My Mate Humiliated Me, I Became Rogue Luna

Chapter 4

The day of the ceremony.

I had no intention of attending Sienna's party. But I was wearing my white Mating Ceremony gown,floor-length, sacred white moonsilk,and I stepped off on the wrong floor.

And walked straight into her birthday.

Every one of Ryan and Sienna's hangers-on was there. When I came through the door, they were egging the two of them on to drink the entwined-arm Soulmoon Wine,the bonded-couple toast.

"There's an Alpha's mating ceremony going on upstairs,come on, Ryan and Sienna, do the entwined-arm toast! You've got people across the network shipping you,throw them a bone!"

It only took a glance to confirm Ryan was livestreaming on his own channel.

My arrival cut through the room. The chatter died for half a second. Heads turned, eyes narrowed,every face there was already hostile. The camera panned and locked onto me.

Sienna let out a small, tinkling laugh.

"Sis,why are you in something that looks like a wedding dress? This is a birthday party. If you're after a wedding, that's upstairs."

Ryan's face darkened.

"Freya. It's Sienna's birthday. This is how you came to celebrate her? Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?"

"Take that cheap dress off. Stop embarrassing yourself in public."

I didn't care about a single thing in his eyes. I answered evenly.

"Oh. My mistake. You're right,I should be upstairs."

I turned to leave.

Sienna pushed off the table and came after me in three quick steps. She brought her heel down on the train of my gown,deliberately, viciously. The moonsilk tore with a long, expensive sound. I lost my balance and went down hard on the carpet.

Sienna painted on a stricken little expression.

"I'm so sorry, sis. I just wanted you to stay. To celebrate with us."

"I didn't mean to ruin your dress."

While she said it, her hand snuck down to the neckline of my gown and tugged,trying to drag the collar low, trying to bare the long unmarked column of my throat in front of every guest in the room. To humiliate me. No bond bite. No claim.

I clamped one hand to my collar to keep it shut,and with the other, I cracked her hard across the face.

"Sienna. This dress costs seven figures. You're going to pay for it with your life."

Ryan rushed me. He drove a kick into my ribs and sent me sprawling.

"Freya,she is your sister. How dare you raise a hand to her?"

"A seven-figure dress? I know exactly how cheap you are with your money. This rag isn't worth more than a thousand. Let me see how quality this so-called masterpiece really is..."

He fisted the fabric of my gown and yanked,tearing into it with both hands, putting on a show for Sienna's sake.

I curled into a tight ball on the carpet, arms locked around myself, just trying to keep from being stripped bare in front of every camera and every face in the room.

The chat in the livestream went rabid.

[YES, that's exactly how that b***h deserves to be handled. Perfectly nice birthday party and she rolls in dressed like a bride to make a SCENE!]

[I have HATED this Beta for months. Ryan and Sienna are out there working their asses off on stream and she's at home screwing with everything!]

Sienna stared down at me,wrecked, half-stripped, on the floor,with one hand cradling the swelling print of my palm on her cheek, and laughed under her breath.

A heartbeat later her eyes welled up, picture-perfect.

"Sis, please don't be mad at Ryan,he was just panicked when he saw me get hit."

"You rented this dress, right? When I get home, I'll wire you two-fifty to cover it. Don't lose too much over it."

And right then, my maid of honor came tearing through the door,a built, broad-shouldered Gamma female from Kael's pack.

She took in the scene in one look and the color drained out of her face. Her lips peeled back. Fangs out.

"What in the name of the Moon are you doing? Get your hands off Alpha Kael's bride!"

She knocked Ryan back with one arm and threw a coat around my shoulders,a coat saturated with the heavy, unmistakable scent of an Alpha. Kael's scent. It rolled into the room like a thunderhead.

Ryan glanced at me, scoffing.

"What kind of joke is this? Freya is my Mate. Alpha Kael's bride? What asylum did you crawl out of?"

That was when Sienna's eyes locked onto the necklace at my throat,the courting gift Kael had given me, a rare Star Stone the color of moonlight on water.

"Sis, it's my birthday and you didn't even bring me a present. Why don't you give me that necklace instead, hm?"

My brow tightened.

"Kael gave it to me. There's no version of this where you get it."

At the name Kael, Sienna froze for a second,a flicker of confusion crossing her pretty face.

Ryan didn't pause. He grabbed me by the throat and reached for the chain.

"It's Sienna's day. Whatever she wants, you hand it over. Now."

He yanked at the necklace, the chain biting into the skin of my neck, and didn't loosen his grip.

The next second, one of Ryan's buddies stuttered out from across the room:

"Ryan… Ryan,your,your account just got banned!"

At almost the same moment, a kick caught Ryan square in the chest and put him on his back. A polished, expensive leather shoe pressed down hard on his sternum and stayed there.

A voice came from above him, low and absolutely lethal.

"And just what the hell are you, to lay a hand on my Luna?"