The Alpha Who Rejected His True Mate

For eight years, I loved Alpha Ryker Blackwood. The moment the mate bond snapped into place, my whole world became about him. That night, I brought him his favorite cinnamon rolls, my heart pounding with the hope that he was finally ready to accept me.

As I reached his study, his thoughts slammed into me through our bond, a cruel, accidental broadcast. "Cassia Thorne will be my Chosen Mate. We'll announce she is carrying my pup to make Elara accept the Rejection. I cannot be shackled by a bond I never wanted."

The silver tray slipped from my numb fingers and crashed to the floor. Ryker ripped the door open, his eyes blazing with fury. He didn't see my shattered heart; he only saw the mess on his expensive rug.

"Useless," he snarled, his voice a low growl that vibrated through my soul. He slammed the door in my face, leaving me alone with the ruins of my life.

A moment later, my phone buzzed. It was a pack-wide invitation to a celebration. My public execution. The pain in my chest was a physical thing, the bond tearing itself apart as I realized the man fated to be mine had planned my ultimate humiliation down to the last detail.

He thought he was orchestrating my public ruin. He had no idea his chosen mate was a lie. And her secret was about to burn his entire world to the ground.

Chapter 1

The scent of cinnamon and warm dough clung to Elara Mooncrest's fingers. She held the silver tray with a careful reverence, her knuckles white. On it sat a half-dozen perfect cinnamon rolls, their sugary glaze still glistening under the dim hallway lights of the Packhouse.

Ryker's favorite.

Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat of hope and terror. For eight years, since the moment she'd turned fourteen and the mate bond had snapped into place, this was all she had wanted. Him.

*Mate, mate, our mate!* Her inner wolf, Lyra, danced in her mind, a whirlwind of silver fur and joyous yips. Lyra was simpler. She felt the pull and wanted to answer it. She didn't understand the complexities of waiting for an Alpha to be ready.

Elara took a deep, steadying breath as she approached the heavy oak door of his study. The air here was different. It was saturated with him. Dark cedar and the crisp, cool scent of forest rain. It was the most intoxicating fragrance in the world, and it made her knees weak.

She raised a trembling hand to knock.

The sound of low, masculine voices from within stopped her. Ryker. And his Beta, Cain Volkov.

She shouldn't listen. It was private.

But then, a wave of raw, unfiltered thought slammed into her mind. It wasn't like the gentle hum of the pack link. It was a soul-cry, a rare phenomenon whispered about in pack lore—an Alpha's intense emotion accidentally leaking through the raw, contested channel of an unfulfilled mate bond.