Rejected by My Mate, So I Became the Enemy Alpha’s Luna

Chapter 11 – Conditions

The infirmary smelled like alcohol, herbs, and fear-sweat.

Cots lined both walls, some already filled, some stained but empty. Outside, the pack moved in a shell-shocked rhythm—cleaning, guarding, pretending things were normal while wards still crackled and smoked.

Helena had dragged a chair into the corner for our little debrief, far enough from the worst groans to pretend this was just another strategy meeting.

Marcus stood with his back to the window, arms folded. Jace prowled near the door like a restless guard dog. I sat on the edge of an empty cot, the metal disk warm in my palm.

“Start from what you felt,” Helena said.

I resisted the urge to salute. “The first hit you know,” I said. “The pack bond screamed. Then, right before the big crack, something else brushed me. Not Moonridge. Colder. Iron and pine and smoke.”

“Blackpine,” she murmured.

“Kael,” I said. “Or his pack, at least. It felt like… a thread tugged tight, then sliced.”

“Could have been backlash,” Marcus said. “Those kinds of pulses ricochet.”

“Could have been deliberate,” Helena countered. “Draven’s brand was on his arm, not just his tree graffiti. He knew what he was doing with the wards.”

“And you think he deliberately yanked at Blackpine’s line while hitting ours,” Jace said. “Why? To show off?”

“To destabilize,” Helena said. “To force us to split attention. To make sure whatever choice Aria makes, she does it with a knife at both throats.”

“Fantastic,” I muttered. “Love being the center of multi-pack sabotage.”

Helena’s gaze landed on me. “You always were, whether you knew it or not,” she said evenly. “Rejected mate of an heir. Temporary Luna of a rival. Now the girl Draven smiled at through a dying ward.”

I clenched my jaw. “So what, I just… go anyway? March into Blackpine while he’s poking at our bonds from afar?”

“That was the plan,” Marcus said dryly. “Minus the poking.”

Jace shot him a look. “You’re not seriously—”

“I’m seriously considering the simple fact that backing out now tells every pack Draven can break us with one strike,” Marcus cut in. “We sent word to Blackpine already. We don’t know if Kael is hurt, dead, or just ignoring us. Until we do, I won’t parade Aria across open territory.”

The knot under my ribs loosened a fraction. “So we wait.”

“We can’t wait forever,” Helena said. “If Kael is alive, he will respond. If he’s not…” She exhaled through her teeth. “We rewrite the board.”

Something heavy settled over all of us.

“If Kael is dead,” I said slowly, “I’m not going to be Luna to whoever picks up the scraps just because it fits your numbers.”

Her eyes flickered. “I’m not suggesting that.”

“Good,” I said. “Because here’s the part where we talk about my conditions.”

Jace’s brows shot up. Marcus’s mouth twitched like he wanted to smile and scowl at the same time.

“Conditions,” Helena repeated.

“You keep saying this is my choice,” I said. “Fine. If Kael is alive, and if I still agree to go to Blackpine, it’s not as a silent symbol. I’m not walking in as a Council plant or a Moonridge sacrifice.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Go on.”

“I go as myself,” I said. “As beta-born wolf, as your almost-Luna, as the one Draven apparently thinks is worth poking. I get to help decide how we answer him. From Blackpine’s side.”

Marcus frowned. “You’re not a strategist.”

“I’ve been doing your dirty tactical work for years,” I snapped. “You just call it ‘helping with patrol rosters.’”

Jace choked on a laugh.

I took a breath, forced my tone down. “I’m not saying I lead war councils. I’m saying if you want to use me as a bridge between Kael and Moonridge, then I’m the one who walks back and forth across it. Not just in your reports.”

Helena watched me for a long beat. “You want a voice in the response to Draven.”

“I want more than to be reacted to,” I said. “Draven clearly thinks I matter now. I’d like to be in on why.”

Jace nodded hard. “Seconded.”

Marcus rubbed a hand over his face. “And if Kael refuses that? If he wants a Luna who keeps her head down and smiles for the Council?”

“Then he can find someone else,” I said, pulse steady. “I survived being almost-his for one alpha already. I’m not doing it again.”

The room went quiet.

Helena’s expression shifted—something like approval flickering under the ice.

“Very well,” she said. “If Kael Blackthorn answers, I will make your… expectations clear.”

“And if he doesn’t answer?” I asked.

She inclined her head. “Then you stay here. For now. We harden our wards. We prepare for Draven’s next move. And we accept that the miracle political bandage we hoped for has just been ripped off.”

Jace blew out a breath. “Finally, some honesty.”

A runner burst through the door, panting, eyes wide.

“High Councilor,” he gasped. “Message on the outer line. Blackpine.”

My heart lurched.

Helena rose. “From Kael?”

The runner swallowed. “Not exactly. It’s… his beta. Silas Reed. He says Blackpine was hit last night. Hard.”

The room tilted.

“Is Kael alive?” I asked. The words scraped.

The runner’s gaze flicked to me, then to Helena. “Beta Reed says… they need to talk. Fast. And that if Moonridge still intends to send him a Luna…”

He hesitated, throat working.

“Say it,” Marcus growled.

“Then we’d better hurry,” the runner finished. “Because their alpha might not stay on his feet much longer.”