After My Alpha Rejected Me, I Became the Lycan Queen

The bell above the door of *Moon & Bloom* chimed, a cheerful little sound that usually signaled the start of a good day. Today, however, it felt like a warning knell.

I kept my back to the entrance, my hands busy arranging stems of lavender and chamomile. The soothing, herbal fragrance filled the air, doing its best to mask the nervous flutter in my chest. It wasn't just the flowers hiding me; I had applied the specialized lotion Caleb had given me this morning—a blend of sage and crushed mint designed to suppress my natural scent. It was a necessity in a neutral territory town like this, especially when you were hiding a secret as big as mine.

"Just a moment," I called out, my voice steady despite the sudden chill that prickled the back of my neck. I adjusted a sprig of baby's breath, my fingers lingering over the hidden mating mark on my neck. It was currently invisible to the naked eye, covered by a glamour Caleb had placed there, but I could feel the phantom warmth of it. It was a tether to him, even though he was miles away in London on Lycan business.

"We need something impressive," a woman’s voice drawled, sharp and dripping with entitlement. "For a Mating Ceremony. The Silver Moon Pack doesn't do 'subtle.'"

My blood ran cold. The stem of a white rose snapped in my hand, a thorn digging into my thumb. A single drop of blood welled up, bright red against the pale petals.

I knew that voice. It was the voice that had haunted my nightmares for eight years. Janelle Montgomery.

And if Janelle was here, that meant...

"Something smells... odd," a deep, rumbling male voice interrupted. It was a sound that used to make my heart race with love, but now, it only triggered a deep, nauseating dread. Alessandro Shaw.

"It smells like a flower shop, Al," Janelle dismissed, her heels clicking impatiently on the hardwood floor. "Just tell the girl what we want so we can leave. This place is quaint, but it’s hardly the luxury I’m used to."

"No," Alessandro insisted, his tone strained. I could hear him inhaling deeply, the sound of air rushing into his lungs. "It’s underneath the flowers. It’s familiar... but different. Richer."

I closed my eyes for a second, my hand instinctively going to my flat stomach. *Stay quiet, little one,* I thought desperately. *Don't let them sense you.*

I couldn't hide forever. Turning around now was the only option. If I acted suspicious, they would investigate. If I acted like a stranger, maybe—just maybe—they wouldn't recognize the woman they had destroyed.

I wiped the blood from my thumb onto my apron and turned.

"How can I help you?" I asked, my voice devoid of emotion.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Janelle was inspecting a vase of lilies, but at the sound of my voice, her head snapped up. Her eyes, heavily lined and cold as ice, widened in