The Alpha Was Never Hers

Aysel’s POV The Moonlight Hall shimmered. Wolves from every bloodline bowed in reverence, their breaths trembling as the drums of the Luna Ceremony thundered through the night. And I stood at the center of it all-barefoot, veiled in white moon-silk, the sacred mark glowing faintly on my wrist. In a few more breaths, I would…

“I heard the Elders wanted to skip the ceremony entirely and announce the bond straightaway,” she continued, brushing an invisible speck from her silk sleeve. “But Damon insisted on doing it properly-he wanted to hear your ‘yes’ himself. Isn’t that romantic?” I looked up from the documents on my desk, keeping my tone even. “So?”…

“Interesting,” he drawled, his voice low and rough as gravel yet smooth enough to tempt sin. “Didn’t expect to find a little wolf this fierce out here.” He took one unhurried step closer, his presence wrapping around me like heat and shadow. “Tell me, darling,” he murmured, his tone a velvet threat. “Who taught you…

I just moved. Three strides, and I was in front of her. Her perfume-sweet amber and deceit-burned my nose. Then my palm connected with her face. The sound cracked through the hall like thunder. For a heartbeat, no one breathed. Luna Evelyn screamed, “Aysel! What are you doing?!” Before anyone could stop me, I struck…

Her scent turned sharp with judgment. “You expect me to believe that girl tried to kill this one? Sure.” If wolves could roll their eyes out loud, she just had. The way Damon brushed Celestine’s hair back, how her trembling fingers clung to his sleeve-it was obscene. The kind of thing that made every instinct…

He was one of the enforcers who’d handled last night’s rogue incident. Apparently, fate wanted to make a spectacle of me. “You know Aysel?” Damon turned sharply. “What trouble did she cause last time?” Alpha Remus growled, his patience snapping. Fenrir scoffed. “The Enforcer Hall might as well give her a permanent cell. Does she…

“Tell me,” I said softly, the air chilling between us, “if I were to place her inside our pack, would she raise hell?” Jackson froze. The question was half a jest – or at least it would sound that way to anyone else. But my beta knew better. He knew that when I set my…

“Because I don’t recall anyone apologizing for trying to brand me a murderer.” The air dropped ten degrees. I kept smiling, soft and sweet. “If I hadn’t gone to the Enforcers myself, I’d still be carrying that title-‘the wolf who killed her aunt.’ Seems worth at least one apology, doesn’t it?” No one spoke. Even…

And so, Celestine Ward, the poor orphan of my mother’s sister, was brought into our pack to “heal” what I had broken. They called her my sister. I called her the curse that replaced me. From the start, the moon rejected our harmony. Whenever we were together, disaster followed. And of course, it was always…

When I finally turned to leave, the night wind shifted-and I froze. Blood. And something darker-rogue wolves. Their scent clawed through the air: raw, metallic, reeking of death and hunger. I almost ignored it. It wasn’t my business. Rogues tearing each other apart was as common as rain. But then-a second scent cut through the…