Rejected By The Alpha, Claimed By His Uncle

Seraphine's POV

What was more disheartening than not being able to respond with even a trace of desire in the heat of intimacy with your mate?

"You can't do anything right." He rasped, tugging at the underside.

I lay bare on our matrimonial bed. Like a turkey spread out on a tray during Thanksgiving.

I tried. Moon above, I tried. But my body remained unready. I can't get wet.

Fael leaned down. There was bold frustration in his eyes. My heart sank when he jutted his chin toward me in disappointment so thick I could taste it in the air.

"Never. Never Seraphine. Do you hear me?" I whimpered; his grip on my cheeks was too firm. "Never have I needed any aid to prepare my partner with any of my women. But with you, it's like a recurring rite for goodness' sake!"

"Fael. Please. Just... give me a moment. If you allow me to-"

"Allow you to do what?"

He shifted his knee off the bed and pulled his pants back on.

"That's not wh-"

"Seraphine. It's one thing that you were paid for a debt. And it's another for you to talk down on my prowess as a man."

Heavens, I would never.

"Fael. If you-"

He raised a finger up, cutting me off completely as he tussled with the zipper. He was still hard, the imprint of him visible still. I wanted him too, so badly. I couldn't let him leave.

I lowered myself down from the cream coloured sheets and onto the ground. I had a plan forming in my head, and if I eased him into it, it could be a solution we mutually desired.

"Fael. What if you present me in front of the pack as yours, officially? Officially. Maybe that is why my wolf is hesitant to produce readiness."

The laughter that followed was loud. Fael's buckle shook in his hand from how hard he laughed.

"This agenda again." He shook his head. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Same old, same old."

I refused to give up. I crawled on my knees to him. Placing both palms at his feet.

"At least give it a thought."

I thought he was going to get angry, or at least leave and slam the door in my face. But Fael lifted me by the arms till we were face level with each other. His lips met mine for a moment.

But we didn't feel the spark of the bond.

And we both knew why.

He kissed me, slowly, and then pulled away. Stroking my cheek.

"You want me to parade you around the pack like mine? Right? You want a full coronation? Right? You want me to maybe spoon-feed you and whisper affirmations to you every day?"

"Who wouldn't want that from her mate, Fael. Every she-wolf would."

His entire body withdrew from mine as I had burned him. Like he was repulsed by a barrier between us.

"You shouldn't want that, Seraphine! You shouldn't. Every she-wolf out there can because they are competent, strong, and not you."

My lips quivered, and a lump suddenly formed at the base of my throat.

"You are the opposite of what a she-wolf should be. I mean... look at you." With a harsh spin, I was standing before a mirror. Staring at my reflection.

"All I did was claw at your arms the last time we were together, and you haven't even healed till now. You are a frail omega from a fallen line. And the one thing even the meekest omegas can do, to welcome their mate, it takes a miracle for your body to even do that."

The mirror didn't lie.

My skin was still mottled with half-healed scratches, thin red lines that refused to fade the way a normal wolf's would. My collarbones protruded out too much, my hips too narrow, my breasts small and unremarkable.

Everything about me looked unfinished.

His hand stayed clamped on my shoulder.

"Tell me, Seraphine," he whispered, "what exactly am I supposed to present to them? This?"

He dragged a single claw down my spine.

"A mate who flinches at a touch, who bruises at a whisper? A Luna who can't even respond to her own destined mate?"

I tried to swallow the sob clawing up my throat. It came out as a broken whimper anyway.

His mouth brushed the shell of my ear.

"You think a ceremony will fix what is broken inside you? You think a crown and a pretty dress will suddenly make your wolf roll over and beg for me?"

"Maybe," I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded. "Maybe if the bond was sealed... if the pack acknowledged it... my body would finally-"

"Your body doesn't want me, little one." He laughed. "Your body knows what your mouth is too proud to say. You were never meant to be Luna. You were meant to be payment for your father's debt. Nothing more."

He released me so suddenly that I stumbled forward.

My breath fogged the mirror, blurring my tear-streaked face.

Behind me, his belt buckle clinked as he fastened it.

"I'm going out," he said. "I'll have the maids get you something to eat, since food is the only thing you get excited about." A smirk graced his lips. "It's not like you add on any flesh despite all you eat."

I sobbed against the mirror. Finding nothing worthwhile to say.

Was I even worth anything at this point?

"I'm going to see Liora tonight," he shrugged. "She never needs a miracle to welcome me."

The door shut behind him, and my heart detonated.

I crumpled like a fold of dirty clothing to the ground. My limbs trembled violently, and I assumed it was one of those random, unstable shifts.

But instead, my vision tunneled and blacked out. My stomach felt disturbed, and I coughed up something into my hand.

"Gah... w-what..."

It was whitish and murky.

Poison.