I Found My Replacement's Rotting Hair On The Alpha's Pillow

"I, Kael Thorne, future Alpha of the Blood Moon, reject you, Aria."

The words echoed across the central plaza, bouncing off the stone pillars. A heavy, rough fabric slammed into my face. It scraped my cheekbone before dropping to the floor.

I stared down at the gray cloth. The crest of a pack maid stared back at me.

"Put it on," Kael commanded.

I kept my eyes on the uniform. The silence of hundreds of pack members pressed in from all sides of the altar.

"You're doing this now?" I asked. "In front of everyone?"

"They need to see their future Alpha make the hard choices," he said.

"This isn't a hard choice, Kael. It's a cruel one."

"Did you hear him?" a voice sneered from his right.

Seraphina stepped into the torchlight. The strongest she-wolf of the northern territories. She didn't just walk; she commanded the space, her chin tipped up, eyes flashing with amusement.

"Maybe the shock broke her brain," Seraphina added. "Or maybe she's deaf."

"Pick it up, Aria," Kael repeated.

I raised my head and met his gaze. The man I had loved since childhood. The man the Moon Goddess had bound to me at midnight just two hours ago.

"We played together in these woods," I said, my voice carrying over the silent crowd. "You promised to protect me when we were ten."

"We were children," he dismissed. "I am a leader now."

"You're breaking the bond for a title?" I asked.

"I'm breaking it because you are nothing," he shot back.

"Fate chose me."

"Fate made a mistake." Kael narrowed his eyes. "You honestly thought the Goddess meant for an Omega to stand beside a future Alpha? You have no strength. You haven't even shifted."

"I have loyalty," I said.

"Loyalty doesn't win wars," Seraphina interrupted. "Claws do."

"My word belongs to my pack," Kael said, gesturing to the sprawling crowd below the altar. "They need a queen. Not a servant."

A sharp, tearing sensation ripped through my chest. The physical agony of the mate link snapping unilaterally sent a violent tremor down my spine. It felt like invisible hooks catching my ribs and pulling them outward.

My knees buckled. I hit the rough stone slab hard. The dull impact shot up my legs, rattling my teeth.

Laughter rippled through the front rows of the crowd.

"Look at her bow," a pack member shouted.

"Right where a weakling belongs!" another yelled.

"She can't even stand up to a simple rejection."

I bit down hard on my lower lip. The skin broke. Warm copper flooded my tongue. I swallowed the blood, refusing to spit it out. Refusing to give them the satisfaction of seeing me bleed.

"You think this makes you strong?" I whispered. My voice held steady despite the violent shaking in my bones.

Kael stepped closer. He towered over me, a victor basking in unearned glory.

"It makes me smart," he said. "I take control of my own destiny."

"By discarding your soul's