Too Late, Alpha: You Rejected Me, Now Kneel to Your Queen

"You cheated."

I, Audra Frost, had just given birth, yet Kieran Ashford, my Alpha mate, publicly declared before the entire pack that I had betrayed him.

All because the child in my arms bore an unfamiliar silver-white mark on his forehead.

"That mark... doesn't it look like the White Wolf Mark from the legends?" someone whispered hesitantly.

The hall fell into a brief silence.

"White Wolf? Don't make me laugh." Elara Voss scoffed. "The White Wolves belong to royalty. And her? She doesn't even have a wolf."

Suspicion turned into open mockery in an instant.

I dropped to my knees, clutching the child tightly. "Kieran, he's your son."

Kieran only looked at me, his gaze cold and distant.

"The Silvermoon Pack does not tolerate tainted bloodlines."

But what they didn't know-far away in the Northern Wilds, the White Wolf Royal Bloodline had already sensed that presence.

"Find her."

......

"You cheated!"

Kieran's voice rang sharply through the pack hall.

I had just gone through childbirth. Supported by two Betas, I was forced to stand on the platform, still holding my newborn pup.

By the Silvermoon Pack's tradition, every newborn had to be presented before the hall so the entire pack could witness its bloodline.

Every pair of eyes fixed on the child in my arms-more precisely, on the silver-white mark on his forehead.

A wave of hushed gasps rippled through the crowd.

"What is that? I've never seen anything like it..."

"Wait... doesn't that look like the White Wolf Mark from the legends?"

"White Wolves? You've got to be kidding. They're royalty. They stopped associating with ordinary packs long ago!"

The baby in my arms trembled faintly, startled by the noise.

I instinctively held him tighter, shaking my head in panic. "This mark... it's because-"

A sharp female voice cut me off.

"Am I wrong, Kieran?"

Elara stepped out of the crowd and moved to Kieran's side, her face openly mocking.

"Audra really did betray you."

My mind went blank with a loud buzz.

"Elara..." I stared at the woman I had always treated like an older sister, disbelief flooding my voice. "What are you talking about?"

She let out a soft laugh and spoke at an unhurried pace. "Only descendants of the White Wolf lineage bear a White Wolf Mark like this."

She glanced at Kieran and paused deliberately. "And Kieran... is not a White Wolf. Neither of you are White Wolves. How could you possibly have a child like that?"

I clutched the child tighter, a chill running through my body as I looked at Kieran in desperation. "That's not true. I didn't betray you."

Kieran's gaze shifted slightly, as if hesitation had flickered through it for a brief moment.

But Elara suddenly raised her voice. "You didn't? Because the night before last, I saw you with my own eyes-wrapped in another man's arms!"

Kieran's expression darkened instantly. "Elara, you saw it yourself?"

"Of course." Elara said smugly, "That man had a White Wolf Mark on his forehead too. I could even smell his scent."

I forced myself to recall that night, then suddenly lifted my head, the words bursting out. "That was my brother!"

The hall fell silent for a beat, then low snickers spread through the crowd.

"Your brother?" Elara sounded like she had just heard the most ridiculous joke.

She walked toward me step by step, her tone dripping with disdain. "Everyone in the White Wolf Tribe is a White Wolf. And you... You don't even have a wolf. And you dare claim you belong to the White Wolf Tribe? Where is your White Wolf Mark?"

Under her interrogation, my chest tightened as memories of that night surfaced in my mind.

That had been my brother-now the only member of my tribe still willing to see me.

Knowing I was about to give birth, he had asked to meet me in the Borderpine Forest two nights ago.

The moon had shone brightly that night.

Edmund Frost had looked at my swollen belly, excitement lighting up his face like a child's.

"I'm going to have a nephew!"

After saying that, he pulled me into a brief hug, just like he used to years ago.

It had been nothing more than a fleeting embrace.

I never imagined that moment would become the very evidence used against me today.

"Enough," Kieran said suddenly.

His eyes fixed on the White Wolf Mark on the child's forehead, his gaze darkening inch by inch.

"He is not my child." He looked away and gave a cold order. "Take that bastard away."

My body went rigid as two soldiers started toward me.

Kieran's command continued without hesitation. "Throw it to its death."

My mind went completely blank.

The next second, I wrenched myself free from the soldiers' grip.

"No!"

My body, still weakened from childbirth, could barely hold me up. My knees slammed hard against the ground, yet I refused to let go of the child in my arms.

"Kieran! I'm begging you! Don't hurt him!"

Tears streamed uncontrollably down my face.

"He's your child... just smell him!"

Kieran didn't move. He didn't even spare us a glance.

"My pack does not allow a stain like this to exist."

I collapsed onto the ground, looking down at the child in my arms.

My child was so small, yet the entire Silvermoon Pack had already sentenced him to death.

Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at the mate I had once been willing to give up everything for.

"Kieran. What if I told you... I once had a White Wolf too?"