Mated To The Ruthless Alpha

AYLA RIVERS I had always known I was different. Not because I was an omega—no, that label came later. I was different because I had survived. While others perished in that rogue attack thirteen years ago, I had lived. Scarred, orphaned, and forever marked by the fire that burned down my childhood home, I had crawled out of the wreckage with nothing but a heartbeat and a name. Ayla Rivers. The pack took me in, but they never truly saw me. To most, I was the quiet girl who worked in the kitchens and ran errands for the warriors. I wasn’t the daughter of anyone important. I wasn’t trained, I wasn’t ranked, and I certainly wasn’t expected to stand on the hill tonight, shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the pack’s youth. But here I was. The full moon bathed the clearing in silver, casting long shadows through the trees. The air was sharp, electric with anticipation. Tonight was the Moon Ceremony, the night every wolf who came of age would feel the pull of fate—some would find their mates, others would leave with a hollow ache of disappointment. I didn’t know what I expected. Probably nothing. I wasn’t high-ranking. I wasn’t powerful. And I definitely wasn’t someone’s destined mate. Still, I was drawn here, like something ancient stirred inside my blood. “Stop fidgeting,” whispered Clara, a beta girl who worked with me in the kitchens. “You’ll make people stare.” “They already are,” I murmured. I could feel the weight of their eyes—the judgment, the curiosity. What was the omega doing here, standing on sacred ground like she belonged? I clenched my hands behind my back and tried to ignore it. The circle of wolves grew quiet as the drums began, deep and low like the pulse of the earth. From the far edge of the clearing, I felt it before I saw him—Alpha Kael Draven. The crowd parted. He walked like the world bent beneath his feet—tall, broad-shouldered, every inch carved in dominance. His presence was suffocating, magnetic. I had seen him before from afar, of course. Everyone had. But now, as he approached the center of the clearing, something in me stirred—something fierce and ancient. My heart skipped a beat. Then his eyes met mine. The world fell silent. One second, two, maybe three—I wasn’t sure. But in that moment, I felt it. A jolt that started in my spine and raced through my veins like wildfire. The air crackled. My wolf stirred violently inside me, awakening with a howl that echoed through my soul. Mate. The word slammed into me with a force I couldn’t describe. And judging by the way Kael’s steps faltered—just for a fraction of a second—he felt it too. “No,” he said aloud. I blinked. Wait—what? Kael’s expression hardened like steel, all traces of surprise erased in an instant. He took a step toward me, towering and unreadable, the mark of his rank pulsing with raw power. “You’re my mate?” His voice was low, dangerous. My lips parted, breath caught in my throat. “I—yes. I feel it. You feel it too.” His jaw clenched. “This must be a mistake,” he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. The crowd rippled with whispers. My skin prickled. “I don’t mate with weakness,” Kael continued, voice icy. “An omega can’t stand beside me.” It felt like being struck. I recoiled, shame and confusion crashing over me in waves. “But… the bond—” “I reject this,” he said flatly. “I reject you.” I didn’t know how I stayed standing. My legs trembled. My lungs refused to work. Every heartbeat screamed inside my ears. Then he turned his back and walked away. The silence was deafening. I stood there for a long moment, unmoving, humiliated under a hundred watchful eyes. My soul burned. My wolf whimpered and curled into herself, rejected and silenced. Clara reached for my arm. “Ayla…” I didn’t respond. I turned and walked into the trees, refusing to let anyone see the tears that blurred my vision. I spent the next three days locked in my room. Grief wasn’t supposed to feel like this. I didn’t even know him—not really. And yet the bond had snapped into place like destiny herself had spoken. Kael hadn’t just rejected me. He’d denied a part of me I didn’t even know existed until that moment. It hurt in ways I couldn’t explain. On the fourth day, I went back to the kitchens. No one spoke of it. But they stared. I kept my head down. Until one night, I found myself at the edge of the training fields, hidden behind the trees, watching the warriors spar beneath the moonlight. I didn’t know what drew me there. Maybe I wanted to understand what I wasn’t. What Kael said I could never be. Or maybe... I wanted to prove him wrong. That night, I approached Kara, a seasoned warrior and the only female ranked high enough to challenge the males. “Teach me,” I said. She looked at me like I had grown a second head. “What?” “I want to train.” She raised a brow. “You think this is about Kael?” “No.” I met her eyes. “It’s about me.” Something shifted in her gaze. After a pause, she nodded. “Be here at dawn. Don’t cry when you bleed.” Training was brutal. Kara didn’t go easy on me. She made me run until my lungs begged for air. Spar until my muscles shook. Fall. Fail. Rise again. She broke me down and rebuilt me piece by piece. Some nights I couldn’t move. Other nights, I dreamed of Kael—his rejection, his eyes, the way my wolf still ached for him despite everything. I buried it. Week after week passed. My body changed. My instincts sharpened. I learned how to fight, how to think, how to survive. And one day, I realized something strange—some of the warriors started nodding at me. Not mockingly, but with respect. A subtle acknowledgment. It wasn’t much, but it was mine. Months later, the Moonstone Pack faced its greatest threat. Rogues had always been a problem—but now, they were coordinated. Bold. Deadly. Patrols were slaughtered, territory lines crossed. Something was brewing, and Kael couldn’t ignore it. During a strategy meeting—one I had no business being at—I spoke. “This isn’t random,” I said. “They’re not attacking for food or territory. They’re testing our defenses.” Eyes turned toward me. Kael was among them. For the first time since the ceremony, he looked directly at me. And something in his expression changed. “Who let you in?” he asked. “I let myself in,” I said evenly. “Because I have something worth saying.” Kara stood beside me. “She’s right, Alpha. I’ve seen the patterns too.” A pause. Kael’s jaw ticked. But he didn’t dismiss me. That night, I led a patrol. And we caught two rogues trying to breach the eastern border. The tide was changing. Then came Lukas Thorne. He arrived under a banner of peace—offering aid and alliance. But it was clear from the moment he met me that he had more than diplomacy in mind. “You’re not what I expected,” he said with a smirk. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” He chuckled. “Definitely. Any woman who can survive Kael Draven’s rejection and still hold her head high is someone I want to know.” Lukas was different—smooth, confident, but kind. He asked questions. Listened. And when he offered to court me publicly, I didn’t say no. Not right away. Kael’s reaction was immediate and vicious. “You think this is a game?” he snarled after I returned from a joint training session with Lukas. I didn’t flinch. “I think it’s none of your business.” “You’re mine.” “You rejected me. You don’t get to claim me now.” Kael’s eyes burned, his control fraying. “I made a mistake.” “No,” I whispered. “You made a choice.” Everything came to a head when the rogues struck in full force. Led by Damon, a rogue Alpha with a blood feud against Kael, they stormed the borders. Damon revealed the truth—he was Kael’s half-brother. Cast out. Forgotten. “I told you I'd take everything,” he snarled as fire consumed the outer villages. And in the chaos, I took command—not as a mate, not as a Luna—but as a warrior. Kael fought beside me. We bled together. We saved the pack together. And when Damon nearly killed him, I made my choice. I stepped between them, power blazing from my core. I defeated Damon with more than force. I used instinct. Strategy. Heart. After the battle, Kael lay wounded, bloodied and broken at my feet. “You saved me,” he rasped. I knelt beside him. “I saved all of us.” He reached for my hand, hesitant. “I don’t deserve you.” “No,” I said softly. “But you can try.” And he did. Day by day, he earned my trust—not by force, but by showing me his own broken pieces. And I saw the man behind the Alpha. The one who carried his scars like armor. He didn’t try to own me anymore. He stood beside me. And one night, beneath a quiet moon, he took my hand. “No mate bond. No fate. Just choice. Just us.” I smiled. And I chose him.