Second Chance Luna: His Rejected Mate is the Golden Wolf

The Chosen One

Conlan’s POV

I was starting to understand some of the tangled relationships within the Moon’s Bright pack, so when a group of men dared approach Paris with the clear intention of forcing her to do something—of humiliating her and dragging her offstage—I didn’t hesitate to step in and protect her.

Paris was not going to be alone anymore.

“Step back. Now. Unless you want to deal with me,” I warned when a few of the guards still tried to obey Doris, their newly appointed Luna.

The guards went pale and stepped back just as I finally understood why the woman I was defending couldn’t feel me as her mate. Despite being Alpha Albert’s daughter, and therefore descended from a powerful Alpha bloodline, Paris had no wolf. Without her wolf, it was impossible for her to sense the mate bond. Her condition didn’t just stop her from feeling me—it had also made her a target of mockery and rejection within her own pack, especially from her half-sister, Doris, who had just been named Luna of Moon’s Bright.

The last few years must have been pure torment for my poor mate, who had been trying to stand out as a warrior just to prove her worth.

“Alpha Conlan, none of this is necessary,” I heard Alpha Albert say as he ordered the guards to retreat. “This has all been a terrible misunderstanding…”

“No,” I cut in, raising my voice above the murmurs spreading through the crowd. “I’m afraid I have to disagree with you, Alpha Albert—despite the friendship between us. To me, what’s happening here is perfectly clear.”

I noticed the look of surprise that crossed Paris’s father’s face, as well as that of every ranking member of the pack.

“You’ve treated Paris unjustly over a single flaw,” I continued. “Despite being the Alpha’s daughter and heir to a powerful line of leaders, she has no wolf. And still, everything she has done to earn your respect hasn’t been enough for you. I saw her myself—facing down a dozen rogues, fighting them without the slightest trace of fear or cowardice, despite that so-called defect.”

My gaze settled on the new Luna, on Doris, the one I mistrusted most, because it was obvious she was the one who hated my mate the most.

“How many of you can say you’d do the same—even with your wolves? How many of you here, in all your titles and ranks, have ever faced a danger like that?”

It didn’t surprise me to see Doris lower her eyes, even if only for a second.

“What I saw was an injustice committed against her.”

I’d faced this kind of injustice many times before—situations where the strongest used their position just to feel superior to those beneath them, not because of anything they’d actually earned, but because they were lucky enough to be born in the right place, to the right family, with the right blood. People like that made me sick.

And that was exactly what was happening here. I was staring at one more of those injustices—only this time it was being carried out against the woman my wolf had recognized as my mate.

That, I was not going to tolerate.

After I spoke, I saw Paris relax slightly. She still looked stunned, but calmer as she watched me defend her. I extended my hand to her. She took it gently, and I drew her to my side. Without letting go, I led her toward the center of the stage. She was so shaken that she stumbled on the first step. I picked her up, and with her in my arms, I stepped into the middle so everyone could see us together.

I set her down carefully under the astonished—and very attentive—eyes of everyone present: Doris, the new Alpha—whose name I couldn’t even be bothered to remember—and Paris’s father, who all looked like they had no idea what was happening.

So I clarified it for them.

“This woman has been chosen by my wolf,” I announced, taking Paris’s hand again and lifting it so all could see. “She is my mate. And she will be my Luna. She will be Luna of the Hope Moon pack.”

The silence that followed was almost funereal, mirrored in the pale faces of several of those listening—most notably that pathetic pair formed by Doris and her Alpha, whom I still couldn’t understand why Albert had chosen as his successor.

Paris, at my side, looked just as stunned. So I took the opportunity to ask her directly, and let her confirm whether she truly wanted to accept my offer.

“Would you accept being my Luna and ruling Hope Moon at my side?”

Paris’s eyes shone with a force that felt like it was waiting—aching—to burst out. She might not have a wolf, but inside her there was a fury like no other—the same fire that had driven her to stand alone against a dozen rogues, with bare hands, nothing but her human body and training as a weapon.

I had no doubt she would be an exceptional Luna.

“Yes. I accept,” she answered without hesitation, letting go of her shock and giving way to the emotion that surged through every corner of my body.

It was done. Paris had accepted. She would not only be my mate, but my partner in leading my pack—at least, that’s how it was until I heard a complaint.

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” the new Alpha said, after clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, Alpha Conlan, but Paris is…”

He hesitated when my furious gaze cut into him.

“Paris is my mate. She can’t also be yours, Alpha. You must be misreading the signs your wolf is showing you.”

Before answering that arrogant fool, who had just implied I might be wrong about something so crystal clear, I glanced at Paris. The coldness in her eyes as she looked at him told me enough: there was history there. Not something recent perhaps, but something that had happened between them—almost certainly an attempt on his part to seduce her, and her shutting him down without mercy.

My suspicion was confirmed a second later.

“How dare you, Dave!” my mate snapped. In every tiny gesture, in every word, I could see the makings of a true leader—the makings of a perfect Luna. “Did you already forget that you rejected me—after suggesting I become your mistress?”

That accusation was not only serious—it was damning. I knew immediately Paris was telling the truth, and the color draining from that meddling Alpha’s face, the way his gaze dropped and his cheeks flushed like a scolded schoolboy, proved it.

“That doesn’t… that’s not… You must have misunderstood my words, dear. In any case, you’re a member of this pack, the eldest daughter of Alpha Albert, and a very valued member of Moon’s Bright. You can’t leave. Now that I’m your Alpha, I forbid you to go.”

There it was. A mistake. A huge one.

I still didn’t understand how Albert…

In any case, I saw that presumptuous i***t try to step forward, hands reaching toward my mate. I would have cut them off then and there if not for the genuine affection I still held for Paris’s father.

“Don’t you dare lay a single finger on my mate,” I warned, my voice sharp enough to make even a seasoned warrior flinch.

“But I—”

I stepped squarely between him and Paris, fully prepared to take this as far as it needed to go if this Alpha was stupid enough to try me.

He wasn’t.

He froze on the spot.

“From this moment on,” I swore, my voice carrying through the hall, “whoever tries to hurt her—or claims any right over my mate—will answer to me. I will not allow anyone to disrespect Paris ever again.”

As I expected, not a single protest rose against my vow.

I turned back to the woman who would become my Luna and offered her my hand once more.

“Shall we?”

She took it, gripping me tightly, and nodded.

“Of course, Alpha Conlan. Let’s get out of here.”