All Chapters of Rejected Luna, Claimed by the Alpha Who Regretted: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

The first sign came with blood on the messenger’s boots.He barely made it through Frostveil’s inner gate before collapsing to one knee, chest heaving, eyes wild. The guards hauled him upright, but he shook them off, gaze locking straight onto Rowan.“Silver Fang is breaking,” he rasped.Elara felt it before Rowan spoke. A sharp twist low in her chest. Not the bond. Something colder. Something structural.Rowan dismissed the guards with a sharp gesture. “Inside. Now.”The council chamber closed around them, stone swallowing sound. The messenger wiped his mouth with shaking fingers.“Alpha Kael lost control of the eastern patrols,” he said. “Three challenges in two weeks. One beta is dead. Another fled.”Elara went still.Rowan’s eyes narrowed. “Challenges don’t happen without cause.”The messenger swallowed. “The pack says he’s distracted. Unstable. He snaps at shadows. Ignores council advice.”Elara folded her arms slowly, grounding herself. “They’re afraid of him.”“They’re afraid f

Kael snapped a man’s wrist before he even realized he had moved.The crack echoed across the training yard. Wolves froze mid-step, their breaths hanging white in the cold air.The young warrior dropped to his knees with a strangled cry.“You hesitated,” Kael said flatly.“I slipped, Alpha,” the warrior gasped, clutching his arm.Kael stared down at him, chest rising slowly, something dark flickering behind his eyes. “Hesitation gets wolves killed.”The yard stayed silent.No one dared argue.Two guards rushed forward to help the injured wolf away. Kael turned his back before they even reached the gate.He felt it immediately. The shift in the air. Not rebellion.Fear.Once, that fear had been balanced by something steadier. Something warmer.He crushed the thought before it could fully form.“Again,” he ordered.The remaining warriors obeyed without question, but their movements lacked rhythm. Every glance flickered toward him, careful. Measured.Kael hated being careful.Later, in th

“They want you gone before sunrise.”Rowan did not soften the words.Elara stood very still, Mira cradled against her chest, the child’s slow breathing the only warmth in the cold chamber. Outside, the wind scraped along the stone walls like claws searching for a way in.“Who are they?” Elara asked, though she already knew.“The elders.”She let out a quiet breath.Of course.Power unsettled people. Unknown blood unsettled them even more.“And if I refuse?” she asked.Rowan’s gaze held hers. “This is one of the few places where even I do not rule alone.”A sharp knock cut through the tension.“The council is assembled,” a guard announced from the doorway.Rowan nodded once.“Elara,” he said, voice lower now, “they won’t attack you outright. But they will push. They will test your control. Do not give them fear to feed on.”She adjusted the wrap around Mira.“I stopped living by fear,” she replied.Still… as she followed him through the winding corridors, something heavy pressed agains

“Again.”Rowan’s command cut through the frozen air just as Elara lunged.Steel met steel with a sharp crack. The force of her strike pushed him back half a step before he twisted, knocking her blade aside.She pivoted fast and drove her elbow toward his ribs.He caught it.A faint smile touched his mouth. “Better. But you still hesitate.”“I don’t hesitate,” she said, breath steady despite the sweat cooling on her skin.“You still think before you hurt someone.”“That’s called control.”“It gets you killed if your enemy doesn’t share the courtesy.”She attacked again, lower this time. Rowan barely blocked in time.The watching warriors murmured.Five years ago, they would have laughed at the idea of Elara standing toe-to-toe with an Alpha.Now they watched like students.Rowan stepped back, lowering his sword.“We’re done.”Elara frowned. “I’m not tired.”“I am,” he replied dryly.A small voice rang across the training field.“You’re both slow.”Elara turned.Mira stood near the boun

Elara hit the ground hard enough to taste blood.“Again,” Rowan said.She pushed herself up before the pain could settle into her bones. Snow clung to her palms. Her ribs burned from the impact, but she rolled her shoulders once and lifted her chin.“I didn’t fall,” she muttered.“You hesitated,” Rowan corrected calmly. “Hesitation kills faster than claws.”Elara lunged at him before he finished speaking.He sidestepped smoothly, caught her wrist, twisted, and sent her crashing back into the frost.A low growl escaped her throat.“I am not fragile.”“I never said you were,” Rowan replied. “But strength is not anger. Use your head.”She rose again, breath coming faster now.Dawn training had become their ritual. Most wolves were still asleep when she stepped onto the frozen field, long before Mira woke.Long before fear could distract her.“Why are you really pushing me like this?” she asked.Rowan studied her carefully.“Because the world just learned your daughter exists.”The words