Fated to the Alpha–And His Triplet Brothers

Chapter 14: The Rejection of the Alpha

~Hazel’s POV~

I wasn’t ready for what I saw.

The door creaked open just slightly but enough to unveil the unholy sight that slammed against my chest like a hammer to glass. There he was. My mate. The Alpha. The man I had walked miles barefoot and escaped my father’s mansion, tangled in sheets with my step-sister, Natasha, draped across him like she belonged.

And for a moment, I forgot why I came.

My breath caught so violently it hurt. My heart... it stung. Like a blade slid right between my ribs and twisted slowly. For a reason I didn’t understand, I wanted to scream. Not because I was surprised—no. I knew who he was. I knew who she was. But the ache came anyway. That disgusting, hollow ache that curled around my lungs and squeezed.

Natasha’s laugh snapped through the tension. Sharp. Poisoned. "And what are the ruins of the litter doing here?" she sneered, curling the sheet tighter around herself like she needed to protect something.

I didn’t flinch.

My fists clenched by my sides, nails cutting into my palm but my face remained still. If she thought words could bruise me, she hadn’t met the version of me that survived last night. I didn’t run out of the servant quarters and scale the side of the eastern wall for nothing. Ariel and I hadn’t risked our lives slipping past the guards and their scent markers just for me to turn back now. No.

I was here for business.

I didn’t care how warm their bed was or how damp the room smelled of lust. I came to reject him. To look into the eyes of the one who discarded me like trash... and throw him away, too.

The second Natasha left huffing, swaying her hips in that performative way of hers. I straightened my spine.

This was my moment. And I would not waste it. NovelFire

But then he moved.

"You must be brave," Cayden drawled, his voice lazy and amused, "to enter this place... alone."

And then he rose from the bed.

Naked. Completely. Naked.

Oh, moon goddess.

His chest rose slowly, Slick and glistening, as if kissed by firelight—a black tattoo crawling from beneath his collarbone, coiling around his ribs like a serpent guarding secrets, then vanishing deep into the V of his abs. His long black hair clung to his

like a hummingbird caught in a cage. I forgot how to breathe. I forgot how to stand. My knees buckled

He was massive

then—my eyes dipped

I gasped.

He was hard. Already.

body responded to me like I was still his. Like I

a step back.

spine hit the cold stone

nowhere

scenting blood. My insides were turning, and I was sure my

feel the heat off his body. His full face right in front of me, Thick eyelashes, Full brow, and perfect

me out

My pride

shoved him. Hard. Or as hard as my

you,"

didn’t open my eyes after I said it. I couldn’t. Not yet. I felt his presence still... massive and

And then..

he asked,

I opened my eyes.

They had

I didn’t shrink. Not

stepped closer, "I reject you. I will never be the Alpha’s discarded mate. I refuse to carry that title. You, Cayden Salvatore, will be the rejected Alpha because I

His breath hitched.

saw the war behind his eyes. His wolf. Fighting him.