Rejected Luna

The scream tore through the silence of the Alpha floor like a blade, sharp and terrified.

I jolted upright in the guest bedroom I had been occupying for the last week—a temporary arrangement, Liam had promised, while the pipes in the master bath were fixed. The thunder outside rattled the windowpanes, but that human sound was far more chilling than the storm.

I recognized the voice instantly. Serena.

Throwing the duvet aside, I rushed into the hallway, my bare feet slapping against the cold hardwood. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and distress. At the end of the corridor, near the grand staircase, a huddled figure writhed on the floor.

"Get her off me! Please!" Serena shrieked, clawing at her own chest as if trying to rip an invisible weight from her ribs. Her silk nightgown was torn at the shoulder, revealing pale skin flushed with exertion. "Aurora, please! I didn’t mean to survive! I didn’t mean to!"

I slowed my approach, a frown tugging at my lips. My inner wolf, usually dormant and weak from years of neglect, stirred with a low, suspicious growl. There was no attacker here. The shadows were empty.

Suddenly, the door to the Alpha’s study burst open. Liam, my fated mate and the Alpha of the Silverclaw Pack, stormed into the hallway. He was shirtless, his chest heaving, his golden eyes wide with panic. The sheer force of his Alpha pheromones hit me like a physical wall—spiced amber and rain, a scent that should have comforted me but now only reeked of anxiety for another woman.

"Serena!" Liam roared, dropping to his knees beside her. He gathered her thrashing form into his arms. "I’ve got you. You’re safe."

Serena clung to him, burying her face in his neck, her sobs racking her small frame. "She was here, Liam! I saw her! Aurora… she’s angry. She hates me for living when she died! My wolf… she’s terrified, she’s slipping into the darkness again!"

Lights flickered on downstairs as pack members began to gather at the foot of the stairs, whispering. I stood frozen, watching my mate cradle the sister of his dead lover. He stroked her hair with a tenderness he hadn’t shown me in five years.

"Make room!" A sharp voice cut through the tension. It was the Pack Healer, a man who had always looked at me with pity rather than respect. He hurried up the stairs, a medical bag in hand. He knelt beside them, pressing a hand to Serena’s forehead and checking her pulse.

After a moment of tense silence, the Healer looked up at Liam, his expression grave. "It’s Fading Wolf Syndrome, Alpha. The grief is causing her wolf to detach from her soul. The night terrors are accelerating the process. Her wolf feels unsafe, unprotected."

Liam’s face went pale. "What do I do?"

"She needs stability," the Healer insisted, glancing briefly at me before looking back to Liam. "She needs to be surrounded by the strongest aura in the pack to anchor her wolf. She needs constant exposure to your scent, Alpha. The guest rooms are too far from your aura’s center."

Liam didn’t hesitate. He scooped Serena up into his arms, standing tall. His gaze finally landed on me, but there was no warmth in it, only cold determination.

"Elise," he said, his voice rough. "Clear your things from the Alpha Suite. Serena needs to sleep there tonight."

The command struck me harder than a physical blow. The Alpha Suite wasn’t just a bedroom; it was the heart of the Pack House, the sanctuary meant for the Alpha and his Luna. Even though he had never marked me, that room was the one symbol of my position I had left.

"No," I whispered, the word trembling in the air.

Liam’s eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"

"I said no," I said, my voice gaining a fraction of strength. I stepped between him and the door to the suite. "That is my room, Liam. It is the Luna’s territory. You cannot simply give my place to an Omega because she had a bad dream."

"A bad dream?" Serena sobbed from his arms, looking at me with tear-filled, accusatory eyes. "My sister is dead, Elise! My wolf is dying! How can you be so cruel?"

"Do not lecture me on sanctity while her sister is dead!" Liam snarled, his patience snapping. The air around him shimmered with heat. "Move aside, Elise. Now."

"I am your mate," I pleaded, desperation clawing at my throat. "I am your Luna. If you put her in our bed, you act as if I don't exist. You disrespect the bond!"

"You are Luna only because I allow it!" Liam roared.

The pressure in the hallway spiked. The whispers downstairs stopped abruptly. Liam’s eyes flashed a dangerous, glowing gold. He didn't just speak; he channeled the ancient power of his bloodline.

"**Kneel and submit, Elise!**"

The Alpha Tone slammed into me like a sledgehammer. It bypassed my ears and went straight to my nervous system, seizing control of my muscles.

My will screamed *no*, but my body betrayed me. My knees buckled, smashing hard against the hardwood floor with a sickening crack. The pain shot up my legs, but the humiliation was agonizingly worse. I gasped, forced into a bow, my forehead nearly touching the floorboards. I couldn't move. I couldn't rise. I was paralyzed by the command of the man who was supposed to cherish me.

From my vantage point on the floor, I saw Serena’s face peeking over Liam’s shoulder. The tears were gone. A small, triumphant smirk curled the corner of her lips—a look meant only for me.

"Take your things to the first-floor guest room," Liam spat, stepping over my prostrate body as if I were nothing more than an inconvenient rug. "The one near the kitchens. Maybe the draft will cool that jealousy of yours."

He kicked the door to the Alpha Suite open and carried her inside, slamming it shut behind him. The lock clicked, sealing my fate.

Silence rushed back into the hallway, heavy and suffocating. Downstairs, the pack members averted their eyes, pretending they hadn't just watched their Alpha break his Luna. I remained kneeling, shivering in the cold draft, listening to the rain batter the roof, while my heart finally, quietly, began to harden.