REJECTED BY ALPHA LUPUS,REBORN IN FIRE.

Taylor's POV

The silence in the Alpha's quarters was thick enough to choke me. The air smelled of power, dominance, and something darker and something that used to make me tremble, but now only made my stomach twist in disgust.

Lupus stood in front of me, bare-chested, his powerful frame glowing faintly under the moonlight that streamed through the window. His expression was unreadable, cold as stone, his blue eyes fixed somewhere beyond me, as if I wasn't even there.

I pulled the sheet around my body, my heart aching in my chest. As a result of constant sex, he had been distant for weeks but tonight felt different. There was no warmth in him, no tenderness, only emptiness. What we shared was no longer love. It had become something I couldn't even name.

"Lupus," I whispered softly, "what happened to you? To us?"

He didn't respond. He turned away, pulling on his shirt, adjusting his sleeves with slow, deliberate

movements. His silence was sharper than any insult.

I watched him quietly, trying to hold back the ache in my chest. He was my mate, my fated one. The man the Moon Goddess herself chose for me. But now, standing before me, he looked more like a stranger wearing the face of the man I used to love.

When he finally spoke, his voice was hard and cold. "Don't look at me like that, Taylor. You knew what this was."

His words struck me like a slap. "What do you mean what this was?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. "You marked me once. You claimed me in front of the pack. You told me I was yours!"

"That was before," he said simply, buttoning his shirt and fastening his belt. "Things have changed."

I frowned, confusion mixing with anger. "Changed how? Is it because of Angela?"

He looked at me then, for the first time that night, his eyes sharp as ice. "Don't start this again."

I rose from the bed, pulling the sheet tighter around me. "No, you'll listen to me this time. You can't just shut me out like this. You can't pretend I don't exist. I am your mate, Lupus. Or does that mean nothing to you now?"

He let out a small, humourless laugh. "Mate?" he repeated mockingly. "Taylor, you're an omega. You were never supposed to be Luna. I only took you because my parents thought it would calm the tension between our families. Don't mistake duty for love."

His words hit me harder than any physical blow. My heart ached so badly it was hard to breathe. I took a step back, shaking my head. "You're lying. You said you wanted me. You told me you felt the bond too."

"I did," he said coldly, "but that bond was never strong enough. You felt it more than I did."

I could barely keep my voice steady. "So what am I to you now? Just a name in your pack records?

Someone