Rejecting the Alpha

For seven years, I endured agonizing egg retrieval surgeries just to give my Alpha mate, Kael, a strong heir.

But one day, he coldly announced he had impregnated a high-ranking Beta female instead.

He told me I would raise her pup as my own to satisfy the pack Elders.

When the pregnant Beta faked a fall at the pack banquet, Kael slapped me to the ground in front of everyone to protect his authority.

Desperate to escape his suffocating control, I caused a car crash and ended up in the pack hospital.

That was when I overheard the High Healer confronting him.

The "fertility vitamins" Kael had personally fed me every single night for the past seven years were actually Wolfsbane.

He had been intentionally destroying my ability to bear pups all along.

I stared at the mate who had wiped my tears when I cried on the bathroom floor over every negative pregnancy test.

He had held my hand through every agonizing surgery, watching me bleed and beg the Moon Goddess for a child, all while secretly feeding me poison.

"I did it to protect our pups from the pack's cruelty!" Kael sobbed on his knees, begging for my understanding.

But my heart was already dead.

I forced our Mind-link wide open, stared into his terrified eyes, and spoke the sacred words of Rejection.

This time, I chose to sever our soul bond, take my freedom, and let him rot.

Chapter 1

Elara POV

The sterile glare of the pack hospital's fluorescent tubes was a physical weight on my eyelids. A raw, chemical smell of bleach scoured the inside of my nose, erasing the familiar, earthy scents of the wolves around me.

I lay on the cold operating table, a tremor running uncontrollably through my limbs. A sharp, pulling ache radiated from my lower abdomen. This procedure, my fourth for egg retrieval, had been mandated by the Elder Council.

My inner Omega whimpered in my mind, a pathetic sound of exhaustion and sorrow.

Beside me, Kael held my hand.

His large, warm palm completely engulfed my cold fingers. An oppressive weight, heavy with the scent of dark pine and an impending thunderstorm, settled over the operating table. This Alpha scent, deliberately released, was a net meant to ensnare my panicked instincts and drag them into submission.

"Elara, my sweet Luna," Kael murmured. His voice was a deep, rumbling purr that vibrated against my skin. He brushed a sweaty strand of hair from my forehead. "You need to stop this. The pain is destroying you. The Elders can be managed. We can live without a pup."

His eyes, a striking shade of amber, regarded me with what might have been mistaken for deep concern.

I shook my head weakly, gripping his fingers tighter. "No, Kael. Your mother and the Council will never accept that. The pack needs an heir. You are the Alpha."