The Rejected Luna Is A Phoenix Heir

Veyra's POV

I could not do anything. The tingling sensation of my arm, where the essence had penetrated my skin, remained, as well as the feeling of warmth in my chest, although fear was creeping up my throat.

The clearing exploded around me.

"An omega?! *Her*?!" screamed a woman from the front row, pointing at me as if I were something hideous.

"It is not possible," came yet another voice. "Just look at her face. Just look at her. There is no way the Alpha's wolf chose *that*."

I shrank at their words, but before I could even attempt to defend myself, hands grabbed my arms on either side. Turning to see the guards flanking me, I could not make out any expression on their faces.

"Wait-" I managed to say.

"You have to come with us," the guard said, tightening his hold and beginning to pull me along.

"But I didn't do anything!" I cried out, turning to glance back at the platform, desperately trying to spot either Kaizen, Elder Theron, or anyone else who could tell me why I was being taken away. Kaizen stood right where he had been, frozen in shock, staring at his own hand as if it had betrayed him.

Nobody stopped the guards. Nobody spoke up for me.

The guards led me directly to the council chambers, a place I had only ever seen from the entrance whenever I had delivered herbs to the elders. I was shoved into the middle of the chamber where a semi-circle of council members sat, staring at me with rage and disgust.

"Explain yourself," snarled one of them before I could get my words out.

"Explain what?" I asked. "I don't-I don't have a clue any more than you do!"

"Don't try to fool us, girl," said yet another council member, reaching forward from his chair. "The chosen mate of the Alpha is no accident. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" I said, my voice wobbling despite my efforts to keep it steady. "I hardly know the Alpha. I've never had a private conversation with him. I can't even bring myself to look at him if he walks past me on the pack grounds."

"That sounds believable."

"You think I'm lying?" I asked, balling my fists at my sides. "You know how I am treated in this pack. Would I want this? Do you really think I'd want all those wolves staring at me as if I was some kind of monster?"

One  of the older council members, a thin woman with piercing eyes, tilted her head as she scrutinized my face. "That scar of yours," she said. "What is it? Where did it come from?"

"From an attack on me as a kid. You already knew that."

"Do we?" she replied. "Or is it something more sinister?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You see, dark magic always leaves its mark," she said. "It's possible that your scar wasn't a consequence of any accident."

"That's ridiculous," I said, raising my voice without meaning to. "I have been working as a healer here since I was twelve years old. You've all seen my healing powers. You've all sent your own wolves to me. And now suddenly, I am some kind of witch?"

"It would explain how an omega managed to make the Alpha's essence choose  to her," another council member interrupted me. "With forbidden magic, such manipulation isn't impossible."

"I didn't force anything!" I said. "I didn't even want to attend the ceremony tonight. Ask Mira. Ask any of the healers. I was going to stand in the back the entire night and go home the moment it was over."

The door opened before the council could say anything, and Elder Theron entered, his face showing annoyance.

"Enough," he said, cutting off all conversation. "This is not how an investigation should be conducted. We will not trap a scared girl and shout at her about accusations that have no proof behind them at all."

"Elder Theron," the thin council woman started, sitting up. "Do you not realize why we are concerned? An *omega* has been picked as Luna-"

"Wolf essence does not pick based on status," Theron said sharply. "It does not care about looks or money or the importance that person has in the pack. Wolf essence picks based on compatibility that goes far beyond what we can ever see with our eyes. I have overseen more matings than any of you still alive in this pack, and I have never seen essence act like this for no reason at all."

"Then how do you explain it?"

"I don't need to explain it," Theron stated. "The bond speaks for itself. Whatever any of your feelings on it may be doesn't alter the fact that this is what the essence has shown."

The entire room became quiet, except for the door opening and Kaizen entering once more.

All eyes were on him. 

"Alpha," Theron stated, somewhat softer. "I take it that you are here to contest the bond."

"I am here to reject it," Kaizen declared bluntly.

A sinking feeling went through my stomach, even though I was not sure why I expected otherwise. Of course he would reject it. How could a guy like him ever willingly be with a lady  like me?

"Kaizen," Theron stated softly, "you can't just-"

"There has been a mistake," Kaizen declared sharply. "My wolf would not choose this omega. It won't choose somebody that I have never even met in my life. There is a mistake with the reading, or something else has messed it up. But there is no way I will accept this as my mate bond."

"The wolf essence makes no errors," Theron said, his tone decisive. "You should be well aware of this."

"If so, then I'm an exception," Kaizen replied. "Get her back home."

The guards started walking towards me once again, and I opened my mouth to say something... anything. But there were no words to say in that moment; there wasn't a thing to say. I had been preparing for rejection all my life, and somehow, it still hurt me in ways I hadn't expected.

The guards walked me back to my small house on the outskirts of the pack's territory, saying nothing the whole time. I collapsed onto the floor the moment I stepped inside my house, staring at my hands – at the slight shimmering of the essence under my skin.

*Why me?*

I asked myself over and over again, but I didn't find a single answer. I had avoided Kaizen for years. I'd done everything in my power to escape his notice simply because I knew what others thought about me.

So how had that wolf selected me as its mate?

I pushed my hands against my eyes, struggling to catch my breath. Maybe there was something wrong with me after all.

I didn't have much time to contemplate this.

The heavy knocking sounded at my door, and without waiting for me to respond, they barged inside. These guards weren't the same as those who had taken me to my home.

"You've been called back to the palace," one of them told me.

"Now?" I demanded, springing to my feet. "Why?"

"The Imperial Council is in session," he told me. "They are initiating an investigation into the bond."

My heart sank, but I followed them back into the cold night air.

There were even more high-ranking officials in the chamber this time around, some of whom I knew only by name. Kaizen was standing toward the front of the room, his arms crossed over his chest and a stone-faced expression set in place. I was ordered to stand near him, close enough for me to sense the tension coming off of him in waves.

"This bond cannot simply be ignored," an Imperial Council member was saying as I approached, obviously continuing an argument that began before I arrived at the chamber. "You are the Alpha of this pack, Kaizen. It is no small matter to reject a true mate bond."

"I understand the importance of my role," Kaizen replied. "That is precisely the reason I cannot enter into a bond that I know to be fake."

"It may very well be false," a second member of the council spoke up. "But the repercussions of your refusal do not rest solely on yourself. The breaking of a true mate bond that has been formed in true essence has been known to bring ill luck to a whole Alpha's pack. Weak warriors. Poor harvests. Diseases spreading quicker than they ought to."

"But this is not a matter of pride," Kaizen snarled. "This is a matter of the fact that my wolf doesn't pick weakness. Someone without status, without power, without-" He cut himself off, but the damage had been done, and I could feel myself turning red with shame while trying to keep my face expressionless.

"Be careful, Alpha," Theron cautioned softly from where he was standing by the council platform.

Kaizen ignored him. "I will not accept this mating," he repeated, his voice raised this time, like if he shouted loud enough, it would change the fact.

"Then there is nothing left for us but to be very cautious," the head of the council stated. "If you choose to reject the bond formed by wolf essence, then we need an explanation. A reason that will satisfy the law."

Kaizen's eyes met mine for the first time since I had come into the room, cold and impenetrable. Then he turned his gaze back to the council.

"I want a test for black magic done! I will not accept this mating!"