Rejected by the Alpha, Bound to His Rogue Brother

The dawn after the raid broke cold and merciless. A pale sun hung low behind a ragged curtain of clouds, its light bleeding across the river where Ariana and Lucian had camped. The crown sat between them on a flat stone, slick with dew and shadows — a relic of kings and slaughter.

Ariana didn't sleep. She hadn't truly slept since Kael's wolves dragged her from the Alpha's circle all those years ago. But this morning, as she crouched at the river's edge, washing the blood from her hands, she felt awake in a way she never had before.

Lucian stirred behind her, groaning as he propped himself on his elbows. His hair was a dark halo around his head, his throat mottled with bruises that made her wolf preen with satisfaction.

"Still brooding?" he rasped.

Ariana flicked water at him. "Planning."

He caught her wrist before she could pull away. "Planning's just brooding with extra steps."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't fight him. He tugged her down beside him, the river's chill seeping into her bones as his warmth wrapped around her. His scent — pine and frost and that undertone of wolf musk — settled the snarl in her chest.

"Kael's not going to stay quiet," she murmured, gaze fixed on the crown. "Darius was his rabid dog. He'll send more."

Lucian's hand slid under her tunic, fingers brushing the ridges of old scars. "Let him. They'll come for you — and they'll learn you bite."

Ariana let out a short laugh. "You make it sound so simple."

He grinned, a flash of teeth. "I'm a simple man. Complicated women keep me entertained."

She smacked his shoulder, but the spark of humor dulled when she looked back at the crown. It hummed against the stone, faint but constant — like a heartbeat that didn't belong to any living thing. She hated how it called to her.

"It's not just Kael," she said. "When the other packs learn I have this — that I'm claiming a throne no one wants me to touch — they'll come too."

Lucian's mouth found her neck, his fangs grazing her pulse. "Then we make them kneel.

They broke camp by midmorning, rogues appearing from the forest one by one like ghosts. Kade came last, two fresh scars on his jaw where Ariana's claws had barely missed him the night he'd challenged her loyalty. He carried a burlap sack in one massive hand, its shape unmistakably human.

Ariana raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"

Kade dumped the sack at her feet. It landed with a dull thud. A muffled grunt came from inside.

"A gift," Kade rumbled. "One of Kael's spies. Slipped into the safehouse after you fled the vault. Figured you'd want the honors."

Lucian crouched and yanked the sack open. A boy barely older than sixteen blinked up at them, gagged and wide-eyed, his scent reeking of pack and cheap fear. Ariana recognized him — a runner from her old pack, a nobody whose name she'd never cared to learn.

She tilted her head. "Who sent you?"

The boy whimpered through the gag. Kade's lip curled. "Want me to gut him? Save you the trouble."

Ariana crouched, close enough that the boy could see the mark on her wrist — the dead brand that still scared Kael's dogs. She slid a claw under the gag, slicing it free.

"Speak," she ordered.

His voice cracked. "Alpha Kael… he says he'll forgive you. If you return the relic."

Lucian barked a laugh that didn't reach his eyes. "Forgive. That's a good one."

The boy flinched, tears pooling in his lashes. Ariana felt the tremor in his hands, the stench of betrayal and terror mixing in the crisp morning air.

"He won't forgive me," she said, voice calm as the river behind her. "He'll chain me to his bed until I whelp him an heir and then bury me under the roots of the moon tree like every other rebel queen."

She leaned in so close he gagged on her scent. "Tell Kael if he wants my crown — he can bleed for it."

She stood, flicking her claws clean. Kade dragged the boy away, ignoring his strangled sobs. Lucian stayed crouched by the crown, his eyes darker than usual — a storm in the making.

"You didn't kill him," he murmured.

Ariana's lips twitched. "Let him run back to Kael. Fear is the first cut."

Lucian looked up, his grin half-feral. "And the second?"

She leaned down, pressing her forehead to his. "The second will drown him."

They made their way toward the foothills — the place Kael's soldiers would never think to look first. The rogues followed at a loose distance, a pack without collars or promises except the ones Ariana had carved into their bones the night she slit Jarred's throat.

By dusk, they reached a cave high in the cliffs — an old bear den long abandoned. Ariana stepped inside first, letting her wolf scent the stale air, the faint traces of old blood and bones. It felt right. It felt like hers.

Lucian dropped their gear by the fire pit, his eyes flicking over the shadows. "A bit drafty for a queen's lair, don't you think?"

Ariana smirked. "I'm not here to be comfortable."

He crossed to her, hands finding her hips, pinning her gently against the rough stone wall. "What are you here for then?"

She didn't answer with words. She kissed him — open-mouthed, hungry, tasting the blood still drying on his lip. Lucian growled, hoisting her up until her legs wrapped around his waist. The stone dug into her back, cold and merciless, but his body was fire, his wolf a furnace pressed flush to hers.

"You're a menace," he rasped against her throat.

She scraped her fangs across his ear. "And you love it."

His laugh shivered down her spine. "I do."

Their clothes fell away piece by piece — torn, clawed, scattered across the stone floor like shed skins. When he sank into her, it wasn't soft, wasn't gentle. It was desperate two wolves marking each other with every scrape of teeth, every bruising kiss.

Ariana's claws scored down his back, drawing blood that steamed in the cold air. Lucian's fangs found her shoulder, biting just shy of the mark that would bind them forever. He didn't press for it yet — but they both felt the promise humming under their skin.

When they fell apart hours later, tangled in the remains of their furs, Ariana stared up at the jagged ceiling, the crown sitting on a makeshift altar near the fire.

Lucian traced circles on her hip. "You know they'll come for you tonight."

She hummed, eyes half-lidded. "Let them."

He pinched her side, earning a soft growl. "I'm serious. Kael will send more than spies next time. You're not just a threat now — you're a symbol."

Ariana propped herself up on one elbow, hair spilling over her shoulder like ink. "Good. I'm tired of waiting."

Lucian rolled over her, pinning her with his weight. His grin was all fangs and wicked delight. "Then we sharpen our claws. We make them bleed. And when Kael shows up at our door"

She caught his chin between her claws, forcing him to meet her eyes. "We crown his corpse."

He kissed her, slow and lingering, a promise burned into the dark. Outside, the wind howled down the cliffs — not mournful, but hungry. The Thorn's crown glowed faintly in the firelight, iron and bone and old kings' secrets whispering through the stone walls.

Later, long after Lucian drifted into a wolfish half-sleep, Ariana slipped from their bed of furs and padded to the cave mouth. The moon hung high, cold and distant, but the trees below seemed to breathe with the promise of war.

She lifted the crown in both hands, its weight pressing into her bones like an old friend.

She could almost hear Kael's voice — that sickly sweet purr he'd used the day he rejected her. You were never meant to rule, Thorn. Just to break.

Ariana's claws bit into her palm, drawing fresh blood that dripped onto the iron.

"Not anymore," she whispered to the night.

Behind her, the rogue prince stirred, golden eyes catching the moonlight. He didn't speak, just watched as the girl they'd thrown to the wolves crowned herself in shadows.

Ariana set the crown on her head. It settled against her brow like a brand new scar.

Then she turned, eyes gleaming. "We ride at dawn."

Lucian's answering smile was pure sin. "After you, my queen."