After My Mate Replaced Me with a Rogue

I'm Luna Juliette Greene of the Moonveil Pack, and tonight I'm watching my daughter sleep when my world starts to crack apart.

Evie's curled up in her bed, one small hand clutching her favorite stuffed wolf, the one Uncle Bruno gave her years ago. Buster lies at her feet, his golden head resting on his paws. He's been restless all evening, growling at shadows, his ears pricked toward the door like he's waiting for something terrible.

"It's okay, boy," I whisper, stroking his soft fur. "Everything's fine."

Then the mind-link slams into me.

*Luna! Emergency at the festival grounds. Your daughter—the ceremonial maze collapsed. She's been trapped for three hours. We need you NOW.*

The security chief's panic floods through the connection, sharp and metallic. My heart stops. I look down at Evie, sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling in steady rhythm.

She's right here. Safe.

But the mind-link is official, high-priority, the kind reserved for life-or-death situations. My hands shake as I pull out my phone, checking the time. The Harvest Moon Festival started hours ago, but Evie never left the pack house. I made sure of it myself.

"Mrs. Chen," I call softly to the trusted Omega in the hallway. "Stay with Evie. Don't let anyone in. No one."

Her eyes widen at my tone, but she nods. Buster whines, pressing against my leg like he's trying to hold me back.

I run.

The festival grounds blaze with light when I arrive, the sacred moon banners snapping in the wind. My hair's come loose from its careful updo, and I'm still wearing my house clothes—soft leggings and an oversized sweater, nothing like the formal Luna attire I should be wearing for such an important night.

The VIP entrance guards stare at me like I've grown a second head.

"Luna Juliette?" The younger one blinks. "But you're already—"

"What?" I push past him, my wolf surging beneath my skin. "What did you say?"

"Luna Juliette is already inside," the older guard says slowly, pointing toward the Royal Box. "In the VIP booth with Alpha Isaiah. She's been here all evening."

Ice floods my veins.

I shove through the crowd, ignoring the startled gasps and whispers. The Royal Box sits elevated above the festival grounds, draped in silver and white—our pack colors. Through the sheer curtains, I can see figures moving.

I climb the stairs. My fingers find my Luna pendant, my mother's gift, the one I never take off. It's still there, warm against my skin.

Then I see her.

A woman sits in my chair, wearing the ceremonial Luna robes that should be locked in my closet. My family's moonstone jewelry glitters at her throat and wrists—pieces that have been passed down through generations, that I wore at my own mating ceremony.

Mckenzie Bell.

I'd know that red-brown hair anywhere, though I've only seen her in pack security reports. Rogue. No pack affiliation. Dangerous.

She's leaning into my mate's side, and Isaiah—my Isaiah—has his arm around her shoulders. A young girl clings to his other side, maybe eight or nine years old, with Mckenzie's coloring.

"Daddy, look!" the girl squeals, pointing at something in the festival grounds below. "Can we go see?"

Daddy.

The word punches through me like a claw to the chest.

Isaiah smiles at her, tender and warm, the way he used to smile at Evie when she was small. Before the late nights and mysterious absences. Before the distance that grew between us like a canyon I couldn't cross.

"Isaiah." My voice comes out steady, though my hands are shaking. "What is this?"

Every head in the booth turns toward me.

Mckenzie's eyes widen, and for a split second, I see calculation flash across her face. Then her expression crumbles into fear. She shrinks against Isaiah, clutching his arm.

"Isaiah," she whimpers. "Who is that woman? Why is she looking at me like that?"

My mate—my mate—steps between us. His face hardens into something I don't recognize.

"Juliette." His voice carries the Alpha command that makes lesser wolves drop their eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I—" I can't breathe. "I received a mind-link. About Evie. About an accident."

"Evie is fine," he says coldly. "She's at home, where she belongs. Unlike you, apparently."

The gathered dignitaries in the booth shift uncomfortably. I recognize faces from neighboring packs, important wolves who came for the sacred festival. They're all staring at me like I'm the intruder.

"Isaiah, those are my robes. My jewelry. That woman is—"

"That woman," Isaiah cuts me off, his voice dropping into a growl that raises the hair on my arms, "is my Luna. And you need to leave before you embarrass yourself further."

The world tilts.

Mckenzie presses closer to him, her voice small and frightened. "Please, Alpha. I don't know who she is, but she's scaring Lilian."

The little girl buries her face in Isaiah's side, peeking at me with wide, terrified eyes that look nothing like my daughter's honest gaze.

"You're making a scene, Juliette." Isaiah's amber eyes are flat, emotionless. "This jealous, hysterical behavior is beneath you. Beneath a Luna."

Jealous. Hysterical.

The words land like slaps.

"I am your Luna," I say, but my voice wavers. "We have a daughter. We have a mate bond—"

"We have nothing." His Alpha aura slams into me, forcing my wolf to submit. "You're confused. Delusional. I think you need to see the pack healer."

The dignitaries murmur. Someone whispers "rogue" and "unstable."

Mckenzie watches me over Isaiah's shoulder, and just for a heartbeat, her frightened mask slips. She smirks.

Then Isaiah turns his back on me, guiding Mckenzie and the girl deeper into the booth, and I'm left standing there in my house clothes, shaking, while the sacred Harvest Moon rises over the festival grounds and my mate chooses someone else.