Pregnant and Rejected

The storm howled through the night, its icy raindrops slicing through the darkness like cruel daggers. Selene nightshade stood in the center of the Blood Moon Pack, her body trembling from the cold, but it was nothing compared to the frost seeping into her soul.

Hundreds of pack members surrounded her, their faces a mix of curiosity, judgment, and thinly veiled disgust. The weight of their stares pressed down on her, suffocating. But the only gaze that mattered the one that had once held love, devotion, and promises of forever was now filled with nothing but hatred.

Damien Blackwood, Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.

Her mate.

Her destiny.

And the man who was about to destroy her.

His silver eyes, once warm like moonlight, had turned into cold steel. The rain dripped from his raven-black hair, tracing the sharp angles of his face, but he didn't so much as flinch. Instead, he stood before her with an expression so devoid of emotion it sent a shiver down her spine.

"Damien..." Selene's voice cracked as she took a step toward him, but he didn't move. He didn't reach for her. He didn't even blink.

The mate bond between them pulsed, frayed, barely holding together. A bond that was supposed to be sacred. Indestructible.

But then..

"I don't want you," Damien said, his voice like a death sentence. "You mean nothing to me."

Selene's breath hitched.

No.

No, this couldn't be happening.

She had dreamed of this moment for years, the day their bond would be acknowledged, the day they would finally stand side by side, mates, partners, Alpha and Luna.

But instead, he looked at her like she was dirt beneath his feet.

"Damien..." her voice barely carried over the howling wind. "Why are you saying this?"

His lips curled in disgust. "Are you deaf? I said you're not my mate."

The words felt like claws raking through her chest, ripping her heart apart piece by piece.

"I never wanted you. I never will."

The pain was unbearable. The bond that had tethered them together trembled, twisting, unraveling.

Selene shook her head, rain mixing with the tears sliding down her face. "That's not true! You, Damien, we're fated! We belong together!"

A sharp, bitter laugh left his lips. "Fate?" He spat the word like it was poison. "I don't give a damn about fate. And neither should you."

His gaze flickered downward for the briefest second. Selene followed his line of sight

To her stomach.

A sick feeling coiled in her gut.

No.

He couldn't possibly know.

Could he?

"And you," Damien said, his voice dripping with venom, "are carrying another man's child."

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Selene's entire body went rigid.

What?

The pack's murmurs swelled around her, deafening.

"The Luna is pregnant?"

"But not with the Alpha's pup?"

"Disgraceful."

Selene felt like the ground had been ripped from beneath her. She shook her head frantically, heart pounding so loudly she could barely hear her own voice.

"That's not true!" she choked out, her hands pressing protectively against her abdomen. "Damien, please! This is your pup!"

But he didn't believe her.

He never even hesitated.

"Liar," he said coldly.

Selene felt the shift before she saw it, the dangerous way his body tensed, the flicker of rage in his silver eyes, the suffocating dominance radiating from him like a thunderstorm.

Then he stepped forward.

One step.

Two.