Adriana was born a princess, destined to belong to her mate. Until that day, her witnessed an astonishing scene while taking a walk. Accused of murdering her own father, betrayed by the mate she loved, and sentenced to die before her entire pack, Princess Adriana loses everything in a single heartbeat. But just as the blade falls, the beast arrives. The legendary Alpha Kael, once a king, now a monster trapped between madness and instinct. And for reasons no one can explain… he chooses her. Now taken by the fallen Blackthorn pack, chained beside a creature who should want her dead, Adriana faces a terrifying truth. And the more time she spends with him, the more her fear turns into something forbidden… something hungry… something that might ruin them both. A rogue king. A betrayed princess. Sometimes fate doesn’t choose the mate you want, it gives you the beast you need. **** "You've been accused of killing your father, our late Alpha Dunaris Rutherford. Alaric says he saw you, and even your cousin Giselle claims to have witnessed it. What do you have to say about it? I mean… why did you do it?" "And what's the point of saying anything, huh?" I rasped my voice, cold and cracked. "If I were to tell you the truth, would you all let me go?" I taunted, and as expected, his mouth snapped shut at once, of course. "She is my mate after all, and it's my duty to protect her, yes, but not when I saw her killing her own father, the Alpha of our pack, before my eyes. I, Alaric Drew, son of Morgius Drew," Alaric started his voice cold and firm, as if this was something he had rehearsed a couple of times before. "Reject you, Adriana Rutherford, as my mate from this day onward. Accept it." He growled, and somewhere amidst my sobs, I forced the words out. "Y.. yes, I accept," I whispered. The sequel to Alpha's Regret: My Rejected Mate Is A Healer, Alpha Kael's story, can also be read separately.