Rejected By The Pack, Desired By The Alpha

We shuffled to the side, out of the flow of foot traffic. The three of them were the only ones I'd truly managed to connect with.

Jelena and her twin brother, Cyrus, were strikingly similar: ash-blond hair, vivid green eyes, and sharp features. They were both tall, but Cyrus towered over his sister, hovering around six-foot-five. Beside them stood Pavel, Jelena's mate. He was a little shorter than Cyrus but still taller than Jelena, with hazel eyes and black hair. All three were werewolves, members of the pack, but their rank was low enough that they didn't make a big deal of it. They preferred to form their own opinions of others, which was exactly how they'd sized me up.

I still remembered the day I'd met them. I was terrified of how they'd react, yet at the same time, I wanted their acceptance more than anything. When they finally let me into their circle, it was one of the few times I'd felt a genuine sense of victory. I'd only known them for a month, yet they welcomed me as if I'd always been one of them. A bit like my cousins, sometimes. And that was enough to make me feel like I belonged.

"Pavel, are you ever going to stop calling me Astro?" "It's not even close to my real name."

"Oh yeah?" he grinned. "I think it fits you perfectly. An astronaut who spends every class drifting off into space—makes sense, right?"

He cracked up at his own joke.

"Honestly..." Jelena sighed, swatting him again. "Why do I even put up with you?"

"Because the Moon Goddess herself decided we were made for each other, and you're madly in love with me," he recited with mock seriousness, like he was repeating a line he knew by heart. "Admit it. You can't resist me."

"Right, that must be it." She rolled her eyes before rising on her tiptoes to steal a kiss.

"Ugh, seriously? Can you two not do that in front of me?" Cyrus grumbled.

The rest of us burst out laughing.

It was always like this with them.

"Trin, you need a ride or is your cousin waiting for you?" Jelena asked.

"Thanks but Caden should already be here. I'd better go. See you next week!" With that, I took off toward the exit.

"Wait, what? It should be 'see you tomorrow'!"

Pavel's and Cyrus's voices stopped me in my tracks.

I turned back, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The Harvest Moon Gathering," Jelena answered flatly, as if stating the obvious.

My hand flew to my forehead.

"Oh no... I completely forgot!"

"Good thing you have us to remind you of the important stuff," Pavel said with a snicker.

"Hilarious, really."

"Easy, Astro."

I shot him a half-serious growl before running off again.

I slipped through the crowd to the parking lot. Caden was waiting for me, leaning against his Jeep. He was the closest thing I had to an older brother. And even if I'd never tell him that, it meant the world to me.

"You're late," he said as soon as I was close enough.

"Sorry, I was chatting with friends after class. Lucky that they reminded me of something."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" he was already smiling, sure it was nothing important.

"Tomorrow night's gathering. I'd completely spaced it."

His expression shifted.

"Seriously, Thalia?"

"It's not that surprising," I said, getting defensive. "We usually only gather for the Hunter's Moon. This time is different. Besides, they never really invite me anyway. Ever since I turned eighteen, it's like I'm invisible to most of the pack. If it weren't for the monthly allowance and my paid tuition, I'd think my grandfather had forgotten I even exist."

"Come on, get in," Caden said, opening the passenger door.

There was that familiar warmth in his voice that always managed to calm me down.

Once we were on the road, I asked the question that had been nagging at me.

"Why are they even holding this gathering?"

We were leaving the city and heading toward the complex. We called it that, but it was really just a massive gated community where most of the pack members lived.

To the north and west, the forest formed a natural barrier stretching toward the mountains. A river ran along the south, winding at the foot of the ridges. These natural features turned the whole place into a fortress. Almost everyone lived there, aside from those who had chosen to leave or had been exiled. It was safer—for us and for humans.

"The Alpha needs to find his mate," Caden explained. "He wants to hold more gatherings before the end of the year. If he doesn't find her here, he'll have to look elsewhere. These events also let others form bonds, so all the singles have to be there. Even mated couples can come; it's tradition."

"Okay..." I said slowly. "So that's why Jelena and Pavel are going."

I fell silent for a moment before adding, annoyed, "But why do I have to go? We all know it doesn't apply to me. I have no wolf. I can't form a bond."

"We don't know that for sure," he answered instantly.

It was always the same answer. He'd repeated it to me dozens of times.

"I'm not human, nor a she-wolf," I retorted. "I don't belong in either world. If you don't believe me, ask Grandfather."

My voice had risen without my meaning it to.

"Actually, sometimes I just want to give him a piece of my mind," Caden grumbled.

I couldn't help but laugh. He'd always defended me more than anyone else.

He was closer to me in age than his brother, Nolan—only two years apart. Nolan, on the other hand, had already built his life. He had found his mate, married, and now lived in his own home within the complex.

"Let's be realistic, Caden. The Moon Goddess will never assign me to anybody in this pack. And even if it happened... they'd just reject me."

"You can't reject a mate bond. You know that," he said, genuinely taken aback.

"Maybe," I conceded. "But that wouldn't stop them from trying. Honestly, they'd probably rather be alone for the rest of their lives. They might even start an order of single wolves."

I let out a bitter laugh at my own joke.

"It's not funny," he grumbled.

"It is a little," I insisted. "And deep down, you know I'm right. No werewolf in this pack will ever want me."

~~

Rayan's POV:

I sat behind my desk, listening as Nolan, my personal assistant, ran through his report. He did his job with impeccable rigor—too much, at times. He could have summarized everything in minutes, but he lingered on every detail, treating each one as if it might one day prove essential. The result was that his reports dragged on far longer than necessary.