Rejected By The Alpha, Chosen By The Lycan King

The smell of pine and woodsmoke reached Aria before she opened her eyes. There was something else underneath it too. Kane. She smiled against the pillow and decided not to move yet. Morning light slipped through the curtains of the cabin, leaving thin lines across the bed. Outside, the pack was already awake. She could hear voices from the training yard and, every now and then, the heavy sound of someone hitting the mat. Kane's arm tightened around her waist.

"You're thinking too loud," he murmured against her shoulder. His voice was still rough from sleep.

"I'm not thinking anything."

"Liar." He pressed a lazy kiss against her neck. Aria smiled.

"Maybe I'm thinking about breakfast."

"Maybe you're planning world domination." "Maybe."

"Same energy." She laughed.

Kane lifted his head and looked at her. That half-smile appeared on his face, the same one that had gotten to her the first night she'd walked into pack territory. Back then, she'd been a stray with nowhere to go. Kane had looked at her like she belonged there. Eight months later, she still sometimes wondered how she'd ended up here. How she'd gone from having nothing to waking up beside an Alpha who refused to let her go.

"Come on," Kane said, finally getting out of bed.

"Council meets at ten. I need to shower, eat, and pretend I don't want to skip the whole thing."

"Very Alpha of you."

"I contain multitudes." He reached for her hand and pulled her out of bed. For a moment, neither of them moved. They stood in the morning light with their foreheads touching.

"Aria."

"Yeah?"

"After the meeting, I want to talk to you about something." Her stomach flipped. There was something different in his voice. Kane could make an entire room go silent with one command, but with her, he sometimes sounded almost nervous.

"Good something or bad something?"

"Good." He kissed her forehead.

"Very good." Aria smiled. She spent the next three hours trying not to get her hopes up but she failed.

By the time Aria stepped outside, the training yard was already crowded. Wolves were stretching, sparring, and yelling insults at each other. Some of them had known one another since they were children. Aria still felt like an outsider sometimes, like she'd walked into a family dinner where everyone else already knew the stories. But things had changed. Most of the pack had accepted her. Especially after it became obvious that Kane wasn't keeping her around because he was bored or curious. He cared about her. A lot.

"Coffee." Aria turned. Delphine stood beside the fence, holding two mugs. She handed one over. Aria took it.

"You're an angel."

"I know." Delphine took a sip from her own cup and looked Aria up and down.

"You look like a woman who didn't sleep."

"I slept fine."

"Sure you did." Aria rolled her eyes. Delphine grinned.

"Kane still won't shut up about you during Council prep."

"He does not."

"He absolutely does."

"He wouldn't."

"Tobias makes fun of him for it constantly." Aria tried not to smile. Delphine noticed.

"See? You're smiling."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are." Aria looked down at her coffee. Delphine bumped her shoulder.

"You're good for him, you know." Aria's smile faded slightly.

"Everyone says that." "Because it's true." Delphine looked across the yard.

"Even the old guard has noticed. And those wolves don't warm up to anyone." Aria didn't know what to say to that. She wanted to believe it. She really did. But part of her still had trouble trusting anything good. She'd learned that lesson years ago. Nothing stayed. People left. Promises changed. Still, when she looked up and saw Kane walking across the yard, those thoughts became harder to hold onto.

He moved through the crowd easily, broad shoulders, steady steps, his attention already somewhere else. Probably the Council meeting. But he spotted her. And immediately changed direction. Aria smiled. Kane stopped in front of her and reached up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Miss me?"

"It's been three hours."

"Three hours is a long time."

"For you, maybe." His eyes dropped briefly to her mouth. Then he looked back at her.

"I meant what I said this morning." Aria's heart started beating faster.

"About what?"

"After Council." He smiled.

"I've got something to ask you." Beside them, Delphine suddenly became very interested in her coffee. Aria noticed.

"Delphine." "I didn't hear anything."

"You heard everything."

"I heard nothing." Kane laughed.

"Ten minutes," he said, already walking backward toward the Great Hall.

"Don't go anywhere." Aria watched him leave. Her chest felt tight. She didn't know what he was going to ask. But she had a pretty good idea. And she was trying very hard not to hope. Hope had always been dangerous. But this time maybe it was okay. Maybe she'd finally found something that wouldn't disappear the moment she got comfortable.

She didn't know that by sundown, everything would be different. The doors of the Great Hall closed behind Kane. Aria remained in the yard, holding her coffee as it slowly cooled. The sun was warm against her face. For once, she felt safe. She had no idea it would be the last time she would feel that way for a long time.

Council meetings usually took forever. Today was worse. Aria tried to keep herself busy by helping Delphine sort supply crates near the mess hall. She kept glancing toward the Great Hall, though. Voices drifted through the open windows. Trade routes. A border dispute with the Kestrel pack. Something about the northern patrol. Nothing that explained why Aria couldn't seem to relax.

"You're pacing," Delphine said. Aria stopped.

"I'm not pacing."

"You've walked past me four times."

"I was helping."

"By walking?" Aria gave her a look. Delphine smiled and went back to labeling the crate. Aria leaned against the fence post and crossed her arms.

"I don't know why I'm nervous," she said.

"It's Kane. It's just Kane."

"It's just Kane who has been acting strange all week." Aria looked at her. Delphine continued, "The same Kane who asked Tobias for the family signet ring yesterday." Aria's stomach fluttered.

"And the same Kane who t