After My Alpha Chose The Beta’s Daughter Over Me

The moment I whispered "Accepted, Alpha," something violent tore through my chest. It wasn't just emotional pain—it was physical, as if someone had reached into my ribcage and yanked out a vital organ. I gasped, stumbling backward as the mystical bond between Damian and me snapped like an overstretched rubber band.

"Sophia?" Someone in the crowd reached toward me, but I was already falling.

My knees hit the frozen ground hard. The rejection wasn't just words—it was a lash against my soul, a severing that ripped through every cell in my body. I clutched at my chest, feeling as if my heart was being crushed beneath an invisible weight.

"Look at her," Jolene's voice cut through my haze of pain. "Pathetic."

But something else was happening beneath the agony. Heat flooded my veins, burning away the lingering effects of three years of moonshade herbs. Sienna surged forward, no longer content to be caged.

*Let me out!* she screamed in my mind. *Let me protect us!*

My bones began to crack, my skin stretching painfully as my wolf forced her way to the surface. I bit down hard on my lip to keep from screaming as fur threatened to erupt along my arms.

"Stop," I gasped internally to Sienna. "Not here."

Damian's eyes widened slightly—he'd never seen this side of me, this struggle. For a moment, doubt flickered across his face.

"She's trying to shift," someone whispered. "But she's wolfless..."

"I'm not dying," I managed to say, tasting blood from my bitten lip. "I'm awakening."

Damian's expression hardened again. "Guards," he called, "escort the rejected mate to the border. She's clearly delusional."

Two Delta warriors stepped forward, but I was already pushing myself up, ignoring the searing pain that shot through my limbs.

"I don't need your help," I spat, my voice stronger than I expected.

I turned away from the bonfire, from the life I'd built on lies, and began walking north. Each step sent shards of pain through my body as Sienna fought against my control, desperate to break free after years of suppression.

"Let her go," Damian called after me. "She'll freeze out there anyway."

His laughter followed me into the darkness. "The wolfless wonder thinks she can survive a winter night in the forest. Watch her come crawling back!"

I kept walking, one foot in front of the other, even as my vision blurred. The festival lights faded behind me, replaced by the silver glow of the Blue Moon filtering through pine branches. Snow crunched beneath my boots—the first flakes of winter had fallen during the festival.

"Just a little further," I whispered to Sienna. "Hold on."

But my body was betraying me. The rejection had triggered something primal—my wolf's desperate fight for freedom after too long suppressed. My skin rippled with the beginnings of an involuntary shift, bones threatening to break and reform.

"Not here," I begged her. "They'll kill us if they see."

I stumbled forward, the border still miles away. My breath came in ragged gasps, fogging in the cold air. The trees seemed to close in around me, their shadows dancing in the moonlight.

"Almost there," I promised myself, though I wasn't sure how I knew.

My legs finally gave out as I reached the boundary line marked by ancient stones. I collapsed into the snow, feeling its cold embrace against my fevered skin.

"Got her," a voice said from the darkness.

Shadows detached from the trees—not Rogues as I'd feared, but warriors. Their scents were familiar, carrying the distinctive pine and mountain air of home.

"Sophia!"

Strong arms caught me before I hit the ground completely. A familiar scent washed over me—pine forests after rain, mountain stone, and home.

"Vance," I whispered, recognizing my brother's scent even as my vision darkened.

Alpha Vance Wright wrapped me in a fur cloak, his face tight with concern. "I've got you, little sister. You're safe now."

"Sienna," I managed to say before consciousness began to slip. "She's coming."

Vance nodded grimly, lifting me effortlessly into his arms. "We need to move. Now."

Warriors materialized around us—the elite guard of the Wright Pack, positioned at the border exactly when I needed them.

"How did you know?" I murmured against his chest.

"I never trusted him," Vance replied, his voice tight with controlled fury. "I've had guards stationed here since the day you left with him."

As Vance carried me toward waiting vehicles, I felt Sienna's presence growing stronger within me. The moonshade herbs were gone, burned away by the rejection and pain.

"She's coming," I whispered again, feeling my wolf's power surging through my veins.

Vance's arms tightened around me. "Let her come," he said softly. "It's time the world remembered who you really are."