THE ROGUE ALPHA'S REJECTED MATE

“You are my mate.”

I always thought the Moon Goddess hated me.

But this? This was beyond hatred. This was punishment.

Lorcan was the last person I could ever accept. The Alpha’s son—The boy born with a crown on his head and blood on his hands. The golden heir everyone feared… or followed.

And me?

The cursed girl born without a wolf. The one he paraded as proof that weakness should be crushed.

For years, he made breaking me his favorite sport.

He used to shove me into lockers, sneering with that smug, perfect face. Called me “Broken Wolf” in front of the whole training ground when I failed to shift at thirteen. Laughed when I bled during sparring, like pain somehow made me weak.

I still remember the crack of his boot against my ribs. The way his friends—Vaerin and Damian—howled with laughter as I gasped for breath in the dirt. No one ever stepped in. Because no one dared stand between me and the future Alpha.

I spent years surviving the storm that was Lorcan. Brick by brick, I built walls to keep him—and everyone else—out.

And now the Moon Goddess had the audacity to say he was mine?

“That’s a sick joke,” I snapped, voice sharp enough to draw blood. “Even for you.”

But this time, he wasn’t grinning.

“I didn’t ask for this,” he said. “My wolf started reacting to you last week. I thought it was a mistake. But now it’s obvious.”

“So what?” I snapped. “You think I’ll roll over because we’re ‘fated’?”

“I don’t need you to roll over,” he said. “I brought you out here to tell you face to face. I’m not claiming you. I don’t care what the Goddess says.”

Good. Because if he had, I might’ve torn his throat out with my teeth.

This conversation wouldn’t even be happening if I’d made it out of the pack when I was supposed to. But I didn’t. Because Lorcan got to me first…

I had only gone to grab the last of my supplies—just a quick trip behind the shed before I disappeared for good.

I didn’t hear him coming—maybe I was too distracted. Too shaken.

Either way, I never made it to the tree line. But the moment I bent down, a cloth slammed over my mouth.

The sting of wolfsbane hit first—sharp, metallic, like burning ice in my throat.

Before I could fight back, a bag was yanked over my head, my wrists tied behind me. I was gagged, blind, and thrown over someone’s shoulder like dead weight.

By the time the bag was ripped off and the gag pulled down, I was already on my knees.

But I didn’t have to see his face to know who stood in front of me.

Lorcan.

And behind him, his shadows—Vaerin and Damian—stood smirking like this was a joke only they were allowed to enjoy.

“You might’ve been tolerable,” Lorcan said, tilting his head, “if someone had broken that spine of yours years ago.”

My jaw clenched, fury bubbling just beneath my skin.

“But now? You’re a liability. And liabilities?” His lips curled into something cruel. “They get cut loose.”

“I’d rather die than submit to you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” he replied coldly. “You don’t get it. The pack’s already tearing itself apart. If they find out I’m mated to you—the cursed one? I won’t be Alpha.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” I spat. “We clearly don’t want each other. So break the bond and let’s both move on.”

“Move on?” Lorcan scoffed, voice dripping with venom. “And risk the pack finding out I was mated to a broken wolf? Nah. I don’t think so.”

He stepped back—and Damian and Vaerin stepped forward. One on each side. Close enough that their heat pressed against my skin. Wolves to either side of me, their hackles raised, low growls rumbling in their chests.

Every hair on my body stood on edge. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

“You want to protect your reputation? Fine. I’ll disappear. No one has to know we were ever mated.”

Lorcan’s eyes gleamed. “I’m afraid I can’t. See, in order for me to be free of this bond... you have to die.”

The words hit like a slap. My breath caught just because of what he said

“And here’s the funny part,” he added, almost laughing. “I can’t kill my own mate—not directly. The bond won’t let me. But that doesn’t mean you’ll live.”

He stepped closer, his voice dropping to something silk-soft and poisonous.

“I won’t carry that shame,” he murmured. “I won’t let the pack whisper that I was ever tied to a cursed, shiftless disgrace. So no... I won’t kill you.”

He leaned in, his breath brushing my skin, lips cruelly close to my ear.

“But I’ll have someone else do it. Quiet. Clean. And when they find your body, they’ll think you ran off and got yourself torn apart by rogues.”

Lorcan grabbed hold of my chin, turning it so I was facing him. “No one will ever know you were mine.”

I didn’t wait to hear what came next. I ran.

Because if I didn’t, I wasn’t getting out alive.