Rejected Mate's Rise

The laughter still echoed in my ears as I climbed the stairs to what should have been our sanctuary. My cheeks ached from smiling at the bachelorette party Elena had thrown for me—such a sweet gesture from the omega who'd become my closest friend in the Moonridge Pack. Tomorrow, I would finally belong somewhere. Tomorrow, Daniel and I would complete our mating bond, and I'd never have to fear rejection again.

My silver-white wolf, Luna, stirred restlessly inside me as I approached our bedroom door. Something felt wrong. The scent that hit me first should have been Daniel's familiar cedar and rain smell, but there was something else—vanilla and roses. Briana's scent.

My hand froze on the doorknob. Maybe she'd stopped by to discuss tomorrow's ceremony arrangements. Maybe—

The soft moan that drifted through the door shattered every maybe I could conjure.

I pushed the door open anyway, some masochistic part of me needing to see the truth with my own eyes. The sight that greeted me would be burned into my memory forever: Daniel's powerful frame moving above Briana's golden form in the bed we'd picked out together, the sheets we'd chosen for our future marital home twisted around their intertwined bodies.

Briana saw me first. Her green eyes met mine over Daniel's shoulder, and instead of shock or shame, I saw triumph. A slow, satisfied smile curved her lips as she deliberately arched beneath him, her fingers digging into his back.

"Daniel," she purred, loud enough to ensure I heard every syllable.

He stilled, then slowly turned to face me. No surprise flickered across his features. No guilt. No regret. Just cold calculation, as if he'd been waiting for this moment.

"Skyla." His voice was steady, matter-of-fact. "You're early."

Early. As if I'd interrupted a business meeting instead of walking in on my fated mate betraying our bond in the most intimate way possible.

Luna howled inside me, a sound of pure anguish that threatened to tear me apart from the inside. The mate bond stretched taut between Daniel and me, sending waves of his pleasure and satisfaction directly into my soul—not satisfaction from being with me, but from being with her.

"How long?" The words scraped past my throat like broken glass.

Daniel disentangled himself from Briana with casual indifference, not bothering to cover himself as he faced me. "Does it matter?"

"The pack elders," I whispered, understanding flooding through me like ice water. "The way they've been looking at me. The whispered conversations that stop when I enter a room. They all knew."

"Of course they knew." Briana sat up, making no effort to hide her nakedness, her golden hair cascading over her shoulders. "Did you really think they'd allow a cursed white wolf to become Luna? Your bloodline is tainted, Skyla. Everyone knows silver-white wolves bring nothing but death and destruction."

Daniel's jaw tightened slightly—the first sign of any emotion he'd shown. "Briana."

"What? She needs to understand." Briana's eyes glittered with malicious satisfaction. "The pack needs a Luna with proper breeding, not some freak of nature whose parents died under suspicious circumstances."

The mention of my parents sent a fresh wave of agony through me. Luna retreated deeper inside, whimpering.

"The mate bond—" I started.

"Is real," Daniel interrupted, finally pulling on his pants. "I don't deny that. But the pack comes first, Skyla. It always has. You knew that when you came here."

"I thought you loved me." The admission felt like ripping my heart out and offering it to him on a silver platter.

Something flickered in his dark eyes—so briefly I almost missed it. Then his expression hardened again. "Love is a luxury Alphas can't afford. The pack needs stability, strength, and proper bloodlines. Briana can give them that. You... you're a beautiful anomaly, but anomalies don't make good Lunas."

Each word was a knife sliding between my ribs. The mate bond, which had once felt like a golden thread connecting our souls, now felt like barbed wire wrapped around my heart.

"Six months," I whispered. "Six months you let me believe—"

"Six months you had a home," Daniel cut me off. "Six months of safety and belonging. That's more than most rogues ever get."

Rogue. The word hit me like a physical blow. That's all I'd ever been to him—a stray he'd taken in out of obligation to the mate bond, never truly accepting me as his equal.

The pain was becoming unbearable. Luna's anguish mixed with my own until I couldn't tell where her hurt ended and mine began. The mate bond stretched and twisted, sending shooting pains through my chest with every breath.

I had two choices: accept this humiliation and become Daniel's dirty secret while Briana played Luna, or do something that might destroy us both.

The decision was easier than it should have been.