The Glitch in Her Fur

"How could my wolf ever consider, for a single microsecond, that you would be a worthy mate?" the King snarled, stepping close, looking down at her kneeling form with open contempt. "You carry the foul, stagnant stench of the treaty on your skin. You are nothing but a traitor's hound."
Elyssa didn't look up. She didn't flinch. She didn't let a single tear touch her golden cheeks, though inside her mind, Axel was thrashing furiously against her chains, baring spiritual fangs at nothing.
He looked straight at her and spoke, "I, Matthew Sharten, reject Elyssa Graystone as my mate. May nature witness and may she accept", he growled and turned away.
"Take her to her transport and return her to her region immediately," one of the generals ordered a guard by the door. "We are finished with Brandon's trash."
The guard grabbed her arm roughly, hauling her up off the stone. Elyssa said nothing as the intense sting in her chest burned.. She allowed herself to be led out, but at the threshold she turned her head and stared directly into the Alpha King's amber eyes - a silent, lethal promise, memorizing his face for whatever future might come.
"I, Elyssa Graystone, accept your rejection. May nature witness and may she accept", Elyssa said flatly, and turned. She didn't wait for a reaction because she no longer cared.
As she was marched back through the Grand Hall, the noblewomen murmured in open delight, their laughter chasing her out into the freezing night like crows following a wounded animal. In the lower courtyard, the guard shoved her toward the waiting carriage without ceremony, his grip disrespectful and tight. Her fists clenched, every muscle coiling - but she didn't retaliate. She knew, with terrible clarity, that if she let her true strength breathe for even a second, the man would be dead before he hit the ground. She climbed into the cabin instead, her maid sliding in silently beside her, and the carriage groaned into motion, leaving the citadel - and the King's con