4. I Reject You

*SLAM!*

All heads whipped toward the entrance.

Several men in black suits entered, dragging a man behind them—a man barely clothed, wearing nothing but a damp towel wrapped around his waist. 

His chest was bare, his hair was wet, his skin still glistening from a shower abruptly interrupted.

A wave of gasps rippled through the room once again.

The man’s eyes darted around until they landed on Aria. His expression immediately softened into something desperate and dramatic. He tried to bolt toward her, arms wide for an embrace, but several members of Aria’s team stepped forward protectively, forming a human shield between him and her.

Rejected, he opted for chaos instead.

“Aria, baby! What’s going on?!” he cried out, loud enough for everyone to hear. “You told me to get ready this morning! I was about to step into the shower when these lunatics stormed in and dragged me here like some criminal!”

The entire room held its breath.

“We’re going to miss our flight to Hawaii,” he whined. “You said we were finally going to live our dream life together in that beach house you bought! Don’t you remember? You said you wanted to wake up next to me every day, hear the waves, and leave this filthy pack and your heartless husband behind!”

Aria staggered back a step, her face frozen in horror.

“Who the hell are you?!” she gasped, her voice trembling with disbelief and confusion. Her chest tightened, her vision blurred. “I don’t know you! I’ve never seen you in my life!”

The man looked stricken, offended even. “Baby... don’t say that! Is this because of the accident? Did you lose your memory? Yesterday, you begged me to stay put in the Hilton suite you booked. You said it was too dangerous to meet and that I had to trust your plan. You promised me, Aria, that we’d leave together once you were done here!”

“No! That’s a lie!” Aria shouted, tears now threatening to spill. “All of it, lies! I don’t know this man! Those pictures are photoshopped, and the documents are fabricated! I swear it, I didn’t do any of this!”

For a second, the room seemed to teeter between doubt and disbelief. And then—

Elliot finally stood up, walking toward the center of the room. The glow of the projector screen behind him cast long shadows over his face.

“As CEO of Crimson Enterprise Group and Alpha of the Crimson Claw Pack,” he began solemnly, “I never wanted this to happen. But I must act for the good of the company… and the pack.”

He let the silence linger, letting it draw blood before delivering the killing blow.

“By my authority, I hereby expel the traitor, Aria Harper. You will answer to the Alliance Federal Court for your crimes. You are no longer Luna. You are no longer one of us.”

Gasps erupted. A few began murmuring in agreement. Others wore expressions of doubt. The atmosphere turned heavy, acidic.

Across the room, sitting calmly at the head of the table, was a man whose sheer presence demanded reverence. Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack—the highest-ranked pack in the Federation.

He watched the scene with mild amusement, fingers steepled beneath his chin.

He hadn’t come for Crimson Claw’s business political drama. He came because of the near-fatal crash involving his beta and his daughter. 

And when he’d discovered the Luna of this pack may have been the target and not a coincidence, his instincts told him to attend. To watch. To wait.

And oh, was this spectacle worth every second.

Back in the center of the chaos, Aria’s voice shook as she faced her husband, tears streaming silently now.

“Is that the best you can do, Elliot?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper, yet stronger than ever. “Fake photos. Fake lovers. Fake witnesses. How low are you willing to go just to destroy me?”

Elliot’s lips curled into a cruel smirk. “You’re still acting, even now? Bravo, my dear. Bravo. But your performance is over. You’re done.”

“Alpha,” his beta interrupted, stepping forward. “There are others willing to testify against Luna.”

“Good,” Elliot snapped. “Bring them in. Let’s see how deep this betrayal goes.”

One by one, former allies stepped forward, Aria’s own team, the people she’d mentored and bled for. They were accusing her of ambition, of embezzlement, of scheming to overthrow her husband and seize full control of the pack’s empire.

Each word struck Aria like a blade. Her knees nearly buckled under the weight of betrayal. These were the people she stayed up late with, fought boardroom wars beside, shielded from internal politics, and now they turned against her like rabid dogs.

“You disgust even your own people,” Elliot said coldly. “With all this testimony and evidence, you dare deny the truth?”

Aria looked around the room. Her hands trembled. Her shoulders sagged. She saw nothing but cold stares, sneers, and silence from the very ones she helped rise from the dirt.

This pack was nothing when she arrived. It was crumbling.

She built it from ruins. And now they were throwing her into the fire.

One final voice joined the fray, a woman sneering from the sidelines, “She couldn’t even bear an heir. No wonder she has no maternal instinct, she doesn't care about the pack, we need a real Luna.”

“Enough!” Elliot roared. “This circus ends now. As Alpha of Crimson Claw and CEO of Crimson Enterprise Group… I reject you. Our marriage is dissolved. You are banished from this pack!”

Silence fell like a hammer.

Aria could barely breathe. But she didn’t cry. Not again.

She swallowed her pain, lifted her chin, and began walking, one step after another, away from the conference table, past the faces that had once called her “friend,” past the empire she built, now crumbling beneath her feet. 

Only her assistant, the omega from her parents' pack, followed and stayed behind her.

But just as she crossed the door—

She bumped into someone.

Startled, she looked up, not even seeing where she was going.

“I’m sorry, I—” she began, but her words were cut short.

*Clap. Clap. Clap*

The familiar, mocking sound echoed in the hallway.

The blonde woman she had met earlier smiled down at her, eyes gleaming with twisted satisfaction.

“You asked me earlier why I thanked you,” the woman said sweetly, venom dripping from every syllable.

Then she leaned forward and whispered, “Let me tell you now—thank you for building up this pathetic pack in my absence. Thank you for polishing it until it was fit for a real Luna. You gave me the perfect wedding gift.”

With that, she turned and walked into the conference room, shoulders proud, smile bright, as if walking down the aisle.

The doors remained wide open.

Aria stood outside, trembling, heart bleeding in her chest, when she heard the final blow.

From inside the room, Elliot’s voice rang out like a death knell.

“Our pack cannot be without a Luna. We need a woman of virtue, grace, and loyalty. Let us welcome back Stella… the daughter of our wisest Elder. The most deserving woman to be Luna of Crimson Claw… and she will be my bride.”

Applause thundered behind her. Cheers erupted. And from Aria’s eye, one final tear fell.

She wiped it away. Raised her head high.

And turned away... from her husband, her mate, and beloved one. From the pack she helped rise from the slum. From the home she gave everything for.

Behind her, in the shadows of the corridor, two pairs of eyes watched her leave.

One of the men whispered, “Was she the woman who saved Nina yesterday? The one you were talking about?”

The man with the cast on his arm nodded solemnly.

“Yes, Alpha. That’s her.”