THE ALPHA KING'S REJECTED MATE (TO BE OR NOT TO BE)

POV Mara
"Repeat that again for me."
The words came out before I could stop them.
The entire hall fell silent.
Hundreds of wolves surrounded the dais, all in their packs' colors. Silver banners fluttered from the great pillars, and the crescent moon hanging above the throne pulsed with an almost sentient glow.
A single figure was imprinted into my vision.
Damian Blackthorn.
The Alpha King.
His mate.
He loomed over me, a good few feet taller in his ceremonial dark clothes, his face as cold as the winter moon.
Our eyes locked.
A heartbeat of recognition.
A flash of something like shock.
Pure, undiluted fear.
Then he turned his face away. A mask of indifference slid back into place,
"I reject you as my mate."
My heart frozen, a murmur of shock swept through the crowd.
A wave of nausea rolled over me. The tight pressure in my chest intensified with every beat of my heart - the mate bond magic clamping down with white-hot force.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Not at all
A lifetime of dreams whirled past my eyes, mixing in a chaotic blur.
Finding my mate. A kind smile. Warmth. Acceptance. Not this - not the sneering disdain of the most powerful man in the land.
"I-"
"You what? You don't even really know me, do you, Mara?"
The whisper of someone's name slithered through the silence.
Mara Vale.
The worthless little lamb from the outskirts, the forgotten filial stray. The nobody who had risen high enough to catch the eye of the throne - but fallen just as fast.
My knees shook as I dropped my eyes.
Then it happened
The moonstone pendant hanging from my neck grew warm.
It burned against my skin, and I absently traced its edge with a fingertip.
My mother's pendant.
The artifact she'd left me before vanishing into history's mist.
Damian went rigid.
His eyes dropped to the amulet. For the first time since our eyes met, his carefully constructed mask slipped.
"You..."
He couldn't seem to form words.
"What?"
I stared up at him, confusion warring with something else, something deeper in my gut that had nothing to do with the sudden heat in my veins
"Where did you get that?" His voice was barely more than a rasp. A king's command tangled up with something else entirely - a desperate need that didn't quite make sense.
I curled my fingers around the pendant.
"It was my mother's."
A flicker of something shot across his face so fast I could have sworn I imagined it.
"What was her name?"
"What?"
"You know her name." The tremor in his voice deepened. "Tell me."
I swallowed.
"Elara."
Damian reeled backward as if I'd slapped him.
"What was her name?"
"Why do you ask?" I asked.
"Mara."
The name was practically ripped from him.
"What does it matter?" I asked
He was staring at something only I could see.
His whole body had gone tense.
"Mara."
"I'm right here."
Damian didn't respond. Not right away.
"Come with me," he said abruptly. "You need to leave."
Two royal guards stepped forward to escort me out.
I held his gaze.
"You knew her.
"Excuse me?"
"I said you knew her." I took a step closer.
"Her name was Elara." I hissed. "Now stop holding your breath, Damian, because I'm in no mood for games."
Suddenly, his mouth stretched into a mirthless smile.
The blood drained from my face.
No.
It couldn't be
"Did you just call me... Damian?"
His hands closed into fists.
"What is this about your mother?"
A gust of wind whipped my hair across my face. I blinked rapidly, pushing the tears of confusion from my eyes.
"I don't know what this is, but it makes absolutely no sense!"
As I spoke the words, a sharp pang of pain hit my ribs.
The moonstone pulsed against my chest, and Damian's eyes went wide.
Wait
He opened his mouth
It was too late. The pendant was already igniting beneath my touch, and a single word escaped the alpha king's lips.
Moonborn.

POV Mara
"You knew my mother."
I closed the door behind me.
Damian stood beside the large windows overlooking our personal sitting chamber.
He turned as I approached.
Not surprised to see me.
As though he expected me.
"You shouldn't be here."
"Then you shouldn't have mentioned her."
He turned sharply.
His face was composed, but his eyes were raw with exhaustion and something else.
Something that looked frighteningly like fear.
"Your mother was dangerous."
I blinked at him.
"Elara was kind."
"Kind, yes," he said.
"She was also ambitious and greedy."
"So were you."
"That is not for you to decide."
For a long moment, we stared each other down.
The mate bond pulsed between us, weaker than before but still there.
Damaged but not gone.
I hated that I could still feel it.
His anger, his fear.
And most disturbing of all, his self-imposed restraint.
"Why did you reject me?"
"Because accepting you would put you in more danger."
"What? You publicly humiliated me to protect me?"
"Yes.
"Okay, that doesn't even-
"It will make sense soon enough."
"When? Because right now-"
"When you're ready to understand."
I took another step closer.
"I am ready now."
Damian was watching me closely now.
"You don't think your life was ordinary."
"Because it wasn't," I snapped.
"No," he said with a shake of his head.
"You were protected.
Hidden.
From who?"
A loud crash sounded from the outer chamber.
Damian's head snapped toward the window.
His muscles tensed as though preparing to shift.
The king was gone.
Alpha was here.
"Get down."
"What? The hell are-
I barely had time to react before strong hands shoved me behind a heavy pillar.
Something hit the far wall with a thud, narrowly missing us.
I heard the clatter of boots running up the corridor.
More guards were coming.
Damian stood in front of me once the room was empty.
I stared up at him.
"You said I wasn't safe."
"Never said you were alone," he muttered.
"From who? Who would want to hurt me?"
His gaze swept the street outside the window.
"I don't know."
A loud impact sounded from the other side of the wall.
Something in me stirred at the sound.
Not fear, but recognition.
My wolf was suddenly restless, pacing inside of me.
I pressed my hand against my ribs.
"What is it?"
Damian looked over his shoulder at me.
"You can feel it too."
"Feel what?
"The bond.
The mate bond.
Before I could respond, the outer doors opened, and Rowan Hale stepped inside.
"Your Majesty,"
Damian turned toward the new arrival.
"Report."
"The eastern tower was surrounded," Rowan said.
"Who was it?" I asked.
Rowan hesitated.
When he turned his gaze on me, I swear it the air thickened around me.
"Mara."
A heavy silence filled the room.
My stomach twisted into knots.
The eastern tower.
Someone had come for me.
Not the king - but me.
Damian's eyes darkened in fury.
"Seal the palace."
Rowan nodded and disappeared down the corridor.
I turned back to Damian.
"Why would anyone want me?
"Until recently, it was your arrival I was worried about, "Damian said.
"I've been trying to find out since before you arrived."
My breath caught in my throat.
"You knew I was coming?"
Damian turned his attention back to the window.
A scrap of paper suddenly appeared under the door.
Rowan was gone.
I picked it up, unfolding it carefully.
SHE MUST NEVER REMEMBER
The words sent a chill racing up my spine.
I looked up at Damian.
For the first time since coming into the palace, he looked positively scared.
Not of me, but for me.

POV Mara
Someone had been in my room.
I could tell the minute I opened the door.
Nothing was missing from my closet.CHAPTER 3 -- THE ROOM THAT HAD BEEN SEARCHED
My bag still hung from the doorknob.
But everything was a little off.
The drawer was open.
My books were misplaced.
And the small box with wooden furniture where I kept all my mom's stuff was tilted to the side.
I walked towards it slowly.
My wolf was already on edge, sensing something was wrong.
I grabbed the box and opened it.
Inside was a photograph of my mother, standing next to a man I didn't recognize.
His face was familiar, though, the kind of familiar that made my heart race.
He was in the royal portraits.
Alaric Blackthorn, Damian's father.
I stared at the picture, noting how my mother was smiling, while Alaric's expression was tense, as if the picture was taken in the middle of an important discussion.
I turned the photograph to see if there was any writing on the back.
There was something there, scribbled on the edge.
The date.
It was the year my mother disappeared.
My heart pounded louder in my ears.
Why was my mother with Alaric Blackthorn?
Why did she never tell me about him?
Why did someone break into my room searching for this photograph?
'What is that?'
I turned around and saw Damian in the doorway.
His eyes landed on the photograph while his entire face paled.
You.
I clenched the photograph tighter.
"You knew him too."
Damian came into the room and took the photograph from my hands.
His expression twisted into something that was between horror and anger.
'Where did you get that?'
'It was my mother's.'
Damian studied the photograph.
For a moment, he seemed to forget that he was the almighty alpha king, and all that was left of him was the face of a betrayed son.
'Where was this taken?'
'I don't know.'
'Did your mother ever tell you about my father?'
'No.'
'Did she ever mention the royal family? The Blackthorns?'
'No.'
He looked up at me.
'She succeeded.'
'Succeeded at what?'
'Keeping you hidden from us.'
I stepped closer to him.
'You always say that.'
'Because it's true.'
'From who?'
Damian averted his gaze.
'I don't know everyone involved.'
'But you know someone.'
His silence was enough of an answer.
This was the same silence I saw when he first rejected me.
'You rejected me because of this, didn't you?'
'Yes.'
'Because of my mother?'
'Because of what happened to her.'
I stared into his eyes.
'What happened to her?'
Damian clenched his jaw.
'I was too young to understand.'
'You know she disappeared.'
'Yes.'
'And you know why.'
He looked me in the eyes.
'She discovered something she wasn't meant to find out.'
'What kind of something?'
Damian hesitated.
The way he was staring at me told me he was afraid of the answer.
He opened his mouth, but the lights suddenly went out.
Darkness surrounded the room.
I stood paralyzed, hearing something in the dark.
A hand was coming towards me.
Damian grabbed me and pulled me behind him.
My wolf growled, then something cold and rough brushed against my neck.
My pendant.
'Damian, someone took my pendant!'
His curse echoed in the room, and the lights suddenly turned on.
Everything was quiet.
The room was empty.
I looked down and saw the broken chain that used to hold my pendant.
Not there.
My mother's pendant, the one thing I had with me most of my life, was gone.
'I need to find that pendant,'
Damian whispered.
'They didn't come to look for the photograph. They came to look for the pendant."
'Why?"
He glanced at the door.
'The pendant is a key to the royal vault.'