Rejected Under the Blood Moon

LIORA'S POV

The night smelled like smoke and destiny.

Pinewood burned in sacred braziers, the scent thick and sweet as it curled into the sky. The entire pack had gathered in the clearing, dressed in ceremonial black and silver. Their whispers rolled like distant thunder, heavy with anticipation.

For me.

For us.

For the mating.

The Blood Moon hung low above the trees, swollen and red, casting a crimson glow over the clearing. Its light washed over my skin, over the white ceremonial dress I had sewn with my own hands. I had stitched silver thread into the hemline-tiny crescent moons.

I wanted to look worthy tonight.

My palms were damp. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my throat. Across the clearing stood Alpha Kael.

My mate.

Tall. Unmovable. Crowned in shadow and moonlight.

He wore the traditional Alpha armor-dark leather fitted to his powerful frame, the Nightfall crest embossed over his chest. He looked like war given human form.

But when his eyes found mine-

The world softened.

The bond between us stirred, warm and alive, a thread pulling tight between my ribs and his. I felt it every time he was near. A quiet hum beneath my skin.

He was mine.

I was his.

That was how it was supposed to be.

The High Elder lifted his staff. The murmurs quieted.

"Tonight, beneath the witness of the Blood Moon, Alpha Kael will claim his fated mate and mark his Luna."

A tremor of excitement moved through the pack.

My lungs forgot how to work.

Kael began walking toward me.

Each step was slow. Deliberate.

The earth seemed to shift with his weight. His boots crushed the fallen leaves, the sound loud in the hush of the clearing.

He stopped in front of me.

Close enough that I could feel his heat.

Close enough that I could smell him-cedarwood, iron, and something uniquely his.

My wolf stirred inside me, shy but eager.

He's here.

He's choosing us.

I lifted my chin.

His face was unreadable.

"Kael," I whispered, barely audible.

His jaw flexed.

For a second-just one second-I saw something flicker in his eyes.

Pain.

Then it was gone.

He stepped back.

Not forward.

Back.

The movement was small.

But it felt like falling through ice.

A ripple of confusion passed through the pack.

The bond inside me tightened.

"Alpha?" the Elder prompted gently.

Kael's voice when it came was steady.

Cold.

Sharp enough to cut bone.

"I, Alpha Kael of the Nightfall Pack..."

He paused.

My breath caught.

"...reject you."

The word struck my chest like a physical blow.

Reject.

The sacred word that should never exist between fated mates.

A ringing filled my ears. The world tilted sideways.

I waited for laughter.

For someone to say it was a mistake.

For him to correct himself.

He didn't.

"I reject you as my mate," he continued, louder now so every wolf could hear. "And I deny you the position of Luna."

Gasps broke the