Rejected Luna: The Alpha’s Forced Mate

Chapter 2

Lila's knees hit the packed earth before she realized she was falling. The pain came a second later, tearing through her chest and spreading down her limbs until her fingers curled helplessly against the dirt. Somewhere inside her, her wolf screamed so violently that Lila clapped both hands over her ears, even though the sound existed only in her head.

“Why?”

The question came broken and frantic from her wolf, followed by another howl that ripped through the bond. Lila gasped and bent forward, fighting for breath as every muscle in her body locked up. She had never felt pain like this—not from a wound, not from sickness, not from anything she could name.

The crowd had gone strangely still. No one rushed to help her, and no one seemed willing to be the first person to speak. Lila could feel dozens of eyes on her back, but she couldn't bring herself to look up.

Her wolf kept howling.

He rejected us.

Lila squeezed her eyes shut. “I know.”

Her voice barely made it past her throat, but the wolf heard her. Another wave of pain crashed through her, forcing a strangled sound from her lips, and she pressed her palm harder against her chest.

“Get up.”

Kael's voice reached her through the haze.

Lila's breathing stopped for a moment. She lifted her head slowly, her vision still blurred from tears, and found him standing only a few steps away. His expression remained unreadable, but his eyes were fixed on her.

For one foolish second, relief flickered through her.

He had stayed.

Maybe he regretted it.

Maybe he had seen what the rejection did to her and changed his mind.

“Kael…” Lila whispered.

He looked at her for another moment, then said, “You're making a scene.”

The tiny piece of hope inside her disappeared.

Lila stared at him, unable to believe what she had heard. Her hands shook against the dirt, and she swallowed several times before managing to speak.

“I can't stand.”

Kael's jaw tightened. “Then crawl.”

A few people nearby lowered their heads, pretending not to listen. Others weren't nearly as discreet.

“She really thought he'd accept her.”

“Did you see her face?”

“Poor thing.”

“Poor? She should have known better. The Alpha has never treated her like anything more than a childhood friend.”

Each whisper found its way into Lila's ears. None hurt as much as Kael's voice.

He stepped closer, and his shadow fell across her. Lila instinctively looked up, waiting for him to offer his hand.

He didn't.

Instead, he looked down at her with a coldness she had never seen from him before.

“You're too weak.”

The words were quiet, but they still reached everyone.

Lila's lips parted, but nothing came out.

Kael continued, “A Mate bond doesn't make two people equal. I won't let the pack's future depend on someone who can't even control her own wolf.”

Her face went white.

The elder's expression changed. “Kael.”

“I've made my decision.”

Kael turned away.

Something inside her begged her to call his name, but her wolf was still clawing at the bond, desperate to follow him.

Go after him.

Lila shook her head.

Please.

“No.”

The answer came out so softly that even she almost didn't hear it.

Her wolf went silent.

Lila pushed both hands against the ground and forced herself upright. Her legs trembled so badly that she nearly collapsed again, but she caught herself before anyone could reach her. She didn't want help from strangers. She didn't want pity.

Most of all, she didn't want Kael to see her begging.

She stood.

The clearing seemed larger than it had before, and every face around her looked unfamiliar. The same people who had smiled at her during the ceremony were now watching with curiosity, sympathy, or poorly hidden amusement.

Lila lifted her chin.

“I'm fine.”

Someone laughed under their breath.

She ignored it.

The elder took a step toward her. “Lila, you should go home and rest.”

She nodded once. “I will.”

Her voice sounded steadier now.

Kael was already walking away.

Lila watched him disappear between the warriors without calling after him. She kept her eyes on the empty space where he had been until the last trace of his scent faded into the night.

Then her wolf whispered one final question.

Why wasn't I enough?

Lila couldn't answer.

She turned and walked away.

The path from the pack grounds to her cottage had never seemed so long. Her legs were still shaking, and every few steps another stab of pain twisted through her chest, but she refused to stop. She passed the training field, the healer's house, the row of larger family homes, and finally reached the narrow path leading toward the edge of the territory.

Nobody followed her.

That should have made the walk easier.

Instead, the silence made everything worse.

By the time she reached her cottage, her tears had dried cold against her cheeks. She pushed open the crooked wooden door and stepped inside without turning on the lamp.

The room was small enough that three steps took her from the door to the kitchen table. The roof leaked whenever it rained, one window refused to close properly, and the old couch had a torn arm that she had covered with a blanket months ago.

It had never bothered her before.

Tonight, she suddenly noticed every flaw.

Lila lowered herself into the chair and stared at her hands.

They were still trembling.

She waited for the crying to come again.

It didn't.

Her wolf lay curled somewhere deep inside her, silent and exhausted.

Lila sat there for a long time before finally whispering, “He called me weak.”

The words sounded different inside the cottage. Not like an insult shouted before the entire pack, but like a fact.

She hated that.

She had spent years training. She had run until her lungs burned, practiced shifting until her bones ached, and stayed awake through countless nights trying to make her wolf stronger. She knew she wasn't the strongest female in the pack, but she had never thought of herself as helpless.

Kael had.

That hurt more than the rejection.

Lila pressed her fingers against her eyes.

“No.”

Her wolf stirred faintly.

No?

“No,” she repeated, firmer this time. “I'm not going to let him decide what I am.”

For the first time since the ceremony, Lila looked at the small mirror hanging beside the window. Her hair was tangled, her dress was covered in dirt, and her face looked nothing like the girl who had run across the clearing with a smile.

She barely recognized herself.

Lila stood and walked toward the mirror.

“If he thinks I'm weak,” she whispered, “I'll prove him wrong.”

Her reflection didn't answer, but her wolf lifted its head.

Outside, voices drifted up the path.

Lila's body stiffened.

She recognized them.

A group of young wolves passed near her cottage, talking loudly enough that there was no mistaking their purpose.

“I can't believe the Alpha rejected his own Mate.”

“She was practically throwing herself at him.”

“Maybe that's why. Who wants a Mate who follows him around?”

Another voice snickered. “Did you see her begging?”

Lila's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.

They laughed.

She stood perfectly still until their voices disappeared into the distance, then looked down at the red marks their wood had left across her palm.

The next morning, she would find Kael.

Not to beg.

Not to ask him to take back the rejection.

She needed to know why. If he truly believed she was weak, she wanted him to say it while looking her in the eyes.

Lila walked to the bedroom and changed out of the ceremonial dress. Her movements were slow, but her hands no longer shook.

She folded the dress and placed it at the bottom of the wardrobe.

She didn't know why she did that. Maybe she wasn't ready to throw it away, or maybe she wasn't ready to admit that the night she had dreamed about for years had become something she wanted to forget.

When she finally lay down, sleep refused to come. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard his voice.

You're too weak.

Lila turned onto her side.

The bond was still there, damaged and painful, but there.

She could feel Kael somewhere beyond the pack territory, distant but unmistakable. The connection tugged at her chest whenever she thought about him, and her wolf responded every time.

Mate.

Lila covered her face with both hands. “Stop calling him that.”

Her wolf whined.

“He rejected us.”

The answer was immediate.

He's still ours.

Lila's eyes burned again. She hated that part of herself, the bond, and the Moon Goddess for giving her something that could be taken away by three words.

Most of all, she hated that despite everything, some part of her still wanted Kael to come back.

Sometime after midnight, exhaustion finally dragged her into a restless sleep.

She dreamed of being twelve again.

Kael was climbing over the pack wall with two stolen apples tucked beneath his shirt, grinning when the guards shouted after him. He had grabbed her hand and pulled her into the trees, both of them laughing as they ran.

“Come on, Lila.”

“You're going to get us caught.”

“Then run faster.”

She had trusted him.

She had always trusted him.

The dream changed.

Kael was carrying her home after she twisted her ankle, his arms strong around her, his voice irritated as he told her to stop pretending she could walk.

“You're impossible.”

“You still came back for me.”

“I always will.”

Lila smiled in her sleep.

Then the memory shattered.

Kael stood in front of her again, older, colder, and impossible to reach.

You're too weak.

Lila woke with a gasp.

Morning light had already entered through the window.

For several seconds, she didn't move. Then she sat up, her chest hurting enough to remind her that the rejection had happened.

She got dressed, tied her hair back, and washed her face in cold water. She didn't bother hiding the faint redness around her eyes.

She wasn't going to pretend nothing had happened or that it hadn't hurt. But she wasn't going to spend the rest of her life kneeling in front of someone who had chosen to walk away from her.

She opened the door.

The moment she stepped outside, two pack members across the road fell silent. One of them looked at her, then whispered something to the other.

Lila heard it clearly.

“She actually came out.”

The second girl laughed.

“I'd hide if it were me.”

Lila stopped.

For a moment, she considered walking away.

Instead, she turned her head.

The girls froze.

Lila looked at them calmly. “If you're going to talk about me, say it louder.”

Neither answered.

Lila held their gaze for another second before continuing down the path.

Her heart was still broken, and her wolf was still hurting, but with every step, something else was taking shape beneath the pain.

Resolve.

She would find Kael.

And this time, she would not ask him to choose her. She would ask him one question.

Why?

Because Lila could survive being rejected. What she couldn't survive was spending the rest of her life believing she had been rejected because she wasn't enough.

She reached the main road leading toward the Alpha's residence, then stopped.

Two armed guards stood across the entrance. Both looked directly at her, and one of them stepped forward.

“Lila.”

She frowned.

“You can't go in.”

Lila's fingers curled at her sides.

“Why not?”

The guard hesitated.

Then, from somewhere beyond the gates, she heard Kael's voice.

He was laughing.

And he wasn't alone.

Lila's wolf went completely still.