Rejected by the Beta, Claimed by the Supreme Alpha

For five whole years, I masked my noble White Wolf royal bloodline by swallowing bitter herbs, playing the part of a fragile orphan with no trace of wolf-scent about me-all to test how true my boyfriend Caleb's heart really was.

But today, in the sacred Moon Temple, I walked in on him and my best friend Selena completing the permanent marking ritual right before my eyes.

A temple priest, smiling warmly, approached them with a silver chalice in hand.

"Congratulations, you two. You are the one hundred and forty-third couple to bind a soul contract at our sacred site this year."

"Please accept the key card to our complimentary suite."

That suite was an exclusive retreat reserved for fated mates to ride out their heats. As Caleb's mate, I could only stand there and watch him enjoy the privilege with another woman.

Selena turned, saw me frozen in place, and cried out with wounded innocence, "Layla, it's all Caleb's fault! He said this was just some interactive game the Moon Temple was running!"

Far from showing a shred of guilt, Caleb snorted, wrapped an arm around Selena's waist, and drawled, "Don't make a scene here, Layla. It's not like you even have heats." He put on that false authority of an Alpha, his voice cold.

Casually, he tucked a golden suite key card into Selena's collar.

"Let's see if you've got the guts tonight to come absorb the spiritual energy in that suite with me," Caleb said, taunting.

Selena's cheeks flushed crimson. She bit her lower lip.

"Hmph, if it raises my bloodline rank, I couldn't want it more," she murmured, melting softly into his embrace.

The two of them went right on with their sweet bickering, too stingy to spare me even a single apology.

I didn't scream. I didn't weep.

I simply set down the bucket I was carrying, walked down the mountain path, and opened a telepathic link to my father-the most powerful Wolf King in all of North America.

"Father, I accept Alpha Griffin's proposal of marriage."

The poor little orphan act was over. It was time I retired it.

Chapter 1

Layla's POV:

I stood frozen, unable to move.

The sanctum of the Moon Temple was supposed to be a place of utter purity.

Yet the sight before me turned my blood to ice in an instant.

My boyfriend of five years, Caleb, stood beside the ancient stone pillars.

And my best friend, Selena, was pressed tight against his chest.

But it wasn't their embrace that stole the air from my lungs.

It was the bite marks glinting faintly at their throats.

The marks. The deep binding bite that ties two souls together for all eternity-the supreme claim, the supreme contract.

A temple priest, smiling, approached them with a silver chalice in hand.

"Congratulations," the old priest's voice echoed through the tranquil courtyard. "You are the one hundred and forty-third couple to bind a soul contract at our sacred site this year."

The priest handed them a golden key card.

"Please accept the key to our complimentary suite. It brims with spiritual energy-only fated mates are worthy of it."

My hands shook uncontrollably; water sloshed over the rim of my bucket.

Selena turned, drew a sharp breath, and feigned shock at seeing me.

She hastily tugged at her collar, eyes stretched wide in an expression of counterfeit innocence.

"Layla! It's not what you think!" Selena cried, rushing toward me.

She pointed at Caleb, her voice dripping with a false, tearful wail. "Caleb said the temple ritual was just a tourist experience! Just a silly game!"

Selena clutched my sleeve.

"He said it was only a role-play interaction task. Who could have known... our wolf souls would lose control, and the marking would just... happen!"

I stared at her hard, my chest crushed beneath a thousand-pound stone. I could barely breathe.

Caleb's face held not a trace of remorse.

Composed, he strolled forward and wound an arm around Selena's slender waist.

He pulled her into his chest and smirked down at me from on high.

"Don't pin it all on me," Caleb teased, eyes fixed on Selena as if I were nothing but air.

He took the golden key card from the priest.

A wicked curl touched his lips as he slid the card deep into the collar of Selena's blouse.

"Let's see if you've got the guts tonight to come absorb the spiritual energy in that suite with me," Caleb said, taunting.

Selena's cheeks flushed crimson. She bit her lower lip.

"Hmph, if it raises my bloodline rank, I couldn't want it more," she murmured, melting softly into his embrace.

She shot me a contemptuous glance. "Don't you worry, Layla. Tomorrow I'll ask the priest whether the mark can be undone."

It was a lie, and we both knew it.

Once a mark is made, it can never be undone short of tearing a soul in two.

At last Caleb deigned to look at me, his gaze frost-hard. "Don't be difficult, Layla," he snapped, deploying that self-righteous Alpha tone he always used to put me in my place.

"It's not like you even have heats," he added carelessly, arms crossed.

For five years at the Unified Werewolf Academy, I had used bitter herbs to mask my noble royal bloodline and suppress my scent, playing a scentless, weak, helpless orphan. It was meant to be a trial to find a true and loyal heart-and Caleb had just failed it, utterly and completely.

"Since you're so utterly ordinary, go sleep in the common tent by yourself tonight," Caleb ordered.

Not one apology. He couldn't even be bothered to invent a decent lie.

He simply assumed I would swallow my pride and accept his betrayal.

No hysteria. Not a single tear.

I just let go, and let the wooden bucket fall.

The spring water spilled across the ancient flagstones, washing away five years of blind devotion in one clean sweep.

Without a word, I turned and walked down the mountain path.

The biting wind struck my face and cleared my head as nothing had before.

I closed my eyes, reached deep into my consciousness, and opened the telepathic link to my father.

"Father," I called through the link.

His deep, resonant voice answered at once. "Layla? What's happened?"

My father was the Alpha of the Silver Moon pack, commanding the finest financial empire and the fiercest armed forces in all of North America.

"Father, I've made up my mind," I sent the thought, my voice calm and cold. "I accept the marriage proposal from Griffin, Alpha of the Shadow Wolves."

A beat of silence, then a flood of boundless joy came pouring through the link.

"I'll notify him at once, child. Come home."

I cut the link and stood at the edge of the muddy road, waiting for the car that would come for me.

Behind me, the mountain wind carried the sound of Caleb and Selena laughing as they walked down the trail.

"That energy suite has an enormous bathtub," Selena trilled, her voice drifting through the trees.

"Only fated mates may share the merging of energies," Caleb answered, his voice low and thick with hunger. "I can't wait to show you."

Every brush of their fingers, every lingering, tangled glance they'd exchanged at the academy-all of it now had a sickening answer. He had crossed the line long ago, and had been hiding behind the fig leaf of "just good friends" the whole time.

A black luxury car came speeding up the road and stopped in a cloud of dust.

I reached for the door handle, wanting only to leave this revolting place forever.

Suddenly a hand seized my shoulder from behind and yanked me backward.