Betrayed by the Alpha, Desired by the Lycan

KATIA

“I, Alpha Carl, reject you, Princess Katia, as my wife, and Luna. From this moment on, you are no longer a privileged royal, but a slave.”

All the eyes in the chamber turned to us- the newly wedded couple of a powerful alliance- with confusion written across every face.

But Carl wasn't finished with his public humiliation. Not yet.

For the first time today, he looked at me. Really looked at me. But there was no warmth in his eyes. Just pure coldness.

Like I was an obstacle, or worse, an enemy.

“I will never be tied down to one woman,” he said coldly. “Especially not to you Katia.”

Just hours ago, my heart pounded with dread and duty as I walked towards the altar.

My marriage with Alpha Carl of Leavenworth Pack had been the most talked-about event in the entire wolf dynasty.

Since I was a child, the idea of me being the key to a successful alliance has been drilled into me. Taught not to take it as a burden, but as a fulfillment of my duty.

So I learned to silence my desires. I learned to push away the dreams of the faceless man I longed for—the one who visits me night after night in my sleep.

There were other suitors. Men of status. Men of wealth. Men with lands that stretched farther than the eye could see. But my uncle—King Simon, my father’s younger brother—chose Carl.

He insisted we have been bound together from the very beginning of our lives, and must fulfil destiny.

But I should have known better, this wasn't about fulfilling destiny or an alliance. He wanted me gone. Far from the throne of Cambridge. Hidden in another land where I could never challenge him.

Now, here I am with my husband on the night of our wedding surrounded by witnesses of our potential consummation, with another woman in his bed.

“What are you saying, Carl? We just got married,” I finally found my voice after minutes of back and forth stares between the both of us.

“Exactly what you heard, Katia. I'm rejecting you,” he said again. His words brought a huge pain in my heart that I didn't know was there.

He smoothed the hair of the woman with him, drawing her closer to him with a sickening tenderness. I stared at her with anger, and fury in my heart.

My heart may not belong to Carl, but alliances are never done with the heart. I have a duty to my people.

“What about our duty, the alliance?” I asked. “My people…my uncle won't stand for this,” I said to him, trying to keep my voice steady as possible.

“My dear Katia,” he interrupted with a mocking smile, “your uncle doesn’t care.”

He walked slowly toward me, and my body tensed.

He reached for the necklace around my throat—my family’s crest, a symbol of our bloodline. My birthright.

“No—”

Snap.

The chain broke under his grip. He dropped it on the marble floor like it meant nothing.

I dropped to my knees, scrambling for it. My handmaidens rushed to help, but we were too late. It was already damaged.

“That necklace has been in my family for centuries,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes as I stood again. “How could you?”

Carl didn’t answer. Instead, he yanked the silver tiara from my head and hurled it out the open window.

“What are you doing?!” I cried, rushing toward the window. But before I could reach it, Carl’s hand shot out, grabbing my wrist tightly.

“I’m not done with you.”

His voice was like ice. My stomach twisted with dread.

Why was he doing this? He had rejected me. He had humiliated me. What more did he want?

“I’m not letting you go,” he said, as if he had read my mind. “What would happen to the alliance if I just let you go?” He asked with a smirk on his lips.

He can't be serious about keeping me here. “You can't keep me here,” I said. “When my uncle finds out…”

“Your uncle isn't going to find out,” he cuts me off, and immediately armed guards walk into the chambers.

Before I could even react, each of my handmaidens was seized—roughly, violently.

“What are you doing?! Let them go!” I screamed.

Carl laughed. “You don’t give orders here, Princess Katia. Or... should I say... not princess anymore.”

He stepped closer and gripped the ceremonial robe draped over my shoulders. With one brutal motion, he tore it off me.

My handmaidens cried out, struggling to release themselves from the grip of the guards to help me.

“You are no longer royalty. No longer Luna. No longer a wife.” Carl’s voice dripped with cruel satisfaction. “You are just Katia. My slave.”

I stared at him, breathing hard, trembling. It's taking everything in me, not to gouge that smirk off his face.

“I have people here,” I said. “They’ll fight for me.”

Carl turned to one of the guards. “Where are they?”

“Sedated. Locked in the tombs, my Alpha.”

My breath caught.

This was his plan all along.

Bring me here under the illusion of marriage. Break me. Imprison my people. Take everything from me.

“You’ll regret this,” I whispered. “I swear to the Goddess, Carl. You will regret this.”

He leaned in, voice low and deadly.

“If you even think of escaping, I’ll kill one of your household. Try again, and I’ll kill another. And another. Until there’s no one left.”

Tears welled in my eyes, but I forced myself not to cry. Not in front of him.

“I understand,” I said quietly, my voice hoarse.

“Good.” He smirked. “We’re off to a great start.”

A guard handed him a plain, scratchy cloth. Carl dropped it at my feet.

“This is what you’ll wear from now on. The cloth of a slave.”

I stared at it. I wanted to scream. To claw at his face. To fight until the last breath in my body.

But I thought of my people. My loyal servants. My innocent guards. They would suffer if I resisted.

I picked up the cloth.

Carl waited, watching me like a predator.

I met his gaze and spoke the words I never imagined I’d say:

“I, Princess Katia of Cambridge, accept your rejection, Alpha Carl of Leavenworth.”