REJECTED LUNA RISE

As the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack, I thought my Fated Mate bond with Alpha Liam was unbreakable.

That was until Ava Sinclair walked into the banquet hall, pregnant, and Liam used his Alpha Command to force me to my knees in front of the whole pack, choosing his mistress over me.

The violence of his rejection didn't just break my heart; it killed the unborn pup I hadn't even told him about yet.

When I tried to escape the toxicity, Liam hunted me down and chained me in a dungeon with silver cuffs, desperate to keep me as a "backup" while he played house with Ava.

It took him two years to realize Ava was carrying a rogue's bastard, not his heir.

Suddenly, the arrogant Alpha was the victim, kneeling in the dirt at the Solstice Festival, offering me a massive diamond ring and begging for a second chance.

He thought he could buy forgiveness. He thought I was still his broken little wife.

But I didn't reach for the ring.

I turned to the female warrior standing beside me—the one who had lifted a collapsing stone pillar to save my life while Liam was busy destroying it.

I interlaced my fingers with hers and looked down at my ex-mate.

"You ask why I choose her?" I said, my voice ringing across the silent plaza.

"Because while you were building my cage, Liam, Seraphina was becoming my sky."

Chapter 1

Maya Goldstein POV:

The morning air in the Moonlight Rose Garden was crisp, heavy with the scent of damp loam and blooming velvet petals.

This was my sanctuary.

As the Luna of the Silver Moon Pack, my life was a tapestry woven with heavy duties and heavier expectations, but here, hidden among the thorns, I could just be Maya.

I snipped a wayward branch of a white rosebush. The sharp *snap* of the shears echoed in the quiet morning.

I hummed a soft tune, letting my thoughts drift to Liam. My Alpha. My Fated Mate.

Life had been peaceful lately. Unnervingly so.

Suddenly, a sharp pain spiked in my temples. It wasn't just a headache; it was a violation.

A Mind-Link from an unknown frequency clawed its way into my head.

*He isn’t who you think he is, Maya. Ask him about Ava Sinclair. Ask him why she was looking at him like a starving wolf eyeing fresh meat during the last pack run.*

I froze.

The gardening shears slipped from my grasp, clattering onto the stone path with a jarring ring.

The voice was distorted, digitally masked to hide the sender's identity. But the name... Ava Sinclair.

My Inner Wolf, usually a calm and dormant presence, suddenly bristled beneath my skin. She let out a low, warning growl that vibrated against my ribcage. *Danger. Deception.*

I shook my head, desperate to clear the mental static. Ava was just a pack member. A Gamma’s daughter. She was ambitious, yes, but Liam?

Liam was the Alpha. He was honorable. We were Fated Mates, bound by the Moon Goddess herself.

*He protects her,* the anonymous voice hissed in my mind again, like venom dripping into a wound. *Have you noticed how late he stays at the pack house? Have you noticed the scent on his collar? It isn't just the forest.*

My heart began to hammer against my ribs.

I wanted to block the voice, to scream at the stranger to get out of my head, but the seed of doubt had already been planted in the fertile soil of my anxiety.

Memories from the last week flashed before me unbidden.

Liam coming to bed long after I had fallen asleep. His kisses feeling distracted, almost apologetic. The way he would shower immediately upon returning home, scrubbing his skin until it was raw.