Rejected by My Mate Claimed By His Enemy

After ten years of devotion to my mate, Alpha Locke, today was supposed to be my coronation as Luna of the Silver Moon pack. A celebration of my unwavering loyalty.

But just before the ceremony, I overheard him talking to his Beta. He called me a "barren field" and sneered that he was replacing me with his pregnant mistress, Debbie. He even made a bet that I would come crawling back within three days.

In front of the entire pack, he announced Debbie as the new Luna, holding up a fake doctor's note as proof of my failure. When I tried to walk away, I was accused of attacking her.

Locke's Alpha Command slammed into me, forcing me to my knees. "She has attacked your future Luna," he declared, his eyes filled with contempt.

His final order was for the whips. Laced with silver, they tore my back open before his warriors threw me out like trash, leaving me to die in the forest.

I blacked out from the pain and poison, only to wake up a prisoner once more. Staring down at me was the terrifying Alpha of our rival pack, Ron Moss. He looked at my tattered clothes and bleeding wounds, and his voice was a cold, questioning murmur as he repeated the words that had haunted me for years.

"A useless she-wolf?"

Chapter 1

Julie POV:

The first time I met Ron Moss, I was his prisoner. The memory is a blur of pain and fear, a sharp contrast to the cold, clear voice that echoed in my head.

It was a Mind-Link, a private channel between werewolves, but this one felt forced, invasive. Ron's voice, a low rumble like distant thunder, was speaking to my mate. To Locke.

"I have her, Fowler. Your little Luna-to-be."

I was tied to a tree, my body aching, but it was Locke's reply that truly broke me. He was with his new lover, watching the sunrise, and his thoughts were a wave of disgust directed at me.

"Keep her," Locke's voice sliced through the link, devoid of any warmth. "Teach her a lesson. She's a useless she-wolf anyway."

That was a flashback. A nightmare.

Now, today, ten years after I first pledged myself to him, was supposed to be my coronation. The day I officially became Luna of the Silver Moon pack. Everyone said it was just a formality. A celebration of a decade of devotion.

I was wrong.

I'd been heading to the Alpha's private study to find Locke, a nervous flutter in my stomach. The door was slightly ajar, and I heard his voice, not through the Mind-Link, but his real, spoken voice, laced with a cruelty I had forced myself to ignore for years.

He was talking to his Beta, Marcus.

"She actually thinks today is about her," Locke sneered, and the sound was like ice water pouring over my soul. "It's pathetic."

"What are you going to do, Alpha?" Marcus asked.

"What I should have done years ago. Announce a Luna who can actually give this pack an heir. Debbie is fertile. Julie is just a barren field." Locke chuckled, a low, ugly sound. "I'll give her three days. Three days before she comes crawling back, begging for any scrap I'm willing to throw her. You want to bet on it?"

My heart didn't just break. It turned to dust.

I didn't bother putting on the ceremonial white gown. I walked to the grand clearing where the ceremony was being held in my simple jeans and a thin sweater. Every pack member was there, their faces expectant.