The Rejected Beast Mate: I Am The Royal Heiress

"Warning. Female vital signs unstable. Gene tearing pain exceeding level eight."

The cold mechanical arm of the Vane Fleet Advanced Medical Pod pierced Lyra's skin, pumping a pale blue nutrient solution into her veins. She gripped the metal side rails of the delivery bed.

A violent contraction ripped through her abdomen, making her stomach cramp and her lungs seize. Cold sweat drenched the thin white sheets beneath her.

"Recommendation," the AI's robotic voice echoed in the empty, sterile room. "Male partner required for pheromone pacification."

Lyra let out a breath that sounded like a dry sob. She forced a pale, trembling smile.

Her legal partner, the S-grade Silver Wolf Commander Kaelen Vane, was not here.

Across the room, the massive holographic screen flickered to life. It was a default setting designed to distract laboring females with entertainment news.

The screen filled with Kaelen's sharp, handsome profile. He stood in a high-end mecha boutique on the Capital Star. Beside him stood a delicate woman with pristine white swan wings folded neatly against her back.

The golden headline flashed across the bottom of the broadcast: Commander Vane Spends Ten Million Star Coins for a Smile! S-Grade Silver Wolf and A-Grade Swan, A Match Made in Heaven!

The woman was Sylvia Nova. Lyra's adopted sister. Sylvia leaned into Kaelen's chest, smiling up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

Another wave of agony hit Lyra. Her vision blurred. It wasn't from tears. The pain felt like a physical blade scraping against her spine, trying to pry her soul out of her flesh.

She bit down hard on her lower lip. The metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth. She swallowed the scream. She refused to show weakness to that man, even through a screen.

The heavy metal doors slid open. Two young nurses walked in, checking the monitors. They glanced up at the holographic broadcast.

"The Commander really spoils Miss Nova," the first nurse whispered, her eyes darting toward Lyra's sweating form. "Unlike the one in here. Pathetic."

The second nurse nudged her. "Keep your voice down. She is still his legal partner. Even if she's just a useless E-grade female, she occupies the seat."

"What partner?" The first nurse scoffed, adjusting Lyra's IV drip with rough hands. "They've been matched for a year, and the Commander hasn't touched her once. If it weren't for the mandatory matching system, how could an E-grade trash ever be worthy of an S-grade Commander?"

The words pierced Lyra's eardrums like physical needles. Her face remained entirely blank. Her eyes, however, grew as cold as a frozen wasteland.

A sharp, frantic movement came from her swollen belly. The half-beast infant inside her sensed its mother's despair and began to thrash.

The pain spiked, pushing Lyra to the edge of consciousness. A memory flashed behind her closed eyelids. A year ago, at the Matching Center. Kaelen looking down at her genetic report.

"An E-grade?" he had sneered, his silver eyes filled with absolute disgust. "The Interstellar Marriage Bureau is truly producing garbage these days."

On the screen, Kaelen gently brushed a nonexistent speck of dust from Sylvia's hair. He had never looked at Lyra with anything but contempt.

Lyra snapped her eyes shut. She blocked out the screen. She blocked out the nurses. She focused every ounce of her remaining mental energy on her abdomen. Don't be afraid, baby, she thought, pushing her weak energy inward to wrap around the struggling life. From now on, we only have each other.

It was a suicidal move. For an E-grade female to drain her mental energy during labor meant certain death. Faint specks of starlight flickered in the depths of Lyra's eyes.

"Warning!" the AI shrieked. "Maternal mental energy dropping rapidly! Vital signs critical!"

The nurses panicked, rushing to the bedside, their hands scrambling over the control panels.

Before they could inject a stimulant, a loud, piercing cry shattered the chaos of the medical pod.

The mechanical arms carefully lifted a tiny infant. The baby girl was covered in fine silver fuzz, with two tiny, wet wolf ears twitching on her head.

Lyra stared at the small life.

Her chest heaved. She had zero strength left.

Her eyes drifted back to the holographic screen. Kaelen was sliding a massive spatial ring onto Sylvia's finger. The crowd in the broadcast cheered.

Lyra's cracked lips slowly curved upward into a freezing, relieved smile.

Enough. It was finally enough.

This ridiculous, one-sided marriage. This pathetic solo performance. She was ending it right now.

She forced her heavy tongue to move, speaking directly to the room's AI. "Connect to... the Interstellar Tribunal. I want to file... an application for the Mandatory Termination of the Matching Contract."

The nurses froze. They stared at the bleeding, exhausted E-grade female in absolute shock.

She was actively dumping the S-grade beast husband that every female in the galaxy dreamed of?

Lyra's eyes held no hesitation. Just a dead, quiet void.

As the darkness pulled her under, her last thought was clear. She was taking her daughter and leaving Kaelen Vane. Forever.