The city sparkled beneath the twilight, a mix of neon lights and the subtle hum of magic that only those born with sensitivity could feel. To the untrained eye, it was just another evening in Valoria—glass towers reaching skyward, autonomous cars gliding down streets, and the occasional enchanted billboard flashing with impossible advertisements. But for me, Aria Lune, every shimmer carried a whisper of the world I belonged to and, more painfully, the one I didn’t quite fit in.

I was a Luna Omega, though the term “luna” sounded more poetic than practical when your life was a continuous string of disappointments. My gift—or curse—was to sense the tides of other wolfish energies, to feel them before they even acknowledged my existence. It was supposed to be empowering, like a secret superpower, except in my case, it mostly attracted headaches and heartbreak.

Take Kael Draven, for instance. My Alpha mate. The man who was, by all cosmic and biological rights, meant to complete me. And yet, there he was, seated on the gleaming leather couch in my tiny studio apartment, sipping some ridiculously expensive, glowing cocktail as if he hadn’t just shattered my entire existence five minutes ago.

“Aria…” Kael’s voice was low, velvety, and painfully persuasive. Even now, I could feel the subtle pull of his pheromones—the lime sharpness that usually made my knees weak. Only now, instead of drawing me in, it made me want to run. Far, far away.

“I’m listening,” I said, though my voice cracked in a way I hated. Why did the universe insist on giving Alphas voices that sounded like poetry, even when they were delivering rejection?

He cleared his throat, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I can’t—”

And that was it. That incomprehensible, life-shattering ‘I can’t’. He wouldn’t claim me. Wouldn’t accept me. The words didn’t even need to follow; the rejection radiated from him like heat from a furnace.

I wanted to cry, scream, throw my vintage microphone at his head—probably all at once—but instead, I laughed. It came out as a strangled, bitter chuckle that echoed in the studio.

“Of course,” I said, brushing imaginary dust from my designer blouse. “Why would the most eligible, perfect, ridiculously handsome Alpha ever agree to mate with me? I’m just… me.”

Kael’s brow furrowed slightly. “Aria, it’s not about being ‘perfect.’ It’s—”

“No, no, let’s skip the excuses,” I interrupted, pacing across the cramped apartment. My heels clicked sharply against the polished wooden floor, a rhythm to my spiraling thoughts. “You don’t want me. You never did. And honestly? Thank you for making that clear before I wasted years waiting like some hopeless romantic in a bad drama series.”

He flinched at the sarcasm, but didn’t speak. Typical Alpha. Always trying to fix things that didn’t need fixing—or maybe things that couldn’t be fixed.

I collapsed onto the couch opposite him, trying to reclaim some dignity, even if my heart was a mess. My Omega instincts wanted to curl up, cry, and beg, but I was stubborn. Even in despair, I needed to be Aria Lune, the successful pop sensation who didn’t let anyone—especially not a lime-scented, impossibly infuriating Alpha—see her break.

“Funny, isn’t it?” I said softly, more to myself than to him. “All those bonding rituals, the dreams, the fate nonsense… and for what? A polite, ‘I’m sorry, Aria. Not today.’”

Kael’s silence was infuriating. He wasn’t even trying to soften the blow with the usual Alpha charisma. No reassurance, no pleading, no intense stare that made your soul feel like it was on fire. Nothing. Just… empty air between us.

I glanced around the apartment, which smelled faintly of vanilla and lavender—my attempt at calming the ever-tense Omega nerves. My manager always said, “Aria, you need to maintain your aura. Fans buy into your serenity as much as your songs.” Serenity. Right. Serenity when your mate refuses to claim you.

“Do you even understand what you’ve done?” I asked, leaning forward, my elbows digging into my knees. “Not just to me, but… you know, destiny?”

Kael finally looked at me. His green eyes, normally sharp and commanding, seemed… tired. “I understand more than you think,” he said quietly. “It’s not you, Aria. It’s… complicated.”

Ah, yes. Complicated. The classic Alpha excuse. Complicated could mean anything—from ‘I have a dark past that terrifies me’ to ‘I just don’t like commitment’ to ‘I ate too much sushi last night.’ Honestly, I didn’t have time to decode it.

I laughed again, though softer this time. “Complicated,” I repeated. “That’s your way of saying, ‘I don’t want you, but I don’t want to admit I’m cruel.’”

He flinched at the accusation, but I didn’t care. The storm in my chest wasn’t for his comfort. It was for me. And maybe, just maybe, for the universe that apparently enjoyed watching Luna Omegas like me get stomped on by fate.

“Aria,” he said, his voice lower now, almost pleading, “don’t make this harder than it already is.”

“Oh, believe me,” I said, standing again. “It’s already impossible. You could walk out that door right now and I wouldn’t even—”

But then he did. He walked out. Smooth, quiet, Alpha perfection in motion. And just like that, my world shrank.

The door clicked shut. The echo lingered in the apartment longer than it should have. I wanted to scream, to curse, to throw something—anything—but instead, I just sat down. And stared.

A part of me wanted to cry. Another part wanted to laugh hysterically. And yet, in the deepest corners of my Omega heart, there was a spark of… freedom. I wouldn’t be Kael’s. Not today. Not ever. And that meant something, even if it hurt like hell.

I pulled out my phone and texted my best friend, Liora, another Omega in the industry. “Send chocolate. And wine. And a giant inflatable unicorn. I need support.”

Seconds later, her reply buzzed. “On my way. You want tears or rage first?”

I smirked through the pain. “Tears. But make it dramatic. Like a full Broadway performance. You know, the kind that makes fans cry too.”

That’s the thing about being an Omega in a modern-fantasy world: you might be bound by biology, fate, and destiny, but you still had agency. I might have been rejected, abandoned by my supposed mate, but I wasn’t powerless. I had my career, my friends, and my music—the only things that truly understood me.

I poured myself a glass of water, pretending it was champagne. Toasting to nothing, to freedom, and to the ridiculous cosmic joke that was my life. Somewhere in the city, Kael Draven, Alpha par excellence, was probably sitting in his luxury penthouse, thinking about me, thinking about fate, or maybe just enjoying a cocktail. And me? I had the night ahead of me.

The first act of my heartbreak was over. The spotlight would move on to stage two: survival, laughter, revenge—probably in that order.

Because Aria Lune, Luna Omega extraordinaire, didn’t cry forever. She sang. And tonight, the city would hear her voice echo through its enchanted streets, a melody of rejection, resilience, and a hint of mischief.

After all, if fate was going to play dirty, I’d play smarter.

And maybe… just maybe… Kael Draven would regret it.

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