Rejected By My Alpha, Claimed By His Powerful Uncle

CARA POV:

"You look pale, Cara. Are you eating enough?"

Margaret Moran, Danny's mother and the pack's matriarch, scrutinized me from across the polished mahogany of the dining table. Her gaze was as sharp and unforgiving as a hawk's.

We were at the Moran family's Sunday brunch, a weekly ritual of quiet judgment.

Since discovering Danny and Cindy's affair, I can no longer run this household with peace of mind. I just want to leave. Perhaps that urgency is why I've seemed off lately.

"I'm fine, Margaret. Just a little tired," I said, keeping my eyes on my plate.

"Tired?" She sniffed, a delicate but dismissive sound. "An Alpha's mate should be brimming with vitality. Daniel is the future of this pack. A future that requires an heir."

The word 'heir' hung in the air between us, heavy and suffocating. My wolfless status, my inability to shift, was a constant source of shame in her eyes. It meant any child of mine would be a gamble, a potential dilution of the Moran bloodline.

"Mother, that's enough." Danny's voice cut in. He reached for my hand under the table, his thumb stroking my knuckles in a show of support. It was a practiced gesture, one for the audience. "We've discussed this. We will have children when the Goddess wills it."

Margaret's lips thinned, but she didn't press the issue. Just then, a pack servant leaned in and whispered something to Danny. A flicker of annoyance, quickly masked, crossed his face.

"Excuse me," he said, rising from the table. "A minor pack issue I need to handle."

He walked out of the dining room, and through the open doorway, I saw who was waiting in the grand foyer. Cindy Hooper. She was holding a file, her expression a perfect blend of helplessness and urgency. She was playing her part, too.

Danny spoke to her in low tones, then gestured for her to follow him out a side door that led to the gardens. He left abruptly, without another glance back at me.

A cold knot formed in my stomach. A minor pack issue.

"I... I need some air," I murmured, pushing my chair back.

Margaret gave me a look of disdain, but I didn't care. I needed to know. I needed to see.

I slipped out of the dining room and followed the path they'd taken. The side door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open and stepped into the crisp autumn air. The Moran estate's private garden was a labyrinth of sculpted hedges and stone benches. I heard their voices coming from a secluded alcove, hidden by a trellis of climbing roses.

I crept closer, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs.

"—just have to be patient," Danny was saying, his voice laced with a tenderness he hadn't used with me in years.

"Patient?" Cindy's voice was a tearful whisper. "Danny, I'm four months along. Soon everyone will know. What about her? What about us?"

"I told you, I will handle Cara," he said. I saw him reach out, his hand gently cupping her face. "This baby, our baby, is the future. You are the future."

He leaned in and kissed her. It wasn't a stolen, frantic kiss. It was slow and possessive, the kiss of a man claiming what was his. I watched as his other hand came to rest on her stomach, a gesture of profound intimacy and promise.

I stood there, hidden by the dying roses, and watched my world end for the second time in as many days.

I backed away from the rose trellis, my movements stiff and silent. My breath was trapped in my lungs, a painful, burning pressure. I turned and stumbled back toward the house, my vision blurring. I just had to get away.

I rounded a corner of the hedge-maze and collided with a wall of muscle.

A strong hand gripped my arm to steady me, the touch sending a jolt of unexpected energy through my system.

"Watch where you're going."

The voice was low, cold, and dripping with an authority that froze the blood in my veins.

My head snapped up.

A tall figure stood over me, his form a black silhouette against the morning light.

Cullen Knight.

Alpha of the Blackstone Pack. Danny's nominal 'uncle.'

A man so powerful even Margaret Moran walked on eggshells around him.