Alpha's Reborn Luna Rejected. Exiled. Reborn. When Xenia, a seemingly ordinary she-wolf, is fated to the Lycan King, she expects devotion. Instead, she finds betrayal. Bound to a mate who refuses to claim her, she makes the unthinkable choice-rejection. But breaking the bond comes with a cost. Stripped of her place, cast into exile, Xenia is forced into the treacherous Blackwood Forest, a place where few survive. There, in the heart of darkness, she discovers the truth-she is more than what they made her believe. And she is not alone. A deadly Alpha lurks in the shadows, watching her every move. Magnus, powerful and unforgiving, radiates a hatred she doesn't understand-yet something deeper lingers beneath. He is a man with his own scars, his own ghosts... and a connection to Xenia that neither of them can deny. As war brews and ancient forces awaken, Xenia must rise from the ashes of rejection and forge her own destiny. Because the Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes... She makes warriors.
Chapter 1 1The bond that burns
A Scent Like Betrayal
The air smelled wrong.
Not the usual musk of the palace corridors, where fresh pine and aged oakwood mixed with the ever-present hum of power. No-this scent was thick with something cloying, something intimate. Something forbidden.
My wolf, restless beneath my skin, went deathly still.
I shouldn't have been here. I knew that. But something had called me, an undeniable pull, dragging me through the winding halls of the Lycan palace. A force stronger than reason. Stronger than fear. Stronger than me.
And then, I heard it.
A low, husky laugh. His laugh.
My stomach twisted. I stepped forward, pressing against the cold stone wall, breath shallow. The grand doors ahead, gilded with ancient carvings, were cracked open just enough for shadows to slip through.
And inside... them.
King Kieran. The fated mate I had yet to claim. The one the Moon Goddess had bound my soul to.
And Princess Ileana, draped over him like she belonged there.
Her fingers traced his jaw, the same way a mate should. The way I should. She tilted her head, lips curving into a smile I felt like a blade across my throat.
"You're tense," she murmured, voice syrupy sweet. "Don't tell me you're still thinking about her?"
Her.
Me.
Kieran exhaled sharply, as if the mere thought of me was exhausting. "It doesn't matter."
The world tilted.
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter?
The bond between mates was sacred. Absolute. A tie that no force-not time, not distance, not even death-should break. And yet, he dismissed it as if it were nothing.
As if I were nothing.
I should have left. Turned away. Spared myself from what came next.
But I didn't.
Because Ileana slid a hand down his chest, fingers curling into the fabric of his tunic. And then-gods help me-she kissed him.
My breath left me in a sharp, soundless gasp.
The mate bond inside me twisted, agonized and furious. My wolf snarled, thrashing against my ribs, demanding I do something.
But what?
Fight for a man who had already chosen another?
Beg for a love that should have been mine by right?
No.
I swallowed down the pain like broken glass, forcing my limbs to move, to carry me forward.
The doors groaned as I pushed them open, the sound echoing like a war drum.
Kieran stilled.
Ileana turned lazily, unimpressed-like I was some servant who had interrupted at the wrong time.
For a heartbeat, none of us spoke.
Then, I smiled. Sharp. Cold. Deadly.
"Well," I said, my voice softer than it should have been. "I suppose congratulations are in order."
Kieran's gaze snapped to mine, something dark flickering in his storm-gray eyes. "Xenia-"
"Don't."
One word. A command. A warning. A promise.
I stepped closer, keeping my chin high, my spine unyielding, even as the mate bond clawed at me, begging me to reconsider. Begging me to forgive.
I wouldn't.
Not when he still stood so close to her. Not when the scent of their intimacy burned my lungs.
I turned my gaze to Ileana. "Is this how princesses behave? Latching onto men who aren't theirs?"
She tilted her head, feigning innocence. "I was under the impression that your mate hadn't claimed you."
The words hit harder than they should have.
Because she was right.
Kieran and I had never completed the bond. Never sealed it in blood or oath.
But that didn't make it any less real.
Did it?
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, forcing myself to look at him. "Tell me, Kieran." My voice wavered-once. I steadied it. "Is this what you want?"
His jaw clenched.
My heart pounded.
Then, finally-"Xenia, I-"
A pause. Hesitation.
Coward.
I laughed, the sound colder than the mountain winds. "That's all I needed to hear."
I turned on my heel.
I was leaving.
Not just this room. Not just him.
I was leaving it all-the mate bond, the expectation, the fate I never asked for.
Kieran caught my wrist. "Xenia, wait-"
The growl that tore from me was raw, guttural, dangerous. My claws slipped free, slicing through his grip as I ripped myself away.
"Reject me."
Silence.
Kieran went still. "What?"
I lifted my chin, letting the words settle between us like a challenge, like a warcry.
"I said reject me," I repeated. "You clearly don't want me. So say it."
Say the words.
Break the bond.
Set me free.
But he didn't.
Instead, something flickered in his expression. Something that looked almost like panic.
His hand fisted at his side. "I can't."
My stomach lurched. "What do you mean, you can't?"
"I mean I won't." His eyes darkened. "You're my mate, Xenia."
I huffed out a laugh, hollow and bitter. "Funny way of showing it."
His expression hardened. "You don't understand-"
"No," I snapped. "I do understand. I understand that you want to have it both ways. To keep your mate bond intact while still warming someone else's bed."
Ileana smirked, as if pleased by my anger.
I ignored her. She didn't matter.
Not anymore.
I turned back to Kieran, voice dropping to something lethal. "You don't own me, Kieran. Not anymore."
Then, without waiting for another excuse, another betrayal, another wound-I turned and walked away.
The night air hit like a slap as I stepped outside, the weight of everything crushing down on me.
My heart hurt. My wolf howled in agony.
But I wouldn't break.
Not for him. Not for anyone.
I raised my chin to the moon, inhaling deep.
Then, I made a vow.
If fate wanted me bound, I would break fate itself.
Other books by Omalicha
More