Scarlet Moon His to Claim

I always thought the mate ceremony would become the happiest moment of my life.

I imagined glowing lights, thunder in my chest, and my wolf howling in joy the second my fated mate touched me and I imagined being chosen and being wanted.

I never imagined humiliation.

I never imagined that when I stepped forward, heart pounding, trembling under the moon's light, that I'd be shattered in front of the entire academy.

But that's exactly what Alpha Dante Thorne did; he didn't dare to hesitate, and he didn't even flinch either.

He just rejected me in front of the whole academy, like I was nothing.

His words were so cold and brutal, loud enough for the entire crowd to hear and for my soul to break.

"You?" he said, disgust coating every syllable. "You're my mate?" he scoffed.

I couldn't move; I couldn't speak but instead I just stood there frozen, trapped in the firestorm of the bond rushing through my veins. My wolf whimpered, clawing inside me, desperate to reach for him.

But Dante didn't move toward me; he didn't even touch me.

He stepped back.

The entire crowd went still; even the breeze stopped.

Dante tilted his head, his silver eyes glinting like sharpened knives beneath the moonlight.

"This has to be a mistake," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "The Moon Goddess doesn't pair Alphas with... with that."

Laughter broke out from somewhere behind me-sharp, mocking, and vicious. I didn't turn to see who it was. I couldn't. My spine locked in place, and my pulse hammered like a warning drum.

"That girl's unshifted," someone whispered.

"She hasn't even unlocked her wolf yet."

"She's not even worthy of Omega status, let alone Luna."

"She's an embarrassment."

"She's weak."

I heard every word and Dante didn't dare to stop them.

He stared at me like I'd crawled out of the mud, like I didn't belong in the same air as him, as if the bond between us was a joke.

And then he spoke again his words sliced me in half.

"I, Dante Thorne of the Black Fang Pack, reject you, Eva Monroe, as my mate."

The gasp that echoed around the clearing felt like a bomb detonating in my chest. My vision blurred.

Rejected.

The sacred bond-severed.

In front of everyone.

My knees buckled slightly, but I didn't fall. I give him that. I wouldn't give any of them that.

My wolf howled in agony inside me. She wasn't just hurt; she was gutted. I could feel her collapsing, curling in on herself, broken and raw.

"I never wanted a weak mate," he continued. "Let alone a charity case with no wolf, no status and no strength. You were born to serve, not to stand beside an Alpha."

The words hit harder than any fist. They were designed to humiliate, to crush me completely.

Tears burned in my eyes, but I blinked them back with every ounce of pride I had left.

He wanted me to break.

But I'd broken before, the night my parents were slaughtered, the night I'd been left with nothing but scars and silence. I survived that and would survive this too.

Barely.

I straightened my spine, lifted my chin, and met his gaze dead-on.

"If rejecting me makes you feel powerful," I said, voice low and shaking, "then maybe you're weaker than I thought."

Dante's smirk twitched. For a second, something flashed in his eyes, something unreadable. But it vanished just as quickly.

"Run back to your little dorm, mutt," he said, turning away. "And pray the next Alpha you smell isn't as honest as I am."

I stood there for one more moment.

Frozen.

Shattered.

Alone.

Then I turned and walked away.

No one stopped me. No one spoke to me either, just whispers that followed like ghosts, curling around my feet and slicing into my back.

"Did you see her face?"

"She actually thought he'd accept her."