Rejected Luna: Desired by the Lycan King

chapter 2

The crimson light of the blood moon didn't feel sacred anymore; it felt like a mockery. It stained the clearing in a deep, bleeding red, casting long, twisted shadows that seemed to laugh at my humiliation.

Around me, the clearing was emptying, but not fast enough. A few dozen pack members lingered by the edges, their hushed voices carrying over the wind.

"Did you see her face?"

"She actually threatened the Alpha... over Eliana’s safety."

"Cold-hearted. She doesn't deserve to be Luna."

A suffocating mix of rage and grief burned in my chest. With trembling hands, I reached up, grabbed the lace of my ceremonial veil, and ripped it off my head.

The delicate fabric tore with a sharp screech, and I threw it into the dirt, trampling it under my boots.

I didn't look at the gossiping wolves. Instead, I marched straight toward the two border guards who were still lingering near the dais, looking uncomfortable.

"Which hospital?" I demanded, my voice sharp enough to cut glass.

The guards jumped, startled by the sudden venom in my tone. "Uh... the Pack Central Infirmary, Elena." one of them stammered.

I turned on my heel, ready to storm out of the clearing, but the second guard quickly stepped into my path, his hand half-raised in apology.

"Wait, lady Elena. You can’t leave. Alpha Caleb explicitly ordered us to ensure you stay within the pack grounds until he returns. He said you need to wait for him."

A bitter, humorless laugh escaped my lips. "He left me standing at the altar in front of the entire pack, and now he wants to dictate where I walk?" I stepped closer to the guard, my eyes flashing with a dangerous intensity.

"Get out of my way. Now."

The guard flinched. Despite my ruined status, the authority in my voice made him hesitate. He slowly stepped aside, lowering his head.

I didn't waste another second. I ran. I pushed through the heavy pack gates and made my way down the winding forest road toward the Pack Central Infirmary. The cold night air whipped against my face, cooling the tears that had dried on my cheeks. By the time I reached the stark, sterile white building of the hospital, my lungs were burning, but the fire in my chest had only grown hotter.

"Where is Eliana?" I barked at the receptionist as I burst through the front doors.

The nurse behind the desk blinked at my disheveled appearance—the dirt-stained white ceremonial dress, the wild hair. "Uh, the VIP suite, top floor. But Alpha Caleb said no visitors—"

I didn't let her finish. I bypassed the elevators and took the stairs three at a time, driven by a desperate, furious need to face the girl who had just ruined my life.

When I reached the top floor, the hallway was deathly quiet, except for a sound coming from the partially open door at the very end of the hall. It was a soft, theatrical sobbing.

I slowed my steps, creeping up to the door, my breath catching in my throat as the voices from inside became clear.

"I-I didn't expect them to attack me," Eliana’s voice whimpered, thick with tears and perfectly practiced stammers.

"I just... I wanted to get the midnight lily for Elena. I wanted her night to be perfect..."

"Shh, Eliana, it's okay. You're safe now," Caleb’s voice replied. It was a tone he had never used with me—gentle, soothing, deeply protective.

"But Caleb... there’s something else," Eliana sobbed, pausing dramatically.

"Before the guards arrived, I... I heard the rogue wolves talking. They didn't know I could hear them..." She hesitated, letting out a small, frightened gasp.

"What did they say, Eliana?" Caleb asked, his voice calm but tight with an underlying dread. "Tell me."

"They... they said..." Eliana sniffled, her voice trembling violently. "They said, ' Elena will be satisfied with the job they have done.'"

My heart stopped. The blood in my veins turned to ice.

"I knew it!" a sharp, bitter voice chimed in. It was my mother. "I knew that girl was rotten to the core! To conspire with rogues just to hurt Eliana? She is a monster!"

Hearing my own mother say those words felt like a physical blade piercing my heart. But it shouldn't have surprised me. I was their real child.

I was the one who had been kidnapped by a rogue pack when I was only six years old, enduring twelve years of hell before I finally escaped and found my way back home at eighteen. But by then, they had already adopted Eliana to replace me.

Eliana was the perfect, sweet daughter they always wanted. I was the damaged, feral outsider who didn't fit into their pristine life. For the last two years, they had treated me like a disease, while Eliana played the golden child.

And now, she was framing me for treason.

Blind fury shattered my paralysis. I kicked the door open with a resounding BANG, the heavy wood slamming against the wall.

"She is lying!" I screamed, marching into the room, my hands clenched into fists.

The room froze. Eliana was tucked in the hospital bed, and Caleb was sitting on the edge, practically cuddling her, his arms wrapped protectively around her shoulders.

My mother and my brother, Ethan, stood on the other side of the bed.

The moment I stepped in, Eliana let out a loud, terrified shriek. She scrambled backward, curling her knees to her chest and burying her face in Caleb’s chest. "No! Please! Caleb, don't let her hurt me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry for saying it, please don't let her touch me!"

"Elena! Get away from her!" my mother yelled, stepping between me and the bed, her face contorted in disgust.

"She’s lying!" I shouted, looking past my mother at Caleb. "Caleb, look at me! I didn't do this! I haven't left the pack grounds in weeks! Why would I hire rogues to ruin my own marking ceremony? Think about it!"

"Shut up, Elena," a cold voice cut through my panic.

I looked over. It was Ethan, my biological brother. He looked at me with utter disappointment. "Just stop lying. You’ve hated Eliana since the day you came back. You’re jealous because she actually belongs here, and you don’t."

"Ethan, I am your sister!" I cried out, my voice cracking under the weight of the betrayal.

"Enough."

Caleb’s voice was like a thunderclap. He slowly rose from the bed, gently laying Eliana back against the pillows. When he turned to face me, his eyes were completely devoid of the warmth we had shared as fated mates. There was only a cold, executive detachment.

"I have enough problems to deal with right now," Caleb said, his voice terrifyingly calm.

"The Lycan King is visiting our pack in anytime soon. I cannot, and will not, have a Luna who conspires with rogues and brings chaos to this pack."

"Caleb, no... please, don't do this because of me," Eliana whimpered from the bed, the fake tears pouring down her face. It was the ultimate act of victimhood.

He took a slow, deep breath, and the air in the room grew heavy with Alpha pressure.

"Elena of the Crimson Lake Pack," Caleb stated, his voice ringing with power. "I, Alpha Caleb, reject you as my fated mate. I reject you as my Luna."

SNAP.

An invisible bond inside my soul shattered into a million jagged pieces. The pain was blinding, a physical agony that ripped through my chest, making me drop to my knees on the cold tile floor.

I gasped for air, clutching my heart as a agonizing scream built up in my throat, but I forced myself to swallow it down. I refused to let them hear me cry.

"Get out of here, Elena," my mother hissed, looking down at me as I knelt on the floor.

"You are a disgrace to this family. Get out of our sight."

I forced myself to stand. Every muscle in my body was screaming in agony from the rejection, but I pulled together the absolute last ounce of my strength. I looked at Caleb, then at my family, and finally at Eliana, who was hiding a smug, victorious smile behind Caleb's arm.

I turned around and walked out of the room, my head held as high as I could manage. The moment I hit the hallway, I started running again.

I ran down the stairs, bursting past the receptionist, and ran out into the cool night air.

The pain of the severed mate bond was an aching, throbbing wound that made it hard to see straight. My vision was blurred with tears, my chest heaving as I stumbled away from the hospital and toward the main road.

I just needed to get away. Away from Caleb, away from my family, away from the lies.

I stepped off the curb, my mind entirely consumed by the agony in my soul, barely registering the world around me.

Suddenly, a blinding pair of headlights illuminated the dark asphalt.

A sharp, deafening screech of tires pierced the night air.

"Watch out! Get out of the road!" someone screamed from the sidewalk.

I snapped my head toward the noise, frozen in place. A massive black car was skidding sideways, hurtling directly toward me, its headlights blinding my tear-filled eyes. But in that split second, as the metal sped toward my body, the pain of the rejection vanished, replaced by a sudden, terrifying survival instinct.