Rejected Luna's Second Chance

The sound of Emma's scream cut through the afternoon air like a blade through silk, freezing every wolf on the training grounds. I dropped the ceremonial robes I'd been mending and ran toward the commotion, my Luna instincts screaming that something was terribly wrong.

Emma lay crumpled on the ground, her fifteen-year-old body twisted at an unnatural angle. Blood pooled beneath her head, dark against the packed earth. Senior warrior Marcus stood frozen above her, his face pale with shock.

"What happened?" I demanded, falling to my knees beside my daughter. Her breathing was shallow, erratic. When I touched her neck to check her pulse, my fingers came away sticky with blood.

"The training exercise went wrong," Marcus stammered. "She was supposed to dodge, but—" His voice cracked. "Luna, I didn't mean—"

"Get Dr. Chen. Now!" I barked, my Luna authority cutting through his panic. Other pack members scattered to follow my orders while I cradled Emma's head, trying to keep her neck stable. Her wolf hadn't emerged yet—she was still too young, still vulnerable in ways that adult werewolves weren't.

Dr. Chen arrived within minutes, her medical bag already open. "Internal bleeding," she said after a quick examination, her voice grim. "Possible spinal injury. We need to get her to the Crescent Moon Pack's healing center immediately. They have the specialized equipment for this kind of trauma."

My blood turned to ice. The Crescent Moon Pack was three hours away. "Can't you treat her here?"

"Not this severe. Luna, if we don't move her now..." Dr. Chen's eyes told me everything her words couldn't.

I reached out through the mate bond, calling for Edison. *Edison! Emma's hurt. We need you now.*

Silence.

I tried again, pushing harder through our connection. *Edison, please. She's dying.*

Nothing. Not even the faintest whisper of acknowledgment.

Panic clawed at my chest as I pulled out my phone, dialing his number with shaking fingers. It went straight to voicemail. I tried again. And again.

"Luna," Dr. Chen said urgently. "We have to go. Now."

I made the decision that would haunt me forever. "Prepare the transport. I'm coming with her."

The drive to Crescent Moon territory passed in a blur of Emma's labored breathing and my desperate attempts to reach Edison. I called every number I had for him, sent urgent messages through the pack's communication network. Beta Ryan tried to help, but even he couldn't locate our Alpha.

"Where is he?" I whispered to myself as Emma's hand grew cold in mine.

At the Crescent Moon healing center, their specialists worked for hours while I paced the waiting room, still trying to reach my mate. It wasn't until near midnight that Dr. Chen emerged, her expression carefully neutral.

"She's stable," she said, and I nearly collapsed with relief. "But Elizabeth... there's permanent damage to her spine. She'll walk again, but she'll never have full mobility. And her wolf... it might never emerge properly."

The words hit me like physical blows. My strong, fierce daughter—reduced to a shadow of what she should have been. All because Edison wasn't there when we needed him most.

That's when Beta Ryan found me in the hallway, his face pale with an emotion I couldn't identify.

"Luna," he said carefully. "I know where Alpha Edison is."

Something in his tone made my stomach drop. "Where?"

"The Crescent Moon Pack is hosting a celebration tonight. A mate ceremony." He paused, swallowing hard. "For Kara Spencer."

The world tilted. "What?"

"He's there, Luna. He's been there all day."

I didn't remember the drive to the pack house. I didn't remember walking through the doors or pushing past the celebrating wolves. I only remembered the moment I saw him—my mate, my Alpha, the father of my dying daughter—spinning Kara Spencer around the dance floor while wearing ceremonial robes I'd never seen before.

He was laughing. Actually laughing, his head thrown back in pure joy while our daughter lay broken in a hospital bed three floors above us.

Kara spotted me first, her eyes widening with something that looked almost like satisfaction. She whispered something in Edison's ear, and he turned.

Our eyes met across the crowded room, and I saw the exact moment he remembered what he'd forgotten. The color drained from his face, his hands falling away from Kara's waist.

"Elizabeth," he breathed, but I was already turning away.

I couldn't bear to look at him another second. Not when Emma was upstairs, broken and alone, while he celebrated with another woman.