"Reject me."
The entire hall went silent.
I stared at the man standing in front of me.
The man whose heartbeat I could feel from across the room.
The man whose scent had haunted my dreams since the day I turned eighteen.
My mate.
The Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.
Kael Draven.
My wolf screamed inside my mind.
Don't let him do this.
But I already knew.
He had made his choice.
Kael's cold golden eyes looked at me without a trace of emotion.
"You heard me, Elara."
His voice echoed through the ceremony hall.
"I reject you as my mate."
A sharp pain ripped through my chest.
It wasn't just heartbreak.
It felt like someone had reached inside my body and torn my soul apart.
The bond.
The sacred connection every wolf waited their entire life for.
Was being destroyed by the one person who was supposed to protect it.
The crowd started whispering.
"She wasn't worthy anyway."
"An orphan Luna?"
"She doesn't even know her own bloodline."
I lowered my head.
Not because I was ashamed.
Because I didn't want them to see my tears.
I refused to give them that satisfaction.
"Why?"
The question escaped my lips before I could stop it.
For the first time, Kael's expression changed.
A slight hesitation.
But it disappeared quickly.
"Because I need a Luna who can stand beside me."
His eyes moved over me.
"You are too weak."
My fingers curled into fists.
Weak.
That was the word everyone had used my entire life.
The orphan girl.
The abandoned wolf.
The girl with no family.
No pack.
No power.
Nobody knew the truth.
Nobody knew what happened the night my parents died.
Nobody knew why the strongest wolves in the kingdom feared my bloodline.
Nobody knew why my wolf had never awakened.
Because it wasn't sleeping.
It was waiting.
Waiting for the right moment.
I looked at Kael one last time.
"Congratulations, Alpha."
My voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Your rejection has been accepted."
The moment those words left my mouth...
A deafening roar shook the entire hall.
Everyone froze.
The ancient crystals hanging above us exploded into golden flames.
The elders stepped back in horror.
"No..."
One of them whispered.
"Impossible."
Kael turned around.
"What is happening?"
The old elder stared at me.
His face had lost all color.
"Alpha..."
His voice trembled.
"She wasn't abandoned."
Silence.
"She was hidden."
My heartbeat stopped.
The elder slowly lowered his head.
"Because the last Luna Queen was never killed."
His eyes locked onto mine.
"She was waiting for her daughter to awaken."