The Rose Proposal

Elara's POV

The delicate, intoxicating fragrance of the rose garden—a space I had meticulously cultivated and arranged with my own two hands—now serves as the suffocating backdrop to my ultimate heartbreak. Standing in the dappled sunlight, I am forced to watch as my Fate Mate, Alpha King Zarek, leans in to capture the lips of another woman, Vexia.

It is like time stops. I don't want to watch, but somehow, I can't look away. My lungs forget how to breathe, and my legs forget how to move.

"NO!!!"

Deep within the recesses of my mind, my inner wolf, Lyra, unleashes a mournful, agonizing howl that vibrates through my very bones.

For three arduous years, I have sacrificed my blood, sweat, and tears for Pack EbonGrove. I operate in the shadows as his flawless Beta. I am his "Agent Luna," managing the pack's overwhelming duties and keeping everything running perfectly. And behind closed doors? We have amazing sex. Night after night, I secretly warm his bed. I give him my body and my heart, hoping that the intense physical passion between us means something more.

But my devotion is never enough. Because I am a low-born orphan without a single drop of noble blood, Zarek demands our sacred mate bond remain completely hidden from the world. He firmly believes an Alpha King of his sheer stature requires a high-born, aristocratic bride, not a nobody like me.

I swallow hard, forcing a rigid, polite smile onto my face to mask the sheer devastation tearing me apart. I desperately bury the razor-sharp realization that to the man I love, I am nothing more than a convenient, disposable office lover. Whenever he calls, I am just expected to spread my legs and satisfy his needs, only to be cast aside in the daylight.

"All of this is unusual!" Lyra snarls in my head, pacing frantically as she struggles to accept the Alpha King’s ultimate betrayal.

"I asked you to please be quiet while I’m working," I remind her internally. Mercifully, Lyra falls into a whimpering silence.

I take a quiet step backward, finally forcing my feet to cooperate. I can't stomach the sight of my Fate Mate swallowing another woman's moans.

"Elara," Zarek’s authoritative, booming voice cuts through my mental torment.

I freeze. His tone holds not a single trace of hesitation.

"Bring me the ring."

I stare at him, praying I have misheard. But Zarek is looking at me expectantly. To him, this isn't the agonizing execution of our bond. It is just another mundane item on my daily itinerary. Another task for his faithful Beta.

My entire body trembles uncontrollably as I walk over to the secure briefcase resting on a nearby table. I input the code. The mechanical clicks sound like the heavy sealing of my own coffin. I extract the velvet ring box. Treating my own shattering heartbreak like it is merely a chore, I walk back and place the box directly into his large, warm hand.

I stand perfectly still, utterly paralyzed from the inside out, as the powerful Alpha King drops gracefully to one knee right in front of Vexia.

"Vexia," Zarek says, his voice carrying over the silent garden. "Will you marry me and take your rightful place as Pack EbonGrove’s true Luna?"

Happy tears stream down her face as she nods enthusiastically, accepting his proposal. The surrounding pack nobles erupt into thunderous applause, completely drowning out Lyra’s low, miserable cry of defeat.

The world around me begins to spin. A violent wave of dizziness and sheer suffocation crashes over me. I can't breathe. I retreat blindly toward the back stairs of the hotel, desperate to escape the cheering crowd.

Memories mock me with every step. Orphaned at only three years old, adopted into the pack, constantly subjected to the hostile, mocking glares of the EbonGrove nobles. I have worked myself to the bone to prove my worth. But Zarek has just shown me the harshest truth of all: my low-born status makes me unworthy, no matter how many times his lips have caught mine in the dark.

"You’re Zarek’s Beta, aren’t you? Thank you for preparing the perfect proposal!"

A light, melodic voice abruptly intercepts my escape.

I stop and blink away the blur in my eyes. Vexia, the newly engaged, red-headed she-wolf, stands on the stairs blocking my path. She offers me a beaming smile, but her eyes hold a terrifying, uncomfortable intensity.

Summoning the absolute last shreds of my professional dignity, I clear my throat and offer her a warm, friendly greeting. "You're welcome. Yes, I'm Elara. I’ve been the Alpha King’s Agent Luna, handling the pack's affairs until we had a true Luna." I extend my hand to shake hers, eager to just play my part.

Instead of taking it, her smile vanishes. Her eyes narrow into terrifying slits of pure, unadulterated disgust. She looks at my outstretched hand like it is covered in disease.

"Well, obviously your services won’t be needed any more," Vexia sneers, her voice abruptly dropping its sweet facade and dripping with venom. "And I do mean all of your services, both professional and sexual."

The words hit me like a physical slap. She knows. She is entirely aware that Zarek and I have an intimate sexual relationship. The sheer, burning humiliation ignites my cheeks like wildfire.

Before I can even process her vile words or open my mouth to respond, her delicate hand whips forward. She violently flicks a stiff bank card, sending it smacking directly into my face.

The sharp plastic stings my cheek before fluttering to the floor.

"You know, I never expected that someone with as good a reputation as you could be bought for money," Vexia mocks. "I told Zarek that $10,000 would be more than enough to pay you off, but he insisted on $1 million. Take it and consider yourself lucky, Beta... I know a low-born gold-digging whore when I see one."

She turns on her heel and struts away, leaving me frozen in a state of absolute, paralyzing shock.

Money? A payoff? Is that what they think my devotion is about?

Snapping out of my trance, I scramble down the hallway after her, my vision completely blurred with hot tears. "You don't know what you're talking about!" I want to scream, but my lungs won't work.

I am so blinded by my grief and the stinging insult that I crash violently into a solid, unmoving wall of muscle.

Zarek’s firm chest.

I stumble back, gasping. Zarek looks down at me, a flicker of mild surprise crossing his handsome features. "You've been crying?" he asks, his voice stiff and emotionally detached. He doesn't reach out to hold me. He just offers a cold, practiced reassurance. "Don't worry, Elara. You will always be my very best Beta, if that's what you're worried about."

I know his cold nature intimately. This pathetic crumb of validation is the absolute best comfort he is capable of offering.

I reach my hand up to wipe a falling tear from my cheek. I haven't even realized I am still clutching the plastic bank card Vexia threw at me until Zarek’s piercing blue eyes drop downward.

His gaze locks onto the card in my trembling fingers.

In a split second, his expression hardens from mild concern into a mask of deep, chilling disappointment. The shift is so drastic it makes me flinch.

"Was that not enough money? Is that it?!" he barks, his voice laced with disgust.

His cruel words rip through my chest like a hollow-point bullet. He actually believes it too.

Before my mouth can even open to utter a single syllable of defense, Zarek reaches into the inner pocket of his designer suit. He pulls out a second bank card and shoves it aggressively toward my chest, forcing me to take it.

"Let’s just stick to business," he says coldly, his blue eyes entirely devoid of the passion they held when we were having sex just days ago. "Vexia has her heart set on a new necklace to match the engagement ring. Go to the jeweler’s and put in the order. Make sure it’s elegant enough for the pack's true Luna."

He takes a half step back. "You can keep the remaining balance of the money. That's what you need."

I stand completely motionless, looking down at the two pieces of plastic resting heavily in my palms.

He has just flaunted his profound love for Vexia right in my face. He forced me to physically hand him the very instrument of his proposal while my wolf screamed in agony. And now, he is treating my three years of unwavering devotion, my love, and my body like a cheap, transactional payoff.

The suffocating heartbreak crushing my chest suddenly ignites.

A bubbling, volcanic rage finally erupts from the absolute depths of my soul, entirely eclipsing my exhaustion and grief. He doesn't care about my pain. He doesn't care that this is destroying me. He never did.

My love is nothing to him.

I look up, my vision clearing as pure fury sets my blood on fire.

"I will not! Do it yourself!" I snap, my voice cracking with uncontrollable fury.

I rear my arm back and roughly throw both bank cards directly at his handsome face. The plastic pieces bounce off his cheekbone and clatter onto the marble floor.

"What?!" Zarek gasps.

It is the profoundly shocked, bewildered sound of a sovereign Alpha King who, for the very first time in his entire life, has just been defied.