I Rejected My Alpha Mate, Now He Wants Me Back

There were three rules every past Luna of the Blood Moon Pack had never broken.Break one, and the pack questions your worth.Break two, and they question your mate.Break three or all three… and you were no longer fit to wear the Luna crown.First: A Luna had to be marked by her mate within seven days of the mating ceremony.Alpha Aiden had broken that rule. Five years had passed since our mating ceremony, yet he still hadn't marked me as his mate—nor had he rejected me. There wasn’t even the faintest trace of his claim on me.Second: A Luna had to be capable of carrying the Alpha’s heir. Infertility was not a private tragedy in the Blood Moon Pack; it was a public failing. After my third miscarriage, the elders of the pack had urged Aiden to reject me and choose a mate who could secure the pack’s future. But he refused until the elders eventually backed down.For years, I had lived with the constant fear of exile, my body betraying me through four miscarriages. I had watched oth

“Please, Aiden,” I whispered, swallowing what little remained of my pride. “If the elders are pressuring you, if you’re worried about your position… then talk to me. I love you. I have loved you since the day the Moon Goddess paired us.”Aiden scoffed. Cold irritation flashed through his eyes.“Worried? Pressured?” he repeated. “Don’t be ridiculous, Elena. I didn’t do this to hurt you. I did it to fix what we couldn’t.”He stepped closer, lowering his voice until it was painfully calm.“It was surrogacy. That’s all. Sarah spared you the strain and emotional damage of another miscarriage. You should be grateful she stepped in instead of standing here throwing a hysterical fit.”Grateful.The word turned to ash on my tongue.He stood before me, dressing his betrayal in the language of kindness—as if having a child with the woman he had always kept close were some noble sacrifice he had made for my sake. For five years, he had denied me his mark, leaving my wolf silent and slowly starvin

The first thing I heard after leaving Aiden’s study was the sound of my own heartbeat.It was too fast, too loud, and painfully uneven, as though my body understood what I had done before my mind could catch up.I had rejected my mate.After five years of loving him, defending him, making excuses for him, and convincing myself that one day he would look at me and see the woman who had given him everything, I had finally severed the bond connecting us.And somehow, the world had not ended.I kept walking.My bedroom was at the end of the corridor, but every step felt heavier than the last. The walls seemed to tilt around me, and the faint scent of polished wood and white roses made my stomach churn. I reached for the wall when my knees threatened to give way.Easy, Elena.My wolf offered nothing but a faint, exhausted whimper.I pressed my palm against my abdomen.“I’m sorry,” I whispered.I wasn’t sure whether I was apologizing to my wolf, the tiny life growing inside me, or the fooli

Elena“Going somewhere, Luna?”I froze.For one terrible moment, I was certain Aiden had discovered me. My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag as I slowly turned toward the voice.A woman stood beside the laundry room door, holding a basket of folded towels against her hip. She was in her early forties, with dark hair tied into a loose bun and an expression that suggested she had already decided I was trouble.It took me a moment to recognize her.Martha Evans. She worked in the packhouse laundry and occasionally helped in the kitchens. We had spoken only a handful of times, usually when I thanked her for delivering clean sheets.“I’m going for a walk,” I answered.She glanced at my bag, then at the dark corridor behind me.“With your belongings?”I lowered my eyes.“I need to leave, Martha.”Something in my voice must have convinced her I wasn’t joking. She put the basket down.“Does the Alpha know?”“No.”“Does he want you to leave?”I almost laughed.“He wants me to stay.”