Rejected By My Mate, Claimed By Contract

Fiona's POV

I woke up to the blinding rays of sunlight cutting across my face from the curtain parted in two. For a moment, I just lay there, still, staring at the carved beams of the unfamiliar ceiling. 

The sheets I lay on smelled of cedar and sage, nothing like Moonveil or home. My heart lurched painfully in my chest as fragments of the night-the argument with Laila, the tumble down the hill, and the hot gush of blood between my thighs-rushed back.

My hand flew to my flat, cold stomach and panic crept up my throat as I scrambled upright. I clutched my stomach tighter, wondering if the warm liquid that flooded my thighs was my pup or a mere concussion when the door creaked open.

A girl who looked like she was in her mid twenties with cropped dark-red hair and hazel eyes slipped in quietly, balancing a silver tray in her hands. She looked nothing like the maids I was used to.

"Where am I?" My voice cracked through the silence.

The girl, snapping her head in the direction of the bed that was at the far corner of the room, was startled, nearly dropping the tray. "You're awake," she breathed, relief washing across her startled features.

Setting the tray on the side table, she bowed slightly. "I'm Mara and you're in Silvercrest, Alpha Derek's pack, Luna. You've been unconscious for two days, it's a relief to see you're awake."

Two days?

I was about to ask how I got here when the memory of Derek's towering silhouette and his unreadable face as he crouched beside me flashed across my mind along with his voice that was calm and cold, asking me to sign a contract to be his Luna. 

I swallowed hard. "My... my baby?" I forced the words out, my guts twisting with dread as I prepared to hear the heart-wrenching news.

Mara's gaze softened with pity. "I'm sorry, Luna. You lost the pup."

The world stopped and for a heartbeat, there was only silence, and then nothing at all just a hollow ache. My throat burned as I tried keeping my eyes dry till one hot tear slipped down my cheek, betraying my strength. 

Before Mara could notice, I wiped it off with the back of my hand, clearing my throat. My fists curled underneath the sheet, my nails digging into my skin, almost drawing blood. 

"Good," I muttered under my breath, straightening my back as Mara pushed her gaze from the tea she was pouring into a cup to me. "Now nothing will stop me from destroying Kael and that whore he calls his queen."

Mara shifted uneasily as though she was caught between her duty and her fear by my words. 

"I need to see Alpha Derek now," I demanded.

She lowered her gaze. "That is not possible, Luna, as he is the only one who can decide when to see you."

"And when will that be?" 

"I don't know, Luna. He hasn't asked after you since he brought you in and I have no idea when he will."

So, he saved me, sheltered me, and then vanished? My lips curled into a bitter smile. "If that is the case, then when he returns, tell him I want to speak to him."

Mara shook her head. "I can't do that either. Only his request is law. If you want his attention, Luna, you must decide quickly. Alpha Derek doesn't tolerate being left waiting. His patience is really thin."

"What an interesting trait," I sighed.

I swung my legs off the bed and I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen and back, but I refused to give in to it. 

Mara, rushing forward to me, "Luna, you can't go anywhere, you are not fully recovered," she stated. 

"Why? I am not your prisoner," I snapped, reaching for the robe folded at the foot of the bed. "I have unfinished business in my pack that I can't leave hanging."

"But Alpha Derek said if you crawl back to Alpha Kael, he will not help you anymore."

"Let him keep his conditions," I said coolly. "And you don't have to worry about me, I know so much not to waste this opportunity for my revenge, Mara."

Moments later, I found myself out of Alpha Derek's house boarding a vehicle back to my pack with the help of Mara. The journey back was a thought-filled one, with every tree that we whipped past looking like a witness to the vow I made ceaselessly to myself about how Kael and Laila would pay for their atrocities. 

By the time I arrived, the pack was enveloped in darkness. I avoided the main gate, slipping through the narrow servants' entrance to get to my quarters as I wanted to avoid any sign of Kael and his little miss. The once welcoming smell of pine and hearthfire now nauseated me because of how much it has lost its essence of feeling like home.

As I crept into the quarters, the sound of hushed laughter caught my ears and I turned in the direction it came from to see a cluster of maids huddled together at the tap. When they noticed me, their smirks widened like wolves scenting blood.

I was expecting a greeting as per the usual, but the next word that flew into the air was, "Look who's back," one of them sneered. "The Luna who couldn't do something as basic as keeping the Alpha's bed warm," followed by a ripple of laughter that tore into the night.

Heat rose to my face, but I kept walking like I was deaf.

Another maid snorted, "You should've stayed gone, Fiona. Everyone knows the truth now about how you're not out Luna anymore, and how there isn't any space to accept a caricature like you as this place now belongs to Laila."

"Better yet," came another voice, "I think she should get rid of that pup in her belly because no one wants a bastard dragging around Kael's name."

The others giggled and then I halted. I shouldn't have. I should have kept minding my business but of what use is it?

Straightening my shoulders, I forced a thin smile and turned to face them. "You want her?" I asked in a low, measured voice. "Then take her. She can wear the crown, warm his bed, play the Luna, whatever. I don't want it anymore."

With the way their laughter faltered, I could tell they had expected me to scream, to try to call them off their bullshit, or better still break down. Not what I had just served them with.

"Why are you suddenly unbothered? Have you run out of fights and accepted defeat?" One finally scoffed, trying to recover. 

I tilted my head, studying their smug faces. "You know what?" I asked softly, "I would fill you in on that info if you tell me who told you about the baby."

They shifted uncomfortably with their eyes darting between each other until the first maid who spoke muttered, "Laila did."

Of course.

"She said it wasn't Alpha Kael's," another added quickly, like she was eager to wound me deeper. "She also said it was a mistake, a bastard, and that you tricked him into claiming it."

"She also added that you ought to be reduced to a maid for such a betrayal to the throne," the first maid chipped in.

Their words struck like someone was twisting a blade in my chest and for a long moment, I said nothing. Then nodding my head slowly, I let off another deliberate smile. 

"She's right," I whispered, and they gave a knowing smile. "The pup never belonged to Kael," I continued and the air shifted, their smile froze, faltering into a wide-eyed shock. One of them dropped the bucket she was holding, the water from it spilling across the floor.

"Kael wasn't the only one cheating in our union," I let the words drip like poison.

They gasped collectively, and my heart hammered from the lies I was boldly telling, but I kept my chin high, feeding on their stunned silence. 

Then, a voice rang out from the entrance of the quarter, "What did you just say?" 

My blood turned to ice as every head snapped toward the doorway