Rejected while pregnant… CLAIMED BY THE RUTHLESS ALPHA KING

“Strip.” The word hit me harder than a slap. The hall fell silent. Every pair of eyes turned to me mocking, curious, waiting. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Because standing before me… was my mate. My Alpha. And beside him? A woman rested her hand over her swollen belly, leaning into him like she belonged there. Like she had already taken my place. “Did you not hear me?” Damian’s voice dropped, colder this time, sharper. “Remove the Luna mark. You don’t deserve to wear it.” A ripple of laughter spread across the crowd. My fingers trembled as they rose slowly to my shoulder, brushing over the faint silver crest that marked me as his chosen mate. No… not chosen. Given. Claimed. And now… discarded. “I…” My voice cracked, barely above a whisper. “What is the meaning of this?” The woman beside him chuckled softly, her lips curling with satisfaction. “Oh, she still doesn’t get it.” She shifted closer to him, and his arm instinctively wrapped around her waist. That small movement? It shattered something inside me. “Aria,” Damian said my name like it tasted bitter, “you have failed this pack.” Failed? My chest tightened. “I have done everything asked of me,” I said, forcing strength into my voice. “I served this pack. I stood by your side” “And yet,” he cut in, his gaze slicing through me, “you couldn’t even give me an heir.” The words landed like a death sentence. A murmur swept through the crowd. “Barren…” “Useless…” “I always knew she wasn’t fit to be Luna…” Each whisper dug into my skin, deeper than any blade. I clenched my fists, refusing to let them see me break. But inside? I was already bleeding. “That’s not” I started, but he didn’t let me finish. “Enough,” Damian snapped. He turned slightly, his expression softening but not for me. For her. “For the good of the pack,” he continued, “I will take a new Luna.” The woman beside him smiled wider, pressing his hand against her belly. “As you can see,” she said sweetly, “I’ve already proven my worth.” My stomach twisted violently. No. No, this couldn’t be happening. Not like this. Not in front of everyone. “Damian…” I took a step forward, my voice shaking now despite my effort to stay strong. “You can’t just” “I can,” he said flatly. And then, without hesitation “I, Alpha Damian, reject you as my mate.” The world stopped. The bond between us snapped like a fragile thread pulled too tight. Pain exploded through my chest, stealing the air from my lungs. I staggered back, a strangled gasp escaping my lips as the force of it tore through me. It felt like my soul was being ripped in half. Gasps echoed around the hall. But no one moved. No one helped. Because this? This was entertainment. Tears burned my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of them. Not in front of him. “Now,” Damian said coldly, as if nothing had happened, “remove the mark and leave this pack.” Leave? Just like that? After everything? My vision blurred. My heart pounded wildly in my chest, uneven… unstable… And then A strange wave of dizziness hit me. My hand instinctively dropped to my stomach. I froze. Because suddenly… Everything made sense. The missed cycles. The exhaustion. The nausea I had ignored for days. My breath caught. No… It couldn’t be… Could it? My fingers pressed harder against my abdomen, as if I could feel the truth beneath my skin. And in that moment I knew. A quiet, terrifying realization settled deep inside me. I wasn’t barren. I wasn’t useless. I was Pregnant. A broken laugh almost escaped me. How cruel. How unbelievably cruel. The mate who had just rejected me… The Alpha who had humiliated me before the entire pack… Was the father of the child growing inside me. I looked up at him one last time. He didn’t even look back. His attention was already on her. On the woman who had replaced me so easily. Something inside me hardened. Fine. If this was how he wanted it Then I would leave. But not as the weak, discarded Luna they all believed me to be. No. I turned slowly, ignoring the whispers, the stares, the judgment. Each step I took felt heavier than the last. But I didn’t stop. I wouldn’t. Because they didn’t know. None of them did. As I reached the doors, my grip tightened slightly over my stomach. A silent promise forming in my chest. “You rejected me today…” My voice was barely a whisper, lost in the noise behind me. “But one day…” I paused. And for the first time A cold, unfamiliar strength settled in my eyes. “You’ll regret it.” I stepped out into the night. And this time I didn’t look back.