The Alpha's Rejected Luna

Chapter 4: The Alpha's Request

Diego had rehearsed what he would say a dozen times on the ride to the border, and every version died the moment he saw her.

She stood at the edge of the treeline, arms crossed, silver light flickering faintly beneath the skin of her forearms like something alive just under the surface.

Six months ago, Mika had been thin from grief, her shoulders curved inward like she was trying to take up less space in the world. The woman standing in front of him now stood like she owned the ground beneath her feet.

"Alpha Diego." Her

voice was flat, controlled — nothing like the girl who had once looked at him like he'd hung the moon. "I was told you needed something."

"Mika." Her name felt strange in his mouth after six months of forcing himself not to say it.

"That's Luna Mika, actually, if we're using titles." Her chin lifted slightly. "Though I suppose you'd know better than anyone how quickly those can be taken back."

Marcus, standing a few feet behind Diego, made a small noise that might have been a badly hidden laugh.

Diego ignored it. "We need to talk."

"Do we?" Mika's gaze flicked over him, cool and assessing, the way she might study a stranger rather than a man she'd once been engaged to. "Because from where I'm standing, you made it very clear six months ago that you didn't want anything to do with me."

"This isn't about that."

"No," she agreed. "It's about Kade's pack attacking your eastern border, I imagine. Word travels, even out here."

Diego's jaw tightened. He hadn't expected her to already know. "Then you know how serious this is."

"I know Blackmoon is losing ground without the Ashwood alliance backing your borders." Mika's voice stayed even, but something sharp glinted behind her eyes. "I know your pack is bleeding resources fighting a war on two fronts. And I know that after six months of silence, the only reason you're standing in front of me now is because you need something."

"That's not—" Diego stopped himself, because it was exactly that, and they both knew it.

Mika's mouth curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "At least be honest about it. It's the least you owe me."

Diego exhaled slowly, forcing himself to meet her eyes even though every instinct told him to look away from the accusation buried in them. "You're right. I need the Ashwood alliance. Kade's pack has been testing our borders for months, and without reinforcements, we're going to lose territory we can't afford to lose. People will die."

"People almost always die when Alphas make decisions with their pride instead of their heads," Mika said quietly.

The words landed harder than she probably intended, or maybe exactly as hard as she'd intended. Diego said nothing, because there was nothing to say. She wasn't wrong.

"I came because I hoped—" he started.

"You hoped I'd forgotten what you did to me." Mika's voice finally cracked, just slightly, the first sign of anything beneath the composed exterior she'd built over six months. "You hoped enough time had passed that I'd be grateful for the attention. That I'd fall back into line because some part of me still wanted to be your Luna."

"That's not what I think of you."

"Then what do you think of me, Diego?" She took a step closer, and for the first time, he saw the silver markings pulse brighter beneath her skin, responding to something he didn't understand.

"Because six months ago, you looked at me like I was an inconvenience you couldn't wait to be rid of. And now you're standing on my border asking for help like I owe you something."

Diego held her gaze, and for a moment, the rehearsed apologies and careful diplomatic language he'd prepared on the ride over all fell away. "I think I made a mistake I don't know how to fix. I think you became someone I don't recognize, and some part of me wonders if that's my fault. And I think if I don't get help securing that border, I'm going to lose people who trusted me to protect them."

Silence stretched between them, broken only by the wind moving through the treeline.

"That's the first honest thing you've said since you got here," Mika finally said.

"It won't be the last, if you're willing to hear it."

Mika studied him for a long moment, something unreadable moving behind her expression. Then she turned to Marcus, who had been watching the exchange with poorly concealed curiosity.

"Tell your scouts to pull back a mile from the border by tomorrow morning," she said. "I'll bring my people to assess the situation myself."

"Mika—" Diego started.

"I'm not doing this for you." Her eyes cut back to him, sharp and unyielding. "I'm doing this because I have twelve wolves under my protection who deserve to live in a world where Kade's pack doesn't expand its territory unchecked. This isn't a reconciliation, Diego. It's a tactical decision."

She turned to walk away, and Diego found himself speaking before he could stop himself. "For what it's worth — you look strong. Whatever happened to you these past six months, it changed you into someone formidable."

Mika paused, glancing back at him over her shoulder, the silver light beneath her skin flickering like captured moonlight.

"Yes," she said. "It did. No thanks to you."

She disappeared into the treeline, and Diego stood there long after she was gone, trying to understand why watching her walk away felt so much heavier the second time.