Rejected Omega Was Told to Sing the Luna Hymn as a Joke – But Her Voice Left the Alpha King Speechless
Discussion and Economics
I settled into the chair across from his desk—my chair now, after two weeks of daily lessons.
“We’re in the middle of discussing the southern trade disputes. I need to know how the grain embargo affects the mountain packs.”
He stared at me.
“I confessed my feelings last night, and you want to discuss economics?”
“I want to know if you meant what you said,”
I met his eyes steadily.
“Or if it was just exhaustion and transformation talking.”
“I meant every word,”
his voice was quiet but certain.
“I know it’s fast. I know it’s probably foolish. But Catherine, you’ve given me something I thought I’d lost forever. You’ve given me companionship without judgment.”
“With you, I’m not just a king or a beast. I’m just me.”
“Which me? The one sitting here, or the one in the cage?”
“Both.”
Redefining Brokenness
He leaned forward, elbows on the desk.
“That’s what you’ve helped me understand. They’re not separate entities; they’re both me.”
“The beast isn’t some evil I have to contain. It’s the part of me that feels everything I suppress during the day—the loneliness, the longing, the fear that I’m too broken to be loved.”
“You’re not broken.”
“I’m cursed, Catherine. Split in two. That’s the definition of broken.”
He smiled sadly.
“But with you, being broken doesn’t feel like a death sentence. It just feels like… being.”
I wanted to reach across the desk to take his hand and offer comfort, but something held me back. Some last wall I wasn’t ready to tear down.
“Tell me about the curse-caster,”
I said instead.
“The witch. You said she was powerful. What was her name?”
The Weight of the Past
Charles’s expression shifted, recognizing the deflection but allowing it.
“Morgana Wilson. One of the last true witches before the Alpha Council banned their kind from the territories.”
“They banned witches? Why?”
“Fear. Witches wielded magic that didn’t come from wolf nature. It came from older sources: the moon goddess, yes, but also the earth, the elements—forces we couldn’t control or understand.”
“The council decided anything they couldn’t dominate was a threat, so they drove them out and killed those who resisted.”
“Including Morgana’s daughter?”
“All,”
Charles’s voice was heavy.
“She was seventeen. Used forbidden magic to heal her dying brother. Saved his life by taking life from others. Three people died so one could live.”
“The law was clear: execution. And you carried it out?”
The Execution
“I was nineteen, newly crowned after my father’s death. The council was testing me, seeing if I’d be weak, if I’d show mercy that could be exploited.”
He rubbed his face tiredly.
“So I did what was expected. I ordered the execution. And Morgana watched her daughter die and promised me I’d understand what it meant to be split from the ones you love.”
The pieces were falling into place.
“She didn’t curse you to be a monster. She cursed you to be separated from yourself—to know what it feels like to have part of you taken away and to never be whole again.”
“Unless I found someone willing to love both halves,”
he laughed bitterly.
“Fitting punishment, really. I took her daughter; she took my humanity.”
“But she gave you a way out,”
I pointed out.
“The curse has a condition. That means she believed, even in her grief, that you could be redeemed.”
Searching for Morgana
“Or she believed I’d suffer longer knowing freedom was possible, but always out of reach.”
We sat in silence for a moment, the weight of old tragedy settling between us.
“What happened to Morgana?”
I asked finally.
“Disappeared. The council sent hunters, but she vanished into the wild territories. Some say she’s dead, others claim she’s still out there watching to see if her curse holds.”
Charles’s eyes met mine.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because if she’s alive, she’s the one who can break this. Not love, not magic, not time—her. She cast it; she can undo it.”
“We’ve tried to find her. Sent emissaries, offered fortunes, begged and threatened and negotiated. She’s either dead or has no interest in mercy.”
“Or,”
I said slowly,
“she’s waiting to see if the curse’s condition is met legitimately. If it isn’t, if you try to circumvent it, the curse might become permanent.”
Safeguards Against Cheating
Charles went very still.
“Where did you learn that?”
“The magical theory texts in your library. Curse magic always has safeguards against cheating. If Morgana is alive and watching, she’d know if you tried to force a solution.”
I leaned forward.
“This has to be real, Charles. Whatever happens between us, it has to be genuine or it won’t work.”
“And is it?”
his voice was rough.
“Is what you feel genuine, Catherine? Or are you just trying to save me because you need purpose?”
The question struck like a blade. I opened my mouth to answer, to say something diplomatic, something safe, and found I couldn’t.
I didn’t know, did I? Did I care about Charles because of who he was, or because he’d given me value when no one else would?
