Rejected by the Alpha, Embraced by Fate

The scent of vanilla and cinnamon filled the cottage kitchen as I pulled the small birthday cake from the oven. Twenty-five candles—I'd counted them twice, my hands trembling slightly as I arranged them in neat rows. Today was supposed to be different. Today, Joaquin had promised, would finally be the day we completed our marking ceremony.

Seven years. Seven years of waiting, of being patient, of understanding why an Alpha needed time to make such an important decision. The mate bond thrummed beneath my skin, that constant pull toward him that had defined my existence since I'd returned to pack life at eighteen. Late bloomer, they'd called me then. The girl who hadn't shifted until the scandal broke, revealing I was the true Alpha's daughter, switched at birth with June Price.

I smoothed my hands over the deep blue dress I'd chosen carefully—Joaquin's favorite color. The fabric hugged my curves in all the right places, and I'd spent an hour perfecting the loose waves in my dark hair. Everything had to be perfect for tonight.

The front door opened with a familiar creak, and my heart leaped. His scent reached me first—pine and leather, with that underlying musk that made my wolf purr with contentment. But something was off. The usual warmth was muted, replaced by something that made my stomach clench with unease.

"Alani?" Joaquin's voice carried from the entryway, formal in a way that made my skin prickle.

"In the kitchen!" I called back, forcing brightness into my tone as I lit the candles with shaking fingers.

When he appeared in the doorway, my breath caught. Even after all these years, Joaquin Morgan commanded attention without effort. Tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair that perpetually looked like he'd run his fingers through it and those piercing green eyes that could make me forget my own name. Tonight, though, those eyes held something that made my chest tight with dread.

"Happy birthday to me," I whispered, gesturing to the cake with a smile that felt brittle on my lips.

He didn't smile back. Instead, he ran a hand through his hair—a tell I'd learned meant he was about to deliver bad news. My wolf whimpered, sensing the shift in his energy.

"We need to talk." His voice was gentle, but there was steel underneath that made my knees weak.

"Can it wait? I thought maybe we could—" I gestured vaguely between us, hope clinging to my words like morning mist.

"Alani." The way he said my name, soft but final, made the candle flames blur through sudden tears. "Sit down."

I remained standing, my hands gripping the counter behind me. "Just say it, Joaquin. Whatever it is, just say it."

He took a step closer, and I caught another scent clinging to him—something floral and cloying that definitely wasn't mine. My wolf snarled, recognizing the threat before my conscious mind could process it.

"June is back." Two words that shattered my world like glass.

June Price. The woman who'd lived my life for eighteen years, raised as the Alpha's daughter while I grew up believing I was nobody special. The woman who'd been Joaquin's chosen mate before fate intervened and made me his fated one.

"She's... struggling," Joaquin continued, his eyes not quite meeting mine. "The transition back to pack life hasn't been easy for her. She needs stability, familiarity."

"What does that have to do with us?" But even as I asked, ice was forming in my veins because I already knew.

"She needs to stay in the pack house. Just temporarily, until she gets back on her feet emotionally." He took another step forward, reaching for me, but I jerked away from his touch. "I need you to move to the cottage on the east side of the grounds. It's comfortable, private—"

"You want me to leave our home." The words came out flat, emotionless, because feeling anything right now would break me completely.

"It's temporary," he said quickly, desperately. "A few weeks at most. Once June stabilizes—"

"On my birthday." I looked down at the cake, at the twenty-five candles slowly melting into colorful puddles of wax. "You're asking me to leave our home on my twenty-fifth birthday."

"Alani, please. Try to understand. As Alpha, I have responsibilities—"

"And what about your responsibilities to me?" The question tore from my throat, raw and broken. "What about our marking ceremony? What about the promises you made?"

For a moment, his composure cracked, and I saw something that might have been regret flicker across his features. But then the Alpha mask slipped back into place, cold and immovable.

"This is bigger than us right now. June is fragile, and if she breaks completely, it could destabilize relations between the packs. You're strong, Alani. You can handle this."

Strong. Always strong. Strong enough to wait seven years for a marking that never came. Strong enough to be pushed aside for the woman who'd stolen my childhood. Strong enough to smile and nod and pretend my heart wasn't being carved from my chest with a dull blade.

"How long?" I whispered.

"A few weeks. Maybe a month. I promise, as soon as she's stable, you'll come home and we'll have our ceremony."

Another promise. Another delay. Another reason why I wasn't quite enough, wasn't quite ready, wasn't quite the priority I'd foolishly believed myself to be.

I blew out the candles in one long breath, watching the smoke curl toward the ceiling like the remnants of my shattered dreams.

"I'll pack tonight," I said quietly.

Relief flooded his features, and that hurt worst of all—that my capitulation brought him comfort instead of the pain it should have if he truly loved me.

"Thank you," he said, stepping forward to press a kiss to my forehead. "I knew you'd understand. This is why you're going to make such an incredible Luna."

But as he left me alone with my melted candles and broken birthday wishes, I wondered if I'd ever actually get the chance to find out.