The Luna's Revenge: Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by the Lycan Kings

The silver moon hung heavy over Silverfang Pack, bathing the clearing in cold light. Tonight was supposed to be the best night of my life. The mating ceremony. I stood in the center of the circle, wearing the white dress my mother had worn twenty years ago. My hands trembled, but not from fear. From hope. Alpha Kade Blackthorn stood across from me, tall and broad-shouldered, his dark eyes burning into mine. He was my fated mate. The moon goddess had said so. Everyone in the pack had known it since we were eighteen. “Kneel,” the Elder said. I knelt in the grass, heart pounding. This was it. After years of training, of proving I was worthy. I waited for the bond. For the rush of warmth, the pull in my chest, the voice in my head whispering _mine_. It never came. Instead, Alpha Kade’s face twisted. His lips curled like I was something disgusting stuck to the bottom of his boot. “Get up,” he said. His voice was cold enough to freeze the moonlight. I stared at him. “Kade?” The pack went silent. Twenty years of waiting, and this was all I got. “I, Alpha Kade Blackthorn of the Silverfang Pack, reject you, Lila Nova,” he said. Loud. Clear. For everyone to hear. “You are weak. Wolf-less. An embarrassment to my name.” The words hit me harder than any blow. My knees hit the grass, but not because I was kneeling. My legs just gave out. Wolf-less. That was the word that followed me my whole life. Born without a wolf. Useless. Broken. My mother had died giving birth to me, and the pack had blamed me for it ever since. But I thought Kade was different. I thought the moon goddess wouldn’t make a mistake. “Get her out of my sight,” Kade spat. “Before I change my mind and have her thrown out myself.” Two warriors grabbed my arms and dragged me away as the pack watched. No one spoke. No one helped. Because in Silverfang Pack, a rejected mate had no value. Humiliation burned through me, hotter than the shame of being wolfless. I’d trained harder than any of them. Hunted alone in the winter. Saved Elder Mara when she broke her leg last spring. None of it mattered. As they dragged me past the edge of the circle, I saw it. A flash of silver at the treeline. Watching. Then pain exploded in my belly. Sharp. Wrong. Not from Kade’s rejection. This was different. Older. Familiar. I wasn’t just rejected. I was pregnant. And the child wasn’t Kade’s. The thought hit me like ice water. Five years ago, one night. One mistake. One man who’d sworn he’d come back for me. He never did. Now I was carrying his child, and the Alpha who was supposed to love me had just thrown me away in front of everyone. “Let me go,” I whispered, my voice breaking. The warriors didn’t listen. They dragged me past the packhouse, past the jeering faces, toward the border. “Alpha’s orders,” one muttered. “You’re banished.” Banished. For being rejected. For being wolfless. For being me. The silver flash at the treeline moved. Closer. I had no wolf to protect me. No pack to call home. No mate to claim me. But I had this child. And I’d be damned if I let Kade or anyone else hurt them. If Silverfang didn’t want me, fine. I’d find somewhere that did. Even if I had to walk through hell to get there. The moon watched silently as they shoved me past the border stones. And just like that, I was alone.