Rejected By My Alpha, Claimed By The Royal King

k, but I always felt safe because Kaelen, the fu

denly, Kaelen gave her the sweet berries he had picked f

in the Great Hall, laughing as

ield, he instead used his crushing A

ping, Elara. It

ful Luna to fight by his side, not an Ome

rs of deep connection could be er

to save me from rogues now looked at

etly signed the departure contra

od gifts on his cold stone steps, and

I gave up my place. From now

pte

ra

permanent chill that clung to the tap

of thin-spun wool, o

d those of a girl, denying me the brutal velocity and sinew required for rank in this

The air would seem to be stripped of its moisture, growing thin and sharp against my tongue. My lungs felt as though

We had come of age in the shadowed compass of this forest, and the scent that clung to him

re the arriva

territories. Tall and sinewed, her wolf was a thing of legend. The scent she carried, of cr

ll had just ended in the Black Forest. A fresh towel for Kaelen was clutched in m

air, sharp as splintered bone. "Incapable of a simple tracking cant

of my limbs; the air t

nchalance coated the words, a dissonance my ears registered but could not yet com

unt, Seraphina," Kaelen continued. "It's a w

my ribs, a sudden, cold cavit

t brought my boot down on a dry twig. The

the light. They found me there. A familiar heat flared behind m

r arms. "A supposed wolf who cries over every

a silent plea for the sh

und of his back teeth, like a dry pine branch being forcibly snapped. A dangerous, molten gol

n, sucked from my lungs as if by a great vacuum, and a sharp, metallic taste flooded

wled, his voice a low vibration of forc

lesson he had convinced himself I required. My gaze

t was presented to them, bearing my application to the Royal Academy in a distant land. My final request was that Kaelen be kep

elf from a stone pillar near the waiting carriages. It was Kaelen. In his hand, he held a small leather pouch, dark with

led out, steppi

he gaps between the cobblesto

with ease. The sound was thick with an assurance I found odious-th

ch toward me. "Seraphina was merely tearing away a polite falsehood.

d, suspended in t

iliar Alpha arrogance, a poor mask for his own frustration. "Seraphina possesses a t

fort of pine and fire, was suddenly acrid, a plume of s

ce barely above a whisper, "I

ng. But I did not elaborate. I simply s

e the other warriors were assembling. From their midst, Ser

s on the pouch still in Kaelen's ha

smile breaking across his face,

all yours,

gift from the boy I thought I knew. I crossed the short distance to the great iron brazier that warmed the grounds. Saying not

mewhere behind me, I heard his breath catch-just for