Another chance with the Beta

My nails dug into the flesh of my palm, but I barely felt the pain as Seraphina, my former friend and the Beta’s daughter, openly mocked me in front of the entire pack. "Does she really think showing up to this dinner will somehow hide the fact that she’s wolfless?"

"Someone who hasn’t awakened their wolf doesn’t even deserve to be in the pack," one of her lackeys added, sneering.

My eyes burned with unshed tears. But the worst part came when I heard Seraphina call out, "Jaxon!"

The world seemed to tilt as Jaxon, my supposed mate and the future Alpha of the Silver Fang Pack, strode toward us. He's wanted by almost all the she wolves in our age, including Seraphina. Now his face was a mask—cold, unreadable.

Jaxon had been my childhood sweetheart—the boy who had once told me, over and over, how much he longed to be my mate. But now, because the truth had come out that I was wolf-less, we were forced into secret love.

Seraphina’s grin widened. “Since our dear Aria seems to believe she belongs here, I think it’s only fair to hear from the future Alpha himself.” She turned to face him, eyes glittering with something sinister. “Tell us, Jaxon. What do you think of our little stray?”

Silence fell over the hall.

My heart pounded so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it.

Jaxon’s gaze locked onto mine.

And for a moment, I saw something there. A flicker of hesitation. A war within himself.

Then, his lips curled into a smirk.

“I think…” He let the words hang in the air, then chuckled. “I think Seraphina has a point.”

The room erupted in laughter.

The world around me blurred, voices distorting into cruel echoes.

....

I was unwanted in the pack. A pariah. A misfit.

Born without a wolf, I was the stain on the Silver Fang Pack’s otherwise pristine reputation. In a world where strength was everything, I had none. Where wolves prided themselves on their ability to shift, I remained painfully human. My existence was an inconvenience, a burden no one wanted to bear. And so, they made me pay for it every single day.

I had lived my whole life in the pack house, but I was nothing more than a servant—no, worse than that. Even servants were given decent quarters. I was forced to live in the basement, a dark, damp space with barely enough room for a single bed and a trunk of clothes. The air was thick with the scent of mildew, the concrete floor so cold it seeped into my bones. No windows. No warmth. Only the suffocating reality that this was where I belonged.

“Faster, freak!” A voice sneered from behind me as I scrubbed the wooden floors of the dining hall. A bucket of murky water sat beside me, my raw hands gripping the brush so tightly my fingers ached. I recognized the voice immediately—Daniel, one of the warriors’ sons. He was always the first to mock me, to remind me of my place.

I clenched my teeth, keeping my head down. Reacting only made it worse.

“Maybe if she scrubs hard enough, she’ll find her missing wolf,” another voice chimed in. Laughter erupted around me, sharp and cruel, cutting deeper than any blade.

I kept scrubbing.

The worst part wasn’t the bullying. It wasn’t the way they tripped me in the halls, or ‘accidentally’ spilled drinks on me, or made me take the blame for things I didn’t do. No, the worst part was that no one stopped them. Not the elders. Not the pack members. Not even the Alpha.

And especially not Jaxon Hale.

Jaxon was the future Alpha of the Silver Fang Pack, and the one person I had secretly loved for as long as I could remember.

But to him, I was just a secret.

He had been the only person who ever showed me kindness, slipping me food when I was too exhausted to make it to meals, sneaking into the basement when I was lonely, whispering stories of the outside world that I longed to be a part of. But only when no one was watching.

In public, he was like the rest of them. Cold. Indifferent.

It didn’t matter, though. Deep down, I believed in him. I told myself he was just trying to fit into his role, to be the Alpha they expected him to be. One day, he would choose me. One day, he would stand up for me.

At least, that was what I told myself.

The day dragged on. Chores, sneers, exhaustion. When the sun finally dipped below the horizon, I made my way to the pack house’s back door, my stomach twisting with anticipation. Jaxon always met me here after dark, away from prying eyes.

And he was there, waiting.

His dark hair was tousled from training, his sharp green eyes watching me as I approached. Jaxon was everything a future Alpha should be—tall, strong, impossibly handsome. The kind of man who commanded attention the moment he entered a room.

“You look tired,” he said, frowning. “Did they make you do extra work again?”

I forced a small smile. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

His jaw tightened. “You shouldn’t have to handle it.”

My heart squeezed. “Then why don’t you stop them?”

Silence.

I already knew the answer.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You know it’s not that simple, Aria.”

“It could be.”

His lips parted, like he wanted to say something, but instead, he just exhaled heavily. “I have to go,” he muttered, stepping back. “We have to be careful. If my father—”

“I get it,” I whispered.

I always got it.

He hesitated before turning away, disappearing into the night.

And just like that, I was alone again.

I wrapped my arms around myself, pushing back the sting of rejection, and started toward the basement. But as I passed the pack house’s side entrance, hushed voices made me pause.

Curiosity—and something darker, something anxious—rooted me to the spot.

“…ridiculous, Jaxon. She’s nothing. A nobody.”

Seraphina Monroe.

The Beta’s daughter. Beautiful, powerful, cruel. She was everything I wasn’t.

And she wanted Jaxon for herself.

I crept closer, my heart hammering in my chest. Their voices drifted through the partially open door, sharp and cutting.

“You need to reject her,” Seraphina said, her tone laced with disgust. “The pack already whispers about it. Do you really want them thinking you have a thing for that pathetic excuse of a wolf?”

My breath caught in my throat.

Jaxon didn’t respond right away. For one aching second, I let myself hope that he would deny it—that he would defend me.

Then, his voice came, quiet and resigned. “I know.”

The world tilted beneath me.

Seraphina laughed, a cold, triumphant sound. “Good. You don’t want to ruin your reputation over a worthless stray.”

I stumbled backward, my vision blurring.

He knew. He agreed.

After everything, after all the years we had spent together in secret, he still saw me as nothing.

A nobody.

A stray.