Rejected by the Heir, Claimed by the Alpha King
My Coming of Age ceremony was supposed to be a coronation. Instead, it was a funeral for my heart.
I stood shivering as Catalina, the woman trying to steal my place, pushed me into the stone pool. My heavy silk dress pulled me down like an anchor. I waited for Jax, the Alpha Heir and my Fated Mate, to save me. He did dive in—but not for me.
He scooped up Catalina, who was standing in waist-deep water, treating her like a porcelain doll while I choked on the water.
His voice exploded in my head, not with concern, but with disgust.
"Stop embarrassing me, Eliana. You look pathetic."
Things only got worse. When I confronted them later, Catalina shoved me down the grand staircase. My knee—my dancer’s knee—snapped with a sickening sound. Jax didn't call a doctor. He used the Alpha Command to force me to drag my broken body out of the room so I wouldn't "upset" his mistress.
I thought he was just blinded by love, until I overheard him laughing with his Beta. He admitted he didn't love Catalina. He was just using her to break my spirit, to "tame" me into a submissive pet before finally marking me.
He thought I was weak. He thought I would stay in the mud forever.
He was wrong.
I took a silver knife and scraped our carved initials off the Sacred Oak until my skin sizzled. I packed my bags for New York, severing the pack link that bound us.
"Sleep well, Jax. Because when I come back, I won't be the girl you broke. I will be the nightmare you created."
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Chapter 3
Eliana POV:
Three weeks later, I was walking with a cane. The cast was off, but the limp was noticeable. The doctor said my dancing career was over.
I didn't believe him. I wouldn't let Jax take that from me, too.
Tonight was the Full Moon Party. Attendance was mandatory for all pack members. It was a time for the wolf spirit to revel in the moon's energy.
I wore a simple black dress that covered my brace. I stood in the corner of the great hall, watching the pack dance and drink.
The music stopped abruptly. The crowd parted.
Jax entered. He was wearing a tuxedo, looking every bit the future king. On his arm was Catalina, draped in red sequins, looking like a triumphant queen.
He reeked of her. He was marking her with his scent intentionally, masking her natural smell with his own to warn off other males.
It was the ultimate disrespect to a Fated Mate.
He scanned the room and locked eyes with me. He frowned when he saw the cane.
I felt a prod at my mental barrier. He was trying to Mind-Link me.
Open the link, Eliana, he pushed.
I kept the wall up. It was solid brick now.
Jax narrowed his eyes. He grabbed a microphone from the stage.
"Let's play a game!" he announced, his voice booming. The crowd cheered, drunk on moonshine and loyalty. "Truth or Dare."
The bottle spun on the large table in the center of the room. It landed on Catalina.
"Dare!" she squealed.
Jax smirked. "I dare you... to kiss the highest-ranking male in the room."
The room went silent. Everyone looked at me. I was the Mate. By law, I was the highest-ranking female. This dare was a direct challenge to my status.
Catalina pretended to look shy. She glanced at me, a mock apology in her eyes, before turning to Jax.
She grabbed his lapels and pulled him down.
Jax didn't pull away. He kissed her back. Deeply. Passionately. He tangled his hand in her hair, pulling her closer, making a show of it.
The crowd erupted in awkward cheers and nervous murmurs.
Look at her, they whispered. The Alpha prefers the mistress. The Mate is defective.
Jax broke the kiss and looked straight at me, wiping lipstick from his mouth.
"Some she-wolves are born to please," he said into the microphone, his eyes boring into mine. "And some are just... burdens."
The silence that followed was deafening.
I didn't cry. I didn't run.
I tapped my cane on the floor, the sound echoing in the quiet hall. I limped forward until I was standing in front of the stage.
I looked up at him. My face was completely void of emotion. No anger. No sadness. Just nothing.
"Are you finished?" I asked. My voice wasn't loud, but in the silence, it carried.
Jax blinked, confused by my lack of reaction. He wanted tears. He wanted me to beg.
"Eliana—"
"You are not a king, Jax," I said calmly. "You are just a male with a title your father gave you."
I looked at Catalina, then back at him.
"And you have poor taste."
I turned around.
"How dare you!" Jax roared. The Alpha Aura slammed into the room, making people drop to their knees.
But I didn't kneel.
The pain in my knee was blinding, but I locked my joints. I kept my spine straight.
"You are nothing to me," I said, not looking back. "Just a common male."
I walked out of the hall. The pressure of his aura pushed against my back, trying to crush me, but I used it as fuel.
I heard glass shattering behind me. Jax had thrown his drink against the wall.
He was angry. Good.
Because I was done being sad.