The Rejected Luna

CHAPTER FIVE

I froze.

For a heartbeat, I couldn’t breathe.

Daisy.

Oh, Moon Goddess—what in the name of the stars is she doing here?

I thought I’d left all the drama of the Vale Pack behind. But there she was, standing like a storm given flesh, fury burning in her eyes. Her voice cut through the music and laughter like a blade.

“You can’t just make her your Luna!”

The crowd fell silent. The cheers died mid-air, replaced by a ripple of confusion that swept across the square.

Mark’s hand tightened around my arm—steady, grounding, or maybe a silent warning not to move.

Beside him, Lark turned, his calm face hardening, that quiet authority rolling off him like thunder before the rain. The air changed; celebration dissolved into tension.

“Daisy.” Mark’s voice came low, a growl rumbling in his chest. “Watch what you say.”

But Daisy had already crossed the line. Her glare found me like a target. “Why her? She’s an abandoned child! What makes her worthy to stand beside you?”

“I came far away because I heard the message and I was scared and I knew you would be happy to see me but now you are saying someone that slept with my sister's mate is the person you want as a mate. The moon made a horrible mistake and you are blind not to see it"

The words hit like stones.

My chest burned. The humiliation rose fast, sharp, merciless. It was Jamie’s rejection all over again, his cruel laugh echoing in my head. My cheeks heated; my body screamed to disappear—to vanish into the ground before anyone saw the shame written across my face.

Mark stepped forward, and the crowd seemed to shrink back. His shadow swallowed Daisy whole.

“Cassie is our mate,” he said, his voice calm but lethal. “That makes her more than worthy, I don't care what she did when she came from or what happened. She belongs here—and you have no right to question it.”

The possessiveness in his tone made my heart stutter. It wasn’t tenderness—it was declaration. But still, it felt like a shield around me.

Daisy laughed bitterly. “You barely know her! She probably sniffed out your alpha scent and decided to trap you. She’s nothing but a desperate wanderer chasing power! I have seen her— yearning for years and trying to secure another person's mate just because of her selfish desires.”

Lark’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Enough, Daisy!”

The command in his voice sent a shiver through the square. “You will not insult our mate in our presence. You don't want to be caned and dragged around like a criminal so you better watch what you say next”

For the first time, I saw what true alpha dominance looked like—protective, fierce, and absolute. The tension between them crackled, but for once, it wasn’t aimed at me. They were defending me.

Daisy faltered. “Lark… you know I’ve always loved you. Years and I thought we had a thing going on. I’ve always dreamed—”

Her voice trembled, and she stopped herself, eyes glistening with something like desperation.

The truth hit me then.

Her hatred wasn’t just cruelty—it was heartbreak. Jealousy. She wanted what I had stumbled into by fate’s cruel mercy.

But Lark’s expression didn’t soften. “My fated mate has been found,” he said evenly. “Whatever you dreamed of is no longer possible. Maybe the moon doesn't lie at all and the ambush was all a blessing because I really can't stand you right now and I will respect what we had.”

The finality in his tone left no room for argument.

Mark’s hand came to rest on my back. His touch was gentle, unexpected.

“Welcome home, Cassie,” he murmured.

The words shouldn’t have meant so much—but they did. They took root somewhere deep inside, fragile and frighteningly hopeful.

Around us, murmurs began again. Curious eyes watched. Some suspicious. Some accepting. But no one challenged the Alphas’ word. The mate bond among twin Alphas wasn’t something any pack could deny.

Mark lifted his voice above the crowd. “Let the celebration continue. Tonight, the Greyer Pack welcomes its Luna!”

Cheers slowly returned, tentative at first, then stronger. Music rose again. But beneath it, I could still feel the unease—the whisper that not everyone would accept me easily. Especially not Daisy, who stood at the edge, her eyes like shards of ice.

Lark leaned close, his voice softer now. “Are you alright?”

I nodded, my throat tight. “Just… overwhelmed.”

“Come,” he said, guiding me toward the raised stage. “You should be seen beside us.”

So I went—standing between the twin Alphas, their presence anchoring me on either side.

Mark’s voice carried once more. “Behold, the Luna of the Greyer Pack.”

The title crashed over me like a wave.

Luna. Of their pack.

Only days ago, I’d been a rejected outcast, bleeding from a broken bond and running from the only home I’d known. Now, I was standing between two Alphas who claimed me before their entire pack. My heart couldn’t decide whether to tremble or steady.

I glanced at Daisy in the crowd. Her resentment was carved deep, but beneath it, I thought I saw a flicker of pain. This wasn’t over. She wouldn’t let it be.

Still, something inside me had shifted. Maybe it was the mate bond—or maybe it was the realization that for once, someone had chosen to stand beside me instead of turning away.

For the first time in a long while, I let myself feel it—hope.

Maybe this wasn’t just fate’s punishment.

Maybe it was the beginning of something new.

And if Daisy or anyone else tried to drag me down, they’d learn one thing quickly—

I wasn’t the fragile girl from the Vale Pack anymore.

I was the Luna of Greyer. And I would fight to stay standing.