The Rejected Moonborn Queen

Ariella Quinn's POV

"I Am Nothing" when the air is ice against my skin. Even the moon hides behind the clouds tonight, like it's ashamed to witness what's about to happen.

I stood at the edge of the ceremony circle, my body trembling. My dress is too thin for the cold, a hand-me-down I dug out of the donation pile behind the pack house. It hangs off me like it doesn't want to touch me either.

Everyone's already here...standing in perfect, glowing formation. Beautiful wolves who have shifted. Proud warriors. Even the young ones sparkle with promise, and then there's me.

Wolf-less. Useless. Unworthy.

The whispers start again. Hushed but sharp. They cut deeper than claws. "She's cursed," "She still hasn't shifted? Pathetic."

"She's seventeen years old. She shouldn't even be here."

My throat burns. I forced my eyes down. Bare feet. Cracked toes. Mud clinging to my skin is like the only thing that wants me.

I don't belong. I never have.

I press my arms tight against my sides, trying to hold myself together, but the truth is already unraveling me. I'm the only one in the Crescent Fang Pack who hasn't shifted. My wolf... she never came.

And now, tonight...the Rejection Ceremony...I'm the disgrace everyone's been waiting to exile.

"Fate Betrays Me"

A hush falls over the crowd. I don't even have to look up I feel him. The shift in the wind. The crackle in the air. Every heartbeat slows to match his steps.

Alpha Kael Damaris.

He steps into the circle like he owns the world. And maybe he does. His presence is impossible to ignore...tall, broad-shouldered, wrapped in black leather and raw power. His golden eyes scanned the crowd once... then landed on me.

My heart stutters. He stops walking. The crowd goes still. His eyes narrowed. His nostrils flare. And then...oh moon...everything inside me explodes.

A pull so strong it nearly knocks me off my feet. My breath catches. My skin heats and my soul sings.

Mate. My mate. Alpha Kael is my mate.

A wild flutter rises in my chest. Maybe...maybe the Goddess hasn't forgotten me. Maybe this is my turning point. Maybe everything changes now. But then his face twists. His lip curls. His golden eyes darken with hate.

"You?" he snarls, his voice full of venom. "You're my mate?"

The world stops spinning. "What?" I whisper, barely able to speak. Kael steps closer, towering over me. "This is a joke. "The Goddess made a mistake." The crowd murmurs, hungry for blood.

Kael's jaw clenches. "I reject you," he says, his voice like a blade. Right now. You're too weak. Too broken.

The ground crumbles beneath me. Gasps ripple through the pack. Laughter follows. Cruel. Loud. Like a thousand wolves howling at my pain. My knees give out. I hit the dirt.

I can't breathe. It's like something's been ripped out of me...like my soul is bleeding.

I opened my mouth, but no words come out. Just air and agony. My mate...he rejected me. In front of everyone. And the bond...weakened, broken, barely formed...is already fading, unraveling like mist.

"Banished and Broken"

Alpha Kael turns his back like I don't exist. He raises a hand. "She is banished," he declares. "From this moment, she is not one of us."

Cheers erupt. Some howl in victory and others spit near my feet. "No..." I whisper. "Please..."

I tried to crawl toward him, but my body's too heavy. My fingers dig into the dirt. My vision blurs.

"Wait...please..." I choke, barely audible.

No one moves. No one helps. Not even my so-called aunt, who raised me after my parents died. She just stares at me, blank-faced. As if I'm already a ghost. The Beta, a brute named Calder, snarls, "Get her out of here." Hands grab me. Rough. Angry.

They drag me across the ground like trash, my knees scraping on the stones. My arms flail. My nails break. My skin tears and I scream. It doesn't matter.

The wind cuts into me like knives. My dress shreds. My dignity disappears with every tug, every jeer, every word of mockery thrown like stones. I twist my head back for one last look.

Kael. Still in the center of the circle. Still standing tall. He doesn't blink. He doesn't care. I scream again...raw, broken. But even the moon refuses to listen.

"The Cold Beyond the Border"

"They dump me at the border like garbage. "This is mercy," Calder sneers. "You should be thanking us."

I didn't answer. I can't. My body is bruised. My soul is shredded. My mate...the one person who was supposed to love me no matter what...threw me away like I was nothing.

The border glows with faint runes. Once I cross it, I'm no longer protected by pack law. Rogue territory lies beyond. Death lives there. And worse. The guards turn and leave without another word.

I lie there, motionless, as the night grows darker. I have no wolf, no family, no pack, no mate. I am... nothing. I drag myself forward. One crawl. Then another. Each movement feels like a scream. But I won't die here. Not like that. I crossed the border.

Something cold settles over me. The bond to the pack...severed. My connection to everything I ever knew... gone. I collapsed. A howl echoes in the distance. But it's not friendly. Eyes flash between the trees. Yellow and Red. Hungry.

Something is coming. I am going to try to rise. My legs fail. Branches snap. The darkness stirs. A shadow moves...fast. And Silent. I barely managed to roll onto my side. And that's when I saw it.

A figure cloaked in black. Not a wolf. Not quite human...It steps into the moonlight.

And smiles.

"You shouldn't be here," the stranger says. "But now that you are..." He kneels down beside me, brushing dirt from my cheek.

"...you're mine."

Ariella's scream is swallowed by the trees as the stranger lifts her into his arms. His eyes glow...not gold like Kael's, but something far older... and far more dangerous. What could it be?