I Rejected the Alpha as my Father

"You rejected my mother, tried to kill me in her womb, and now you want me to be your successor? I reject you, Eryx Reuben, the alpha emperor, as my father, and your throne."

Octavia knew the exquisite young man sitting in front of her on the throne, wearing that bored expression might look elegant as a rose, but inside he was filled with thorns.

He might be her father, but he had no affection towards her. He hated her mother for being an omega. He married the woman he was having an illicit affair with, making her the empress. He wanted his son from his illegal affair to inherit his empire.

But to his disappointment, the moon spirits chose Octavia. After her mother's death, Octavia was forced to return to the palace to take over the Reuben Wolf Dynasty, according to the prophecy.

But Octavia never forgave her father. She rejected her entire relationship with him. She knew that no one would consider punishing her severely for her actions.

A cold war began between father and daughter. Would the ice between them ever melt? How would Eryx feel about his daughter calling someone else papa? How would she survive amidst the wrath of her stepmother and her bewitching older brother’s bizarre obsession with her?

And what would she do when the flowers of spring started to bloom and she met the emperor of the Arnoux Dynasty, whom her father despised the most?

"Huff." I bent down and grabbed my knees. I put my weight on my hands. I was panting heavily.

I had been running deep in the woods for almost half an hour. They were surely playing with me. There was no way such strong and massive wolves would need half an hour to chase down a girl like me when I was running in my human form.

I looked back cautiously. There was no sign of them yet.

"Are they waiting for me to shift?" I wondered. "There is no way on earth that will happen today." I wiped the sweat from my face with the back of my hand.

If I had agreed to live in Ibeline's place, I wouldn’t have had to face all of this.

***

A few hours ago…

I cubed the carrots and the potatoes. Rather than using sauces, I always preferred fresh tomatoes cut into small pieces. I always put them in the pan first to melt completely and provide a savory flavor.

I was making a special curry for my father. It hadn’t been long since my mother passed away. When Mom was alive, she would always make spicy curries with chicken on Fridays. My father loved it so much.

Since she was gone, he had become lonely. He was not eating properly. It broke my heart seeing him be sullen like that.

I looked at the large clock that was hanging in the dining room in front of the table. It was very ancient-looking but had a sophisticated vibe.

"Tch. He will be home soon. I always suck at chopping! It just takes too much time." I was blabbering to myself while putting the finishing touches on my dish.

While I was setting the dinner table, my father returned. The door opened slightly, and his head popped in.

"I’m home," he said with a smile while taking off his socks.

"Welcome home, Papa!" I smiled back with a bit of excitement to cheer him up a bit.

I looked at him while he was still busy changing into his indoor slippers. He looked exhausted. He was in his late twenties. It was hard to believe that he was a father of a teenage girl like me. I just turned 15 last month. He was my stepfather though.

He suddenly inhaled deeply, smelling the fragrant curry that I made just a while ago.

"Did you cook again?” he asked, sounding worried.

"Thought I would make you something special today, just like mom used to," I said, rubbing the back of my head, and smiling guiltily. "Isn't the smell great, though? You are going to have the best curry you’ve had in a while today, I bet!" I said excitedly. My eyes were glowing.

He patted my head lightly and went directly to the kitchen. He helped me set the dinner table. While placing the plates on the table, he said, "You don’t have to do this, Octavia. I don't want you to burn your hands like last time."

He looked sad. I felt a bit awkward. Did I just make him more depressed? Looking at my gloomy face, he patted me lightly again. He gave me a smile.

"Octavia, you know it is dangerous to stay here. You should go with Ibeline. Don't worry about me," he said.

"If he really cares about my existence and it bothers him that I am alive, sooner or later he will find me, won't he? I am not putting you in danger by running away. You are the only one I have ever considered my father, Papa," I declared with determination in my eyes.

He paused for a bit looking at my eyes. He suddenly hugged me tightly and my head was buried deep in his broad chest. He worked all day, but still, his scent was so fresh. "Do humans always smell this good? Or is it because I am a wolf?" I wondered. He was very young. I was not even his own daughter, yet the fatherly love was there.

"You are my only child, Octavia. Even though he is your real father, I can't let him harm you. So, don’t worry about me. Like your mother, don’t leave my life for good. Go to Ibeline's place. You will be safe there," he pleaded again.

That night, I couldn’t sleep properly. I was thinking about the things that had happened over the past few months.

My mom was a wolf. She was an omega and was rejected by her mate, who was an alpha. And not just a regular alpha. He was the alpha emperor of the Reuben Dynasty, and my real father.

There were so many reasons for me to hate him. Even before finding his actual mate, he had an illegal affair with the daughter of a nobleman. He even had a child at such a young age. Wolves found their mates when they turned sixteen, so when he found out his actual mate was an omega, he rejected my mother immediately.

My mom could have died. But alpha wolves had the privilege to choose their own mates. It was a blessing for their mates as well. If they were rejected, they would not die like other wolves.

But he never let go of his possession of my mother. He despised the sight of my mother yet forced her to sleep with him. He never accepted her as his mate, or even as his concubine, but used her as he pleased. My mom was barely a teenager at that time.

It was decided that the son of the empress would be the next in line for the throne. But then my mother accidentally conceived.

And a prophecy was told. The moon spirits declined the empress's son as the next alpha. They accepted the next blood from the emperor.

The emperor could not bear the hassle. He could never accept the fact that his actual mate was of low birth and his heir would come from an omega.

He decided to change the prophecy. He was even ready to kill me in the womb. But that would create even more hassle since a lot of alpha families were next in the line to take the throne. And if the news that the emperor killed the child chosen by the moon spirits came to light, he would have lost the throne right away.

So, he chose to let my mother run away. Let her live. But made my mother promise that she would never claim her right. What he would do about the prophecy was unknown. My mother ran away to the human dynasties.

Later, my mother met my stepfather, who was a human. They got married. My stepfather knew everything about me and my mother, but he raised me as his own child. They never had a child of their own. I never felt the absence of my real father.

We were a happy family. But then suddenly one day my mother felt the presence of her old pack mates in the city. She became worried. She knew something bad was coming. She assumed his plan to force his son onto the throne was hampered somehow. Probably, he needed to kill me to achieve his goal. Whatever the reason was, my mother didn’t want them to find me.

My mother started running with my father and me. In the process, she was infected by an unknown disease. Even before she could treat herself, she passed away. She left me in my father's hands.

I still didn’t know why those wolves were following us after all these years. I didn’t know what they even wanted from me.