Knotting His Rejected Breeder

The courtyard at Silvercrest was hot, dusty, and smelled of stale ale and burnt fat.

Aurora stood at the edge of the stone terrace, her fingers digging into the seam of her dress. Her father, Alpha Vance, stood right behind her, his breathing heavy and tight. Beside him, Luna Celeste gave Aurora’s dress a sharp, unnecessary tug at the shoulder.

"Stop fidgeting, Aurora," Celeste muttered under her breath, keeping her face locked in a rigid, practiced smile for the surrounding families. "Every Alpha and Beta present from twenty different packs is watching you."

"I’m not fidgeting, Mother," Aurora said through her teeth.

Across the open dirt ring, handfuls of young Alphas were talking too loud, laughing at their own jokes, and posturing. Aurora hated all of them on sight. She knew why she was standing here in uncomfortable silk. She was supposed to be the prize handed over to seal a border agreement, specifically with Dane Wayne, the new Alpha of Bloodmoon.

"Where the hell is he?" Vance growled under his breath. "The council started ten minutes ago. Ramon, where is your son?"

A few paces away, Alpha Ramon stood with his boots planted shoulder-width apart, arms folded across his chest. His face was a brick wall, but a muscle in his cheek was working hard. Beside him, Luna Sonia kept shifting her weight, her eyes darting toward the main gate.

"He’ll be here, Vance," Ramon said, his voice clipped.

"He’s late," Vance snapped back. "My daughter isn’t standing out in the dirt waiting on a boy who can’t keep to time."

Before Ramon could answer, the chatter in the courtyard died down a little. The two guards by the heavy oak doors straightened up as the wood creaked open.

Dane walked in.

He wasn’t wearing ceremonial clothes. His jacket was scuffed with dried mud from the road, his dark hair was pulled back messy, and he looked entirely strung out. Henrik Eragon walked half a step behind him in the Beta’s place, his eyes darting nervously around the crowd.

Then a low murmur rippled through the gathered families.

Right beside Dane walked Destiny in worn work pants and a scuffed shirt. She was clutching a canvas travel bag by its strap like a shield. She looked completely out of place, shrinking back as dozens of noble eyes locked onto her.

"What is this?" Vance demanded, taking a hard step forward into the ring.

Ramon’s jaw tightened. Sonia let out a small, stunned breath. "Dane..."

Dane looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. He kept his head down, walking fast toward the center ring and keeping his shoulder angled slightly in front of the girl.

"You’re late, Alpha Dane," Elder Corvin called down from the raised stone bench. "And you enter the council out of order, bringing an unranked Omega into a noble rite."

"I’m sorry for the delay," Dane said, his voice scratchy and rough. He stopped a few feet from the elders. "We ran into trouble near the lower pass."

Vance marched down the three steps, his face dark red. "You insult my pack! You keep us waiting, you ignore the elders, and you drag a farm girl into the ring?"

"Her name is Destiny," Dane said, stepping between Vance and the girl. His hands were shaking slightly, but his voice stayed grounded. "And she’s with me. I wasn’t leaving her out on the road."

Destiny pulled back, her heart beating against her ribs like a trapped bird. She squeezed the canvas strap tighter, completely overwhelmed by the glares of the high-born wolves. She still didn’t fully understand why Dane had insisted on her coming inside, only that he had panicked after the strange, heavy tension settled over the woods on their way in. Her parents were barred from entering.

"Dane," Sonia said softly, stepping down from the terrace to reach her son. "What happened? Who is she?"

"She’s from the lower farmland," Dane said, looking at his mother, his eyes wide with stress. "Some rogues were trailing her and her parents through the ridge. It wasn’t safe to leave her outside the walls."

"An Omega?" Vance scoffed, waving a dismissive hand at Destiny like she was dust. "You bring security problems into a choosing ceremony? You bring a stray to embarrass my daughter?"

Destiny’s throat felt dry. She took a step back, feeling small under the weight of their judgment. "I didn’t mean to cause trouble, Alpha Vance."

Vance glared at her. "Keep your mouth shut. Omegas don’t address an Alpha here."

"Back off," Dane said instantly, stepping right into Vance’s space. He looked completely worn out, torn between his new title, his father’s glare, and the girl behind him.

"Dane, step back," Ramon warned, putting a heavy hand on his son’s shoulder. He gave Dane a hard look before turning to Vance. "He brought a pack member inside for safety. That’s his call. But Vance is right about the timing. We have a council to run."

"I can’t do this right now," Dane muttered, dragging a hand down his face.

A collective gasp went through the older pack members at his tone.

Aurora stepped down from the terrace, her silver dress rustling in the dirt. She walked straight into the middle of the floor, looking between Dane’s stressed face and Destiny’s pale one.

"Aurora, get back here," Vance ordered.

"No, Father," Aurora said simply.

She looked at Dane. For a second, no one moved. Destiny held her breath, expecting the noble girl to start screaming at Dane for ruining her moment.

Instead, Aurora’s mouth twitched into a subtle, genuine smile.

"Alpha Dane," Aurora said, her voice smooth and polite. "It looks like you have enough on your hands today. It wouldn’t make sense for Silvercrest to press for a betrothal while you’re dealing with all this."

Dane blinked, totally thrown off. "What?"

"In fact," Aurora said, turning toward the elders with her hands folded neatly in front of her, "it would be wrong to force an agreement today. Clearly, Alpha Dane’s focus is required elsewhere."

Vance looked like he was about to choke on his own tongue. "Aurora, what are you doing?"

"I’m being sensible, Father," she said, giving him a cool, sharp look. "You don’t want me marrying someone who is completely distracted, do you?"

Destiny watched them, her mind spinning. She saw the relief in Aurora’s eyes—the girl was actively using Dane’s messy arrival to break her own chains.

"This is ridiculous!" Elder Corvin barked, standing up from his seat. "We aren’t halting a formal council over an Omega!"

"She isn’t just an Omega," Ramon’s voice cut through the noise, quiet and heavy.

Ramon stepped past his son, his eyes locked o Destiny. He looked at her face, her jawline, and the quiet, stubborn way she held herself despite shaking with fear. Something in her posture struck an old, uncomfortable chord in his mind.

Sonia took a step closer too, her brow furrowed as she studied Destiny’s features up close for the first time. "Ramon... who does she look like?"

Destiny shrank back against the strap of her bag, feeling the atmosphere shift from anger to something far more dangerous: curiosity.

"I don’t know who you think I am," Destiny said, her voice barely above a whisper, "but I just want to go home."

"Nobody is going home yet," Vance growled, stepping up beside Ramon. "Not until your son explains why an unbonded farm girl is standing in the center of my court."

Dane stepped firmly between all of them, his shoulder brushing against Destiny’s as he raised his hands. "Leave her out of this, Vance. This is on me."