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

Chapter 3 – Problem to Be Solved

They found us halfway back to the alpha house.

Lantern light cut through the trees, too bright after the forest. My father strode in front, jaw clenched, beta aura pulled tight like armor. Beside him walked a tall woman I’d never seen, posture so straight it hurt my back just to look.

Two warriors flanked them, eyes flicking over me and Jace. His hand was still wrapped around my wrist like he could hold me together.

“Aria,” Dad said. Relief flashed in his eyes, then drowned in dread. “You shouldn’t have run off alone.”

Alone. As if Jace wasn’t right there.

The woman stepped forward, lantern held high. Her scent was wolf, but scrubbed of any pack—neutral, cold. Iron-gray hair, pale, sharp eyes.

“Aria Thorn,” she said. “I’m Helena Frost, of the High Council.”

Of course she was.

They were here for the bond ceremony. For the pretty show. For the future alpha and his fated mate.

Guess they’d gotten a different performance.

“The Council was informed of… an incident,” Helena went on. “We’ll need your account. Alpha Marcus has asked that you return to the house immediately.”

Jace shifted closer. “She needs a minute. She—”

“I’m fine,” I lied. My legs held. Barely. “I can walk.”

Helena’s gaze skimmed me, cool and clinical. I wondered what she saw. Almost-Luna. Rejected mate. Problem.

Dad fell into step on my other side as we started back. His scent was tight with anger and worry.

“Aria,” he said low, so Helena wouldn’t hear. “What happened… it’s not—”

“Don’t,” I said. “Please don’t say ‘it’s not as bad as it looks.’”

His mouth thinned. “No. It’s worse.”

That, at least, was honest.

Inside the alpha house, noise hit like a wave. Too many wolves, too much fear. Alpha Marcus’s presence rolled down the hallway like thunder.

He was waiting in the small council room, the one for ugly business. Liam was already there.

He stood near the table, in hastily pulled-on clothes, hair mussed, skin still too flushed. His mother, Luna Serene, hovered at his shoulder, porcelain face cracked with tension. Marcus lounged at the far end, big hands steepled, eyes very awake.

My mother sat in a side chair, fingers twisting her sleeve. When she saw me, she half-rose, face crumpling before she smoothed it over.

Hannah huddled against the wall in an oversized hoodie and blanket, eyes red, hands white-knuckled. She looked about twelve. She looked guilty.

For a second, our gazes met. Then she looked down.

“Aria.” Marcus’s voice cut through the room. “Sit.”

I took the chair furthest from Liam. Jace stayed at my back, a silent shadow. Dad went to Mom’s side. Helena took a place by the door, like she already owned it.

“High Councilor Frost will be observing,” Marcus said, strained-polite. “Given the timing.”

“Given that every pack expects to see a bonded alpha couple tomorrow,” Helena murmured. “And now we may have something quite different.”

Her eyes flicked between me and Liam, assessing.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Marcus said.

I stared at the scarred tabletop. “I went to Liam’s room. I knocked. No one answered. I heard… sounds. I went in. They were in his bed.”

Silence.

“Did he compel you?” Marcus asked Hannah. “Did he force—”

“No.” Hannah’s voice broke. “No, he didn’t force me. I… I thought—”

Liam flinched. “Dad, don’t put this on her. This is on me.”

“Correct,” Serene said coldly. “You knew what tonight was.”

“I knew what tomorrow was,” he snapped. His eyes cut to me, then away. “I didn’t… I couldn’t keep lying to myself.”

“Lying about what?” Helena asked. “Your fated bond to Aria Thorn?”

His jaw flexed. Hands fisted.

“About loving someone else,” he said, barely audible.

The words landed like stones.

My chest went tight and hollow at once. I heard my mother’s gasp, Jace’s curse.

Marcus’s aura flared. “Liam.”

“I can’t stand up tomorrow and accept a bond I can’t honor,” Liam said, voice low, steadier now. “Not when my heart is somewhere else. That’s not honorable. That’s a lie.”

He looked at me, apology buried under conviction.

“So what you’re saying,” I managed, “is that the Moon got it wrong. And you got it right.”

He flinched. “I’m saying the bond doesn’t change what’s in my heart.”

“Fascinating. Tragic. Politically disastrous,” Helena said.

She turned to Marcus. “A future alpha rejecting his fated Luna for a human, two nights before a ceremony, under Council eyes? Every rival pack will ask if Moonridge has lost its spine.”

“What do you propose we do?” Marcus grated. “Announce it as a parade?”

“We contain,” Helena said. “We show that your pack still makes sacrifices for stability.” Her gaze slid back to me. “And we show that the rejected mate is not a crack in your foundation, but a stone we can set elsewhere to strengthen the whole.”

A chill crawled down my spine.

Dad stiffened. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“There is an alpha who has been… problematic,” Helena said. “Strong. Independent. Lacking a Luna since his previous partner’s death.”

She didn’t say Kael Blackthorn. She didn’t have to.

“Blackpine,” Marcus growled.

“He respects only strength,” Helena said. “If Moonridge sends him a symbol of submission and alliance… your daughter could serve as a temporary Luna. A living proof that this pack does not crumble under scandal.”

My laugh came out small and ugly. “So I’m a blessing now?”

No one answered.

“My daughter is not a piece to be traded,” Dad snapped.

“With respect, Beta Thorn,” Helena said, eyes like ice, “your daughter was placed on the board the moment this bond was announced. The only question is whether she falls off it broken… or lands somewhere she can still stand.”

Everyone talked around me. Weighed me. Moved me.

The girl no one chose, suddenly very useful.

I lifted my head.

“What does Blackpine say,” I asked, voice low, “about being sent another pack’s mistake?”