the exit to escape. Before I can reach the door, I hear the shot.

My body goes numb and falls to the floor. I can’t move, I can’t do anything. Lyra leans down and gets close to my face. “By the way, enjoy the trials. My brother is there.”

No. I try to scream as I feel the cuffs wrap around my wrists, but nothing comes out. How can they send me there knowing he’s one of the Alpha’s in it? His entire family hates mine!