My Mate Rejected Me and Crowned His Mistress Luna

The comm crackled in my ear, static mixing with panicked breathing. I leaned forward in the monitoring station, my fingers hovering over the controls.

"Nola? Report. What's your status?"

Silence. Then screaming.

My heart slammed against my ribs as I tried to make sense of the chaos flooding through the line. Snarls. Howls. The unmistakable sound of Rogues.

"Nola!" I shouted into the mic. "Fall back to position two! I'm calling for backup—"

The line went dead.

I was already reaching for the emergency alert when the pack house doors burst open. Nola stumbled through, her arm bleeding, her face streaked with dirt and tears. Warriors rushed to her side, but she pushed past them, her wild eyes locking onto mine.

"You," she gasped, pointing a shaking finger at me. "You did this."

The room went silent.

"What?" The word barely made it past my lips.

"She signaled them!" Nola's voice rose to a shriek. "The Rogues—Kaia gave them our position! She told them when to attack!"

The accusation hit me like a physical blow. I stood frozen as every face in the room turned toward me, expressions shifting from concern to suspicion to disgust.

"That's insane," I said, my voice shaking. "I was here the whole time, monitoring—"

"You wanted me dead!" Nola sobbed, clutching her bleeding arm. "You've always been jealous that I have a wolf and you don't. You wanted to get rid of me so Alistair wouldn't see how weak you really are!"

The words were poison, spreading through the crowd. I saw it in their eyes—the doubt, the judgment. The daughter of the Beta, eighteen years old and still wolfless. Still broken. Still useless.

"I would never—" I started, but the doors opened again.

Alistair walked in, his presence commanding immediate attention. His jaw was set, his eyes hard as they swept over the scene. When they landed on me, I saw nothing but cold fury.

"Training grounds," he said, his voice flat. "Now."

The walk felt like a death march. The entire pack gathered, forming a circle around the center of the grounds. Rain had started to fall, turning the dirt to mud beneath my feet. I stood there, shivering, as Alistair took his position in front of me.

This was the man I'd loved since childhood. The boy who'd held my hand during my father's funeral. The future Alpha who'd promised we'd lead this pack together.

He looked at me like I was nothing.

"Kaia Ross," he began, his voice carrying across the silent crowd. "You stand accused of treason. Of conspiring with Rogues to endanger this pack."

"I didn't—" I tried to speak, but his Alpha Voice slammed into me like a tidal wave.

"KNEEL."

My knees hit the mud before I could stop myself. The force of his command crushed down on my shoulders, my neck, making it impossible to lift my head. Tears burned in my eyes as I fought against it, but without a wolf of my own, I had no defense against his power.

"Alistair, please," I choked out. "You know me. You know I would never—"

"I don't know you at all." His voice was ice. "I thought I was getting a Luna. A partner. Instead, I got a wolfless traitor who can't even defend herself, let alone this pack."

The bond between us—that fragile thread I'd felt since we were children—pulled taut. I could feel his disgust through it, his shame at being tied to someone like me.

"I, Alistair Scott, future Alpha of Shadow Ridge, reject you, Kaia Ross, as my mate."

The bond didn't just break. It shattered.

Pain exploded through my chest, white-hot and all-consuming. It felt like my soul was being ripped apart, piece by piece. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but scream as the agony tore through every nerve in my body.

When it finally subsided, I was lying in the mud, gasping. Through blurred vision, I saw Nola standing at the edge of the crowd, a small smile playing at her lips.

"Strip her of her rank," Alistair said, his voice distant now, emotionless. "Take her to the London outskirts. If she returns, kill her on sight."

Hands grabbed my arms, hauling me up. I didn't fight as they dragged me to the vehicles. What was the point? I had no wolf. No mate. No family who believed me.

I had nothing.

The drive was silent except for the rain hammering against the roof. When we finally stopped, one of the warriors opened the door and shoved me out onto the wet pavement. We were at the edge of the territory, where the streetlights ended and the wilderness began.

Rogue territory.

"Good luck," the warrior said, though his tone suggested he hoped I wouldn't have any.

The vehicle's taillights disappeared into the darkness, leaving me alone in the rain. My chest still ached from the broken bond. My knees were scraped and bleeding from being forced down in the mud. And somewhere in the trees ahead, I could hear movement.

Low growls. Hungry snarls.

I closed my eyes and waited for the end.