Not His Mate, But A Queen

Kaelen was supposed to be my destiny. The future Alpha of our pack, my childhood love, and my fated mate.

But one night, I smelled another woman on him—a sickly sweet Omega scent I knew all too well. I followed him and found them under the great oak, locked in a lover's kiss.

His betrayal was a slow and deliberate poison. When his precious Omega, Lyra, staged a fall, he cradled her like she was made of glass.

But when he sabotaged my saddle during a dangerous jump, causing my horse to throw me and break my leg, he called it a "warning" not to touch her. His care for me afterward was just damage control to avoid my father's suspicion.

At a public auction, he used my family's money to buy her a priceless diamond, leaving me humiliated and unable to pay.

I finally understood what I’d overheard on the pack’s mind-link days before. To him and his brothers-in-arms, I was just a "pampered princess," a prize to be won for power. Lyra was the one they truly desired.

He thought he could break me, force me to accept being second best. He was wrong. On the night of my 20th birthday, the night I was supposed to be bonded to him, I stood before two packs and made a different choice. I rejected him and announced my union with a rival Alpha, a man who sees me as a queen, not a consolation prize.

Chapter 1

Aria POV:

The night air of the Silver Moon territory was crisp and clean, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth. It was my territory, my home, and one day, it would be my responsibility as Luna. But tonight, all I cared about was the man walking beside me.

Kaelen.

His presence was a physical force, a magnetic pull that had governed my world since we were children. He was the future Alpha, chosen by my father for his unmatched strength and strategic mind. And, as everyone in the pack whispered, he was my destiny.

My heart did a familiar flip as his arm brushed against mine. I breathed in, expecting his signature scent, the one that always calmed my inner wolf—the bracing aroma of a snowstorm breaking over a cedar forest. It was the scent I dreamed of, the scent of my supposed mate.

But tonight, something was wrong.

Underneath the familiar cedar and winter air, another scent clung to him. It was sickly sweet, like cheap candy and cloying jasmine. An Omega’s scent. A scent I knew all too well.

Lyra.

My stomach twisted into a cold knot. Lyra, the fragile Omega he and the other warriors had been brought in with, the one he insisted on treating like a sister.

"You were with Lyra," I stated, my voice flat, betraying none of the turmoil inside me.

Kaelen’s stride didn’t falter. "She was feeling unwell. I took her some herbs."

His voice was smooth, but the lie was as