Rejected by the Heir, Claimed by the Alpha King

pposed to be a coronation. Inste

the stone pool. My heavy silk dress pulled me down like an anchor. I waited for

in waist-deep water, treating her like a

my head, not with conc

ng me, Eliana. Y

My knee-my dancer's knee-snapped with a sickening sound. Jax didn't call a doctor. He used the A

his Beta. He admitted he didn't love Catalina. He was just using her to bre

He thought I would st

as w

off the Sacred Oak until my skin sizzled. I packed my

back, I won't be the girl you broke.

pte

ana

as supposed to be a coronati

p of lukewarm punch until it cracked. My dress, a repurposed silk

stray dog wrapped

Manning.

talina was beautiful in the way a poisonous flower is beautiful. She wasn't high-bo

atalina," I whispe

addy? Oh wait, your father is just a glorifie

ing sweetness trying to hide the smell of ambition. She releas

aster. She didn't just shove me; sh

dded on the

la

asp. I thrashed, my heavy dress pulling me down like an anchor. Panic flar

ing surface, I sa

t leape

scent of storm and pine had haunted my dre

eady," that I needed to learn how to be a pr

my hand break

arms didn

water as Jax grabbed Catalina, who was

ter with the tenderness one

rrassing

my head. The Mind-Link

gasping for air as I wi

dark hair perfectly styled, his jaw set in a line of irritation. He

r. You look patheti

ring violently. My dress clung to my bod

ed, clinging to Jax's bicep. She w

stom piece, worth more than my father's c

heromones-wafted over to me.

primal signal in our world. It

mate. They could smell the bond between us. But t

oling around my feet

apping tight against my ribs. My inner wolf, usuall

guiding Catalina toward t

ntal space of the Mind-Link and found

d the do

rebellion, but

hts, away from the laughter. I didn't go to my room. I

n under a loose floorboard. My hands we

raspy voi

t. "It's Eliana. You owe

d debts are sacred. They bind a wol

hild," the old

g. "Get me out of the Iron Claw territory. Get

ult. The Alpha Hei

," I said, looking down at my shivering, soak

ispered. "Pac

n my bones had nothing