My Rejected Alpha Wants Me as His Secret Luna

Elena sighed, rubbing her temples as she looked over the rim of her glasses. "Katherine, you know I respect your work. You're the best fertility specialist we have. But Isabelle is the Luna of the Silver River Pack. Her word carries weight, even if it's... emotional."

"Accusing a Healer of blood magic isn't emotional, Elena. It's defamation," I replied, sliding a manila folder across her mahogany desk. "And it's easily disproven."

Elena opened the file, her brow furrowing. "What is this?"

"Isabelle's complete hormonal panel and the ultrasound imaging from yesterday. Look at the uterine wall thickness. Look at the follicle count." I pointed to the grainy black-and-white images, my finger tracing the undeniable lines of failure. "Her wolf isn't cursed. It's practically dormant. Her body is producing elevated levels of cortisol that are actively attacking any potential conception. It’s an autoimmune response to stress and incompatibility."

Elena adjusted her glasses, her eyes scanning the data intently. "Incompatibility? With the Alpha?"

"With the rank," I corrected coldly. "Her body knows what her ego refuses to accept. She cannot carry an Alpha heir. If she did, the pup's aura would likely kill her before the second trimester. It is a biological safety mechanism."

Elena closed the folder, a look of profound relief washing over her face. She sat back, the tension leaving her shoulders. "Biology. Not witchcraft."

"Science," I said, standing up and smoothing my skirt. "If she wants to drag this before the Council, I will present this data. I will testify that I am trying to save her life, while she is trying to destroy my reputation with fairy tales."

Elena nodded firmly. "I'll handle the Board. You're clear, Katherine. Go take a break."

I walked out of the office, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs despite my calm exterior. Dealing with pack politics was exhausting, a dance of knives I had hoped to leave behind years ago. I needed a moment. I needed to breathe.

I ducked into the sterile supply room at the end of the hall, intending to grab a fresh box of gloves and maybe scream into a pillow. But as the heavy door clicked shut behind me, the air in the small room instantly grew heavy.

The scent of pine and rain suffocated me.

"You're hard to catch," a deep voice rumbled from the shadows between the shelving units.

I spun around, my back hitting the door. Dereck was leaning against a stack of saline crates, his arms crossed over his chest. His suit jacket was gone, his sleeves rolled up, and his eyes were dark, swirling with an emotion I couldn't place.

"This is a restricted area," I snapped, reaching behind me for the door handle. "Get out."

"I'm the Alpha," he said, pushing off the shelves and taking a step toward me. The small room suddenly felt microscopic. "Restricted doesn't apply to me. And we aren't done talking."

"I have nothing to say to you, Dereck. I gave you my diagnosis. Go home to your wife."

"Katherine!" His voice dropped, resonating with that guttural, vibrating power that was supposed to force submission. The Alpha Tone. It hit the air like a physical wave, designed to crush the will of anyone lower in the hierarchy. "**Stop and listen to me!**"

In the past, that tone would have forced my knees to the floor. My wolf would have whimpered, bared her neck, and begged for forgiveness.

But today?

I felt the command hit my chest, and then... nothing.

It shattered against my skin like glass hitting a stone wall. My wolf didn't cower. She rose. A surge of power, cool and metallic, flooded my veins. My aura flared, expanding outward in a blinding flash of silver light that filled the cramped room. It wasn't just a Healer's aura anymore; it was sharpened by the Lycan mark on my neck, fortified by the love of a male who actually worthy of the title.

Dereck stumbled back, shielding his eyes as if looking into the sun. "What..." He gasped, staring at me as if I were a ghost. "You... you didn't submit."

"I don't submit to you," I said, my voice steady and laced with my own power. "Not anymore."

He looked at me, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled the scent of my power. Confusion warred with something darker, hungrier. His gaze dropped to my hands, which were glowing faintly with silver energy. "You're so strong," he whispered, stepping closer again, ignoring the warning growl of my aura. "You're radiant. Why did you hide this? Why were you so pathetic back then?"

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "Pathetic?"

"You were wolfless!" Dereck shouted, his frustration boiling over, his logic twisted by grief. "You were weak, Katherine! I needed a Luna who could stand beside me, not a liability I had to protect! If you had been this strong five years ago, I never would have rejected you! I wouldn't have had to choose Isabelle!"

The injustice of it tore through my composure. The memory of that night—the blood, the pain, the cold snow—flashed before my eyes. The years of silence, of letting him believe his own narrative, ended now.

"I wasn't weak!" I screamed, the professional mask finally shattering.

I advanced on him, and for the first time, the Alpha of the Silver River Pack took a step back from me.

"Do you remember the Rogue attack at the Northern Border? Six months before our eighteenth birthday?" I demanded, my voice shaking with fury.

Dereck blinked, confused by the change of subject. "Yes. I took down three rogues. I was injured, but I healed in hours. It was a sign of my Alpha strength."

"You didn't heal yourself, you arrogant fool!" I spat the words at him. "A rogue's claw shredded your femoral artery. You were bleeding out in the snow. You were gray. You were dying."

His face went pale, the color draining away as the memory resurfaced. "No... I woke up fine..."

"Because I was there!" I slammed my hand against a metal shelf, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "I found you. I didn't have my shift yet, but I had my gift. I poured every ounce of my essence into you. I stitched your artery with my own energy. I gave you my strength so you could live!"

Silence descended on the room, thick and suffocating. Dereck stared at me, his mouth slightly open, his eyes wide with horror.

"That's why I didn't shift on my birthday," I whispered, the tears finally stinging my eyes—not from sadness, but from rage. "That's why I was 'weak.' That's why I was 'wolfless.' I was empty, Dereck. Because I gave everything to save you."

He reached out a trembling hand, as if to touch me, to verify the truth of my words. "You... you saved me? And I..."

"And you called me garbage," I finished, stepping out of his reach. "You rejected the person who kept you alive to marry a woman who can't even give you a child."

Dereck looked as though I had gutted him. The arrogance was gone, replaced by a crushing, devastating realization. He had thrown away his savior.

"Katherine," he choked out, falling to his knees on the linoleum floor, his head bowing low.

But I didn't stay to hear his apology. I unlocked the door and walked out, leaving the Alpha on his knees in a supply closet, finally crushed by the weight of his own sins.