Scorned Luna's Rising

"Elena is an Alpha’s daughter, Kade. Will she accept to become your broodmare?" I dared to question my mate, my voice shaking as much from rage as from disbelief. Earlier, I had seen her at the pack house with him. Elena—the daughter of an Alpha, his secretary in name but in truth something far worse. She didn’t come for office duties. She had come with luggages like someone moving in. I had watched the servants unload her bags one by one and my heart had clenched. Those weren’t random belongings. She was relocating into my pack and my home. And for reasons I didn’t yet know, but could already taste like poison. "She will become my Luna, Jasmine. Not a broodmare. Show some respect!" His voice cracked like a whip. I bit back the bile rising in my chest and forced myself to stay composed. "I am your mate and Luna, Kade. There cannot be two Lunas in one pack," I reminded him incase he forgot, my voice trembling yet firm. I had always suspected his closeness with her, the lingering looks and the hidden smirks. Kade was a chronic cheat; that I had endured. But this—seeing him bring one of those women into the pack, into my life? This was beyond forgiveness. "You’re forgetting yourself," he sneered. "You’re just my mate. My mother is still Luna. Since when did you crown yourself? Who made you Luna of this pack?" His words pierced me but i swallowed hard, fighting the sting of tears. I almost forgot that long ago when our mate bond was sealed, he made me promise. I would only become Luna of this pack if I bore him an heir. For years he demanded it. For years I tried. We both tried. Yet nothing came. The gynaecologist himself had told us and had told him that his seed was weak, his sperm low in count and sluggish in motility. Still, he had the audacity to blame me. I had not given up. I had sought answers, endured treatments, even agreed to IVF three years ago. But while I was struggling for us, Kade was between other women’s legs. He betrayed me yet again and again and worse he gave me one of thie diseases he contacted from one. I became the patient instead of the mother, trapped in sterile maternity wards. Surgery after surgery followed, as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease ravaged my body, leaving one fallopian tube blocked and the other useless. Asherman’s Syndrome came next, my womb scarred from his sins, not mine. I’ve been living in pain and under the knife, yet he never once asked if I was healing. All he cared about was women, his pride and his demands for an heir. "You will serve me tonight," he ordered coldly, "And tomorrow you’ll move into one of the free rooms. Elena will be taking over your chambers." I scoffed, fury snapping the last thread of my restraint. "Is this some sort of joke, Kade?" "Joke?" He laughed, a sound so cruel it echoed through my bones. "Do I look like a comedian? This is no joke. You’ve failed me as a mate. You’ve failed to give me an heir. Perhaps with Elena—an Alpha’s daughter—I’ll sire strong pups." His words struck harder than any slap. Still, my rage found my tongue before caution could silence me. "Ohh… so this isn’t about heirs alone, is it? This is about me being the daughter of a massacred Beta, isn’t it? Or is it Elena’s family’s wealth you’re chasing now?" The regret hit me the moment the words left my lips. But it was too late. His palm connected with my cheek viciously. My face burned, the metallic tang of blood filling my mouth. I said nothing. I didn’t need to. His silence and fury all confirmed the truth. This wasn’t just about lineage. This wasn’t just about pups. Kade wanted Elena’s name, her bloodline and wealth. Just as he had once wanted mine. My mind flashed back to when my pack was slaughtered and when I inherited my family’s wealth, that was when Kade slithered in. He cloaked his greed as love and dressed his hunger as the Moon Goddess’s will. I had been eighteen, naive and grieving, unwilling to reject my fated mate. I thought I was choosing duty and destiny. But I had chosen ruin. Two years later, my inheritance was gone—squandered on women, on lust and vanity. His pack still starved. His warriors still lacked training. Even his sick mother lay neglected until I paid for her surgery myself through my personal savings. I even gave her one of my kidneys. One. Of. My. Kidneys. Did he remember that? No. Did he care? Never. Now that my money was gone, my savings drained and he had no more jewelry of mine to sell off to impress others, he was discarding me like trash for another woman. And through it all—his cheating with Omegas, his humiliations, his drunken fits, his abuses, I stayed!. I forgave. I bore the whispers when he locked me without food, bore the scorn when servants looked down on me. I thought it was my fault. I thought if I could just give him one pup that maybe he would change. But looking at him now, his smugness and hunger for power, I knew better. Kade would never change. He never wanted me. He wanted what I could give him. And now that I had nothing left to give, he was ready to replace me. "I won’t serve you tonight, Kade," I said, forcing my voice to sound stern though it shook with the effort. Yes. I wouldn’t serve him. If he wanted pleasure so badly, let him crawl to Elena or any of the women he had squandered my money on. Goddess knew, he had never bought me so much as a bracelet, nor whispered gratitude for all I had done. To him, my sacrifices were debts I owed simply for being his mate. "What?" His sharp voice tore me from my haze. He sneered. "What’s so special about your body that you think I’d be interested, anyway?" His words dripped with disdain. "I am Alpha. I can summon a dozen Omegas tonight and they will line up to spread their legs for me. And even if I step outside this pack, women will still beg for me." It was meant to frighten me, make me crumble and fall at his feet, begging him to reconsider. That had always been his weapon. But not tonight. I stood still. Silent and defiant. Much to his shock. I had learned the truth long ago. Even when I gave in to his threats despite being weak and exhausted, torn apart inside—he would still leave me afterward. He’d still sneak out to waste nights with Omegas, still drown himself in bars watching naked women dance, still rot behind glowing screens, paying for strippers on secret sites. So what was the use? What was left for me to prove? None of them had given him pups either. Yet somehow I was always the barren one. I was always the curse. Minutes ticked by in silence, stretching taut like a noose between us. His patience snapped first. "I always knew you were disrespectful," he spat, voice sharp as glass. "But never this much. Once Elena sets foot in this pack tomorrow, I will reject you and our bond." He turned, already walking toward the door. My breath seized. The words were a dagger twisting inside my chest. He meant it. He was ready to cut me out, to sever the sacred bond the Moon Goddess herself had tied and claim Elena instead as his second-chance mate. I knew I shouldn’t. I knew it was beneath me. But desperation dragged me forward. I rushed, falling to my knees, clutching at his leg. "Please… don’t reject me, Kade," I sobbed, my voice broken, trembling and humiliating. Tears streamed down my face. I hated myself for begging. I hated the weakness in me. I hated him. And yet… I couldn’t let him go. Not yet. Not when I still carried a gift he knew nothing of. Not when I still had hope it would change everything. But I could not reveal it now. All I could do was cling and beg. Kade said nothing. His silence was worse than words. Then, without warning, his foot slammed into me. Again and again until my grip slipped, my body curled and I fell to the ground in a heap of pain. He stormed out, the door banging shut with finality. Panic clawed through me. Not now. Not like this. I needed someone to stop him before he carried out his threat. His mother. The Luna. She was the only one who could speak reason into him, the only one whose words still mattered. My wolf trembled inside me, terrified of what rejection would mean. Terrified of the agony. He had already torn us to shreds with his constant intimacy with other women. What would happen if he tore the bond itself apart? I didn’t wait to fix my hair or wipe my face. In my tattered and disheveled state, I bolted out of my chamber, racing through the pack house toward the hallway that led to her quarters. Behind me, soft laughter trickled like knives. "Even we are better than her," one Omega giggled. "At least we can please the Alpha. She’s barren and useless." "Maybe she is cursed," another whispered, loud enough for me to hear. "That’s why her whole pack was slaughtered. She’s the last one alive." They didn’t even part as I passed, their eyes gleaming with scorn. I bit my tongue. I gave them nothing, not even a glance and dragged my weary body forward. I as going for the only one person who could save me and not them. *** "Jasmine!" Her voice halted me. The Luna—my mother-in-law, who was sitting on the verandah, the open-air lounge before her chambers. She looked almost serene, her tone casual as if the world hadn’t just crumbled beneath my feet. "Mother," I breathed, the word cracked and frail. "Kade told me about Elena," she said plainly. My heart leapt. Relief fluttered inside me. Finally. She would rebuke him. She had always told me I was the best daughter-in-law a woman could ask for, a rarity in these times. Surely she would not allow this mockery to stand. Surely she would defend me. But then her next words fell like a hammer. "You must support her as she assumes the Luna role from me. You know Alpha’s daughters aren’t taught the traditions. Elena is no different, raised in her father’s company instead of the pack. As a Beta’s child, I trust you’ll guide her. Show her what a Luna should be." I froze mid-step. The ground tilted beneath me. My heart shattered, splinter by splinter. "What about me, Mother?" I whispered, tears already burning my eyes, unable to believe what I heard. Her expression hardened and the warmth vanishing like smoke. "You’ve been Luna enough, Jasmine. It’s time for—" "I was never Luna!" I screamed, pain clawing through my throat. "I was his mate all these years and never once his Luna! Is this some kind of cruel joke?" Her eyes narrowed and the mask finally dropped. "Since you speak of years, then let me remind you—years have passed and you are still barren. You are cursed, Jasmine. Your womb is cursed and wretched. And a barren woman has no place as my son’s Luna." The words crushed me more than Kade’s blows ever had. I staggered. This same woman I had cared for when she was bedridden, when Kade wasted all the pack’s funds. I had bathed, clothed, nursed and sacrificed everything for her… even giving her one of my kidneys to keep her alive. And this was my reward. I had run here for help, but all I found was the truth. It had always been futile. She'd never seen me as a worthy mate for her son. What sort of twisted nightmare had my life become?