His Rejected Royal Mate

I was Alpha Adrian's secret for eight years.

It took his grandfather’s centennial birthday for him to finally bring our son, Gale, and me home to the pack.

He swore the pack Elders had finally given us their blessing.

Our son, buzzing with excitement, bounced on the bed, clutching the champion’s medal from his junior fighting tournament.

He’d fought tooth and nail to win it, just to make his father proud.

But the moment we set foot on the Blackwood Manor grounds, we saw him.

Adrian, with his arms wrapped around a blonde she-wolf, kissing her deeply.

Adrian introduced her with a smile. "My mate, Sophia"

Our son, Gale, rushed forward to confront him, stabbing a finger toward the seemingly perfect bite mark on my neck.

"That's the mark Dad gave Mom! You all see it!"

But the pack’s Head Elder stepped forward.

After a cursory glance, he let out a cold sneer.

"A clever trick of blood magic," he said with contempt. "It can mimic a scent, but it lacks the soul-deep connection of a true mate bond. Any experienced wolf can see through it."

I turned to Adrian, my body frozen stiff.

He turned away from me, gently stroking the real mark on Sophia's neck, which glowed with a silvery, moonlit light.

"The Blackwood pack will not accept a half-blood who can’t even shift" he said. "The only one fit to stand by my side is Sophia."

I looked at him, and a bitter laugh escaped me.

To think I had suppressed my own Royal Alpha blood for a man like this.

I was Alpha Adrian's secret for eight years.

It wasn't until I walked in on him kissing his first love that I learned the mating mark he gave me was a fake.

I touched the back of my neck in disbelief.

"Eight years! You lied to me for eight whole years?!"

Everyone’s eyes were on me, but I could only see Adrian's expressionless face.

The face I had kissed countless times, the one I thought I would spend my life with.

"What is this, then?" I ripped my collar open, revealing the delicate, crescent-shaped bite mark. "What the hell is this?"

"Don't cause a scene, Elena," Adrian's voice was terrifyingly calm.

Causing a scene?

A disbelieving gasp escaped me, and I staggered back.

For eight years, I had suppressed my own Royal Alpha blood, turned down a career I dreamed of, and cut myself off from my friends, all because he kept insisting, "The time isn't right."

"I'm causing a scene?" My voice trembled. "You're the one who made a fool of me!"

I walked toward him, needing an explanation, needing him to say this was all a misunderstanding.

But Adrian pushed me away, his touch cold and dismissive.

Like he was shoving away a stranger, a nuisance.

"That's enough. It's time for you to go."

That push was crueler than any words.

The whispers around us erupted into a storm of murmurs.

"Poor woman. Used