After My Mate Called Me a Traitor, He Begged

The pain ripped through me like lightning, each contraction more violent than the last. I gripped the edges of the birthing bed, my knuckles white as another wave crashed over me. Outside, thunder shook the windows of the Luna's chambers, rain lashing against the glass like angry fists.

"Breathe, Luna Ashlyn," the midwife urged, her face a blur above me. "The baby is crowning."

I bore down with all my strength, feeling as though my body was being torn apart. Through sweat-soaked strands of hair, I caught sight of Reina Gomez standing near the fireplace, her eyes gleaming with something that made my wolf whimper.

"The Moon Goddess watches," she whispered, tossing something into the flames. The fire flared green, then purple, filling the room with sweet-smelling smoke that made my head spin.

"Aiden!" I gasped as another contraction seized me. "Aiden, please!"

My mate stood at the foot of the bed, his face impassive as stone. The Alpha King of the Sovereign Moon Pack watched me suffer without a flicker of emotion.

"Push now!" the midwife commanded.

With a final, primal scream that tore from the depths of my soul, I felt my baby slip into the world. The room filled with the scent of blood and birth—and something else. Something wrong.

"That's not—" I began, but Reina's scream cut me off.

"THE DEMON CHILD!" she wailed, pointing at my baby. "The Moon Goddess has cursed us! She has sent this abomination to punish us for harboring the Doom Bringer!"

Through the haze of exhaustion and pain, I saw my beautiful baby boy—healthy, perfect—but through the smoke that filled the room, everyone else saw something else entirely. A gore-slicked creature with twisted limbs and dead eyes.

"No!" I tried to reach for my child, but hands held me down. "He's normal! He's beautiful! This is a trick!"

Aiden's eyes met mine for a brief moment—cold, calculating Alpha eyes that held no trace of the mate who had once looked at me with love.

"Take it away," he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion. "Dispose of it according to pack law."

"No! Please!" I fought against the hands that restrained me, but I was too weak, too exhausted. "Aiden, please! He's our son!"

But my mate had already turned away, leaving me to the mercy of the pack that now saw me as a monster.

---

Twelve hours later, I stood chained to the iron execution post in the training grounds. The entire pack had gathered to witness my punishment. My wrists and ankles were bound with silver-infused chains that burned against my skin, preventing my wolf from healing.

"The Traitor Luna," Reina announced to the crowd, her voice carrying across the silent gathering. "Who has brought the curse of the Moon Goddess upon us all."

I lifted my head, searching the faces before me for a single ally. Finding none, I looked up at the balcony where Aiden stood. His face was a mask of Alpha authority, his eyes empty of the love we once shared.

"Begin the scourging," he commanded.

The Pack Enforcer approached with a whip embedded with silver shards. Each lash would leave permanent scars—a reminder of this day etched into my flesh forever.

"By pack law, twenty lashes for treason against the Alpha bloodline," the Enforcer announced.

The first strike came without warning. Silver tore into my back, sending white-hot agony through my body. I bit my lip until I tasted blood, refusing to scream.

"One," the Enforcer counted.

By the third lash, I could no longer hold back my cries. By the tenth, I was barely conscious, my body hanging limply from the chains.

"Fifteen," the count continued.

Through the haze of pain, I watched Aiden's face. Not once did he flinch. Not once did he show mercy. This was the man who had once promised to cherish me forever.

"Nineteen... Twenty."

The final lash fell, and I collapsed against the chains. Blood ran down my legs, pooling at my feet. The pack watched in silence as their former Luna was broken before them.

---

Somehow, I escaped the dungeon. Griffin had left a grate loose—whether by accident or design, I didn't know. I crawled through the tunnels beneath the pack house, leaving a trail of blood behind me.

"I need to see Aiden," I whispered to myself. "He needs to know the truth."

I found him in his office, but froze outside the door when I heard voices within.

"It's done," Aiden was saying, his voice warm in a way it hadn't been with me for months. "The Stones are ruined. Your prophecy served its purpose."

"And our arrangement?" Reina's voice, husky and intimate.

"You'll be rewarded," Aiden promised. "But not yet. We need to be careful."

I pushed open the door to find Reina sitting on Aiden's lap, her hands in his hair, their scents mingled in a way that made my stomach turn.

They looked up in surprise as I stumbled into the room, my body broken and bleeding.

"Ashlyn," Aiden started, but I was already running.

I ran until I reached the territorial cliff edge. Below, the river roared with spring floodwaters. Behind me, I heard the pack gathering—hunters tracking the scent of my blood.

"We can fix this," Aiden called out as he approached. "Come back to the pack house."

I pulled out the vial of concentrated Wolfsbane I'd stolen from Reina's chambers weeks ago, just in case. I uncorked it with trembling fingers.

"I, Ashlyn Stone," I began, my voice carrying across the cliff edge, "reject you, Alpha Aiden Grant."

I drank the poison in one gulp. It burned like fire down my throat, spreading through my veins like liquid ice. My vision blurred as I turned to face my mate one last time.

"I reject you," I repeated as black blood spilled from my lips.

Then I stepped backward into nothingness, the bond between us snapping like a thread as I fell toward the freezing waters below.