The Rejected Luna's Heir

I stood at the foot of the eleven stone steps, my heart hammering against my ribs.

The amphitheater was packed with five hundred wolves from both the Ashwood and Ironveil packs. Above us, the luminosity of the full moon made the amphitheatre glow. 

At the top of the dais stood Alpha Caelum Voss. He was broad shouldered, tall with silver eyes you could get lost in. 

My fated mate. I whispered to myself as a smile bloomed across my lips. 

Three months ago, a lowborn wolf like me could never have dreamed of this. Getting married to a high born wolf? It was out of reach. 

Lowborns were expected to tend to pack duties and stay out of high ranking affairs. But over the past few months, Caelum had changed everything. He had looked at me differently, listened keenly when I spoke of midwifery. Made me feel like I truly mattered. 

I took my first step up the damp stone. I looked over to the Ashwood side of the amphitheatre. Just then my father gave me a quiet, reassuring nod, his weathered hands gripped his cane. Beside him, my brother Aiden grinned with pride. 

I lifted my eyes to Caelum as I reached the sixth step. My wolf stirred immediately, letting out a low, uneasy howl deep within my chest. Something was wrong. At least it felt wrong.

When Caelum courted me, his scent was a rich, grounding blend of crushed pine needles and fresh rain. His scent always made my wolf feel comforted. But tonight, the air around him carried a sharp, metallic edge, like copper. 

His silver eyes stared straight into the pack, avoiding mine.

He's just nervous, I told myself, swallowing the lump of saliva in my throat. It's pack tradition. The Alpha doesn't meet his mate's eyes until the Moon Goddess blesses the blade.

I reached the top step and stood before him, close enough to feel the heat radiating off his body.

The Moon Priestess stepped between us, whispering against the stone. She lifted the silver ceremonial blade from its velvet stand, its edge sparkling under the moonlight.

"We gather beneath the eyes of the Moon Goddess," she said, her voice echoing across the edges of the silent amphitheatre. "To witness a bond forged by the oldest law we answer to. Alpha Caelum Voss, speak the words. Bind this union before your people and hers."

I held my breath. My pulse roared in my ears, so loud I was certain the front row could hear it.

Caelum opened his mouth. "I reject you as mine."

The words didn't echo. They dropped into the quiet amphitheater like stones into still water. An instant gasp rippled through the five hundred wolves in attendance.

On the Ashwood side, a chorus of angry roars erupted. My father went rigid, his hands trembled and his cane clattered against the stone floor. Beside him, Aiden let out a fierce growl. He lunged forward, but three heavy Ironveil guards slammed their iron spears down in front of him, locking him in place.

"Traitor!" an Ashwood elder screamed, shoving past the benches. "You dishonor our bloodline in front of the Goddess!"

Across the aisle, the Ironveil pack erupted into debate. Highborn elders murmured with quiet satisfaction, while younger pack members exchanged stunned glances and whispers. 

The air in the amphitheatre felt heavy and suffocating. 

The air in my lungs left all at once. The roaring crowd instantly became quiet while their angry faces blurred. A high pitched ring flooded my ears as everything went dead silent. 

"C...a...e...l...u...m." I said in a low, shaky voice. I looked at him immediately searching for a flicker of regret, but there was none. 

He didn't flinch, nor look at me. His silver eyes remained emotionless, still fixated on the crowd. 

"I, Caelum Voss, reject Seraphina Ashwood as my mate." He said it again, still sturdy and composed, his voice louder than the uproar like he was reciting pack law and not tearing something living out of my chest.

The mate bond inside me didn't just break, it screamed in terror. 

My chest squeezed so hard I couldn’t breathe. The mate bond went completely wild with confusion. It didn’t snap the way a normal rejection should. Instead, the connection tangled violently and went completely dead. 

Why was it hurting like this?

My knees buckled against the damp stone as cold sweat rolled down my skin. Agony found its way up my throat, suffocating me. There was no blade in my chest, yet my lungs couldn't intake air. 

"To secure our northern borders," Caelum continued, shouting over the furious shouts of my pack elders, "I claim Lyra Dane of the Dane Pack as my chosen mate, effective this night."

In the front row, Lyra Dane stood up slowly. A triumphant, sharp smile bloomed on her face as she smoothened her skirt. 

Caelum turned, his wolf skin cloak swept the stone steps as he walked away, He never glanced back, not one look of apology or pity nor a flicker of regret crossed his face. 

No sign of the man who had held my hand by the border and whispered that I was his Luna.

The tension in the arena was incredibly high. Ashwood warriors were throwing insults about to pounce on Ironveil's packs but were held back by the silver edged weapons carried by Ironveil guards. 

I could hear Ironveil’s councils scoffing. “Who told a lowborn could become Luna to highborns?” 

My eyes filled with tears. My soul was about to erupt into chaos. They want to see you crumble, my wolf growled. Don't give it to them.

I swallowed the blood where I had bitten the inside of my cheek. I pushed myself upright and threw my shoulders back. I held my chin level as I dragged myself down all eleven steps. One foot in front of the other, my head high and eyes forward. 

I refused to let Ironveil watch me bleed.

It wasn't until the door of my father's truck slammed shut, that I broke.

I collapsed into the back seat. My father wrapped his arm around me while I buried my face into the wool of my father's coat, and an ugly, violent sob burst out my throat. 

Three months of stolen evenings, gentle kisses, and promises of a future together had dissolved into a pool of hot, bitter shame.

"I'll kill him," Aiden spat from the front seat, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. "I'll tear his throat out."

"Drive the truck, Aiden," my father said softly, his voice trembling as he reached into the back seat to stroke my hair.

As he stroked my hair, my mind instantly went back to the time Caelum stroked my hair. 

Three months ago, I had made peace with the fact I would never find my fated mate. I was a lowborn wolf and some things weren't meant for someone who assists pack mothers. 

Then during the border council meeting, between Ashwood and Ironveil, I saw him. 

I was standing near the edge of the courtyard when I felt him before I saw him. A sudden wave of heat surged through the crowd, thick with the scent of pine and fresh rain.

Alpha Caelum Voss. Forty feet away, his silver eyes lifted and locked straight onto mine. A sharp, electric shock shot through my chest. My wolf sat upright, howling in instant recognition.

“Mate,” a low voice rumbled.

My breath stuck. My hands fidgeted against my gown, my pulse roaring like a flooded river in my ears. Before I could blend back into the crowd, he was standing in front of me. 

"You're Ashwood," he said. His voice was low. It wasn't a question.

"You're rejecting me already?" The words left my mouth before I thought them through. 

Something shifted in his expression. It wasn't a smile. "I didn't say that."

My hands relaxed and I let out a deep breath. Four words. That was all it took. 

Within two weeks, Caelum was giving excuses just to come see me. Three times in seven days, he made it seem like it was pack business, fooling everyone except my father.

He wasn't soft but with me, something beneath him unclenched.

He listened carefully when I spoke about my work as a midwife and my desire to protect lowborn pack mothers since the women highborn elders treated them unfairly. 

His silver eyes fixed on my eyes. "They matter," he said once. Then his rough voice dropped to a whisper. "You matter."

One evening at the border while the sun set, he said something. 

"I wasn't looking for this," he murmured, his fingers gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear, his knuckles warm against my neck. "I didn't think I had room in my life for a mate."

The gentleness felt like a grand gesture to me, it felt like a vow. I leaned in believing that a lowborn like me could really hold the heart of an Alpha. I didn't realize it was a warning.

I should have because three weeks later, I was kneeling over the basin in my father's house. The nightmare was far from over.

Caelum Voss hadn't just left me with a severed bond and a shattered heart.

He had left me with his heir.