The rejected Luna

Get the healer

Without saying a word, Alpha Eric walked toward me.

In a few long strides, he stood directly in front of me. He pulled the heavy black cloak from his own shoulders and carefully wrapped it around my soaked, burned body. The fabric still held his warmth.

Then his voice, low and lethal, cut through the silence.

“Who did this to you?”

Clarissa stepped forward too quickly.

“Alpha, she’s just throwing a tantrum~”

A wave of shocked murmurs rose around us.

Someone near the back muttered, “Who asked her to speak?”

Eric’s head turned slowly toward Clarissa. His eyes were terrifying.

“Who,” he roared, “are you to speak to me?”

Clarissa faltered, then lifted her chin.

“Alpha… I am Riven’s chosen mate.”

The entire courtyard held its breath.

Eric didn’t even look at her again. His gaze locked onto his son.

“Riven. What is this?”

Riven straightened, trying to keep his voice steady.

“Father, Elara attacked Clarissa over a pendant. When I threw it into the hot spring, she jumped in after it. That’s all this is.”

The slap came so fast Riven stumbled backward.

Eric raised his hand a second time.

I reached out and caught his wrist with both of my trembling hands.

“Alpha,” I said quietly. “You’ve treated me like your own flesh and blood since I was little. I’ve always seen you as a father. Please… do not fight with your son because of me.”

Eric looked down at me. Something painful flickered behind his eyes. He placed both hands on my shoulders, careful of my burns.

“Child… you are wounded and burned, and yet you are still standing up for that fool.”

He turned his head sharply toward the guards.

“Get the healer. Now.”

Before anyone could fully process what was happening, he bent and lifted me into his arms as if I weighed nothing.

Then he looked at Riven over my head, his voice booming across the hot spring so that every noble could hear.

“If anything goes wrong while she is being treated, you see that throne you are so eager to sit on? You will never take it. I have tried everything to discipline you, but you have lost your senses. I regret ever fathering a disgrace like you.”

Riven’s face went white.

“Riven,” Eric continued, each word cold and final, “you are hereby temporarily stripped of your duties as the crowned future Alpha. From this moment, you will hold no authority until I say otherwise.”

“Father!” Riven’s voice cracked. “Are you doing this because of Elara? She’s still alive”

Eric was already walking away with me in his arms.

“Guards. Investigate everything that happened in this castle while I was gone. Every single thing my son did. I want every detail. Nothing is to be left out.”

As he carried me up the stone steps, the cloak wrapped tightly around my shaking body, I closed my eyes for a moment.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I allowed myself a small, tired smile.

Someone other than my parents… truly cared about me.

Alpha Eric carried me all the way back to my chambers without saying a word.

The healer had already finished treating the burns on my arms and shoulders. Fresh bandages wrapped around my wounds, and the room had finally fallen silent.

Eric gently lowered me onto the bed as though I might break if he held me too tightly.

For a long moment, he simply stood there, looking at me.

Then he let out a weary sigh.

“Elara…”

His voice was hoarse.

“I owe you an apology.”

I looked up at him in confusion.

He lowered his head.

“For everything my son has done to you.”

The words hung heavily between us.

“I should have protected you.” His hands clenched at his sides. “Instead, I left this castle believing everything would be fine while I was gone.”

He closed his eyes briefly.

“I was wrong.”

Silence filled the room.

When he spoke again, his voice was quieter than before.

“Before your father died… he made me promise him something.”

My fingers tightened around the blanket.

“He asked me to look after you as though you were my own daughter.”

A faint, sorrowful smile touched Eric’s lips before disappearing.

“I gave him my word.”

His shoulders seemed to sag beneath an invisible weight.

“And I failed him.”

A lump formed in my throat.

“You didn’t fail me, Alpha…”

He slowly shook his head.

“I did.”

His eyes met mine, filled with regret.

“There is something else you deserve to know.”

He paused for several seconds, as though searching for the right words.

“I knew the Moon Goddess had destined you and Riven for one another.”

My breath caught.

“I never told either of you.”

His gaze drifted toward the window.

“I watched the two of you grow up together. I watched you laugh together, fight together, and protect one another. I truly believed that when the mate bond finally awakened, the two of you would choose each other willingly.”

Bitterness flickered across his face.

“I thought fate would do what I no longer needed to.”

He let out a hollow laugh.

“I never imagined my own son would reject the woman the Moon Goddess chose for him.”

The room fell silent once more.

Eric stepped closer and rested a gentle hand on my head, just as he had done when I was a little girl.

“From this day forward,” he said quietly, “I will never allow anyone to hurt you again.”

The warmth in his voice broke something inside me.

Without thinking, I reached out and gently held his hand.

“Father…”

The word slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

For a moment, Alpha Eric simply looked at me.

Then a gentle smile softened his features.

“Yes, child?”

Tears blurred my vision.

“You didn’t fail me.”

My voice trembled.

“You never did.”

I squeezed his hand weakly.

“Riven could only do those things because you weren’t here.”

A tear rolled down my cheek.

“So… please don’t blame yourself.”

For a long moment, Alpha Eric said nothing.

Then he turned his hand over and gently held mine.

“Elara.”

His voice was calm, but firm.

“Listen to me carefully.”

I lifted my eyes to his.

“You are not a servant in this house.”

“You are not a guest.”

“You belong to this family.”

“So does your mother.”

His gaze grew serious.

“Never allow Riven to trample on you again.”

“You have every right to stand before him with your head held high.”

“You understand?”

I nodded slowly.

“Yes… Father.”

His expression softened once more.

“Good.”

Then something seemed to occur to him.

“By the way… where is your mother?”

The maid standing quietly near the door immediately lowered her head.

“My Alpha… Lady Luciana has remained confined to her chambers for the past five days.”

Eric frowned.

“Confined?”

“She was ordered to remain there and reflect on her actions.”

The room fell deathly silent.

“Who gave that order?”

The maid hesitated before answering.

“Alpha Riven, my lord.”

A dangerous darkness settled over Eric’s face.

“He what?”

The maid swallowed nervously.

“I… I beg your forgiveness for speaking out of turn, my Alpha.”

“But ever since you left, Lord Riven has been acting as though he were already the Alpha of Blackridge.”

“He has been giving orders in your name… and no one dared question him.”

Eric’s jaw tightened.

The maid continued, her voice shaking.

“He… he even threw Lady Elara into the pit dungeon.”

For a heartbeat…

Alpha Eric did not move.

Then his chair scraped violently across the floor as he shot to his feet.

“The pit dungeon?”

His voice thundered through the chamber.

“That place is filthy!”

His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“There is a beast locked inside that pit!”

The maid flinched.

“Yes, my Alpha.”

She gathered what little courage she had left and continued.

“Ever since your departure, Lord Riven has repeatedly mistreated Lady Elara.”

“And… whatever Lady Clarissa says… he does.”

The room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.

The fury in Alpha Eric’s eyes was unlike anything I had ever seen.