His Rejected Luna, His Worst Enemy

Christiana POV:

I stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Dhark Pack penthouse, holding a warm cup of black tea while the steam blurred my vision. Across the living room, the holographic projector played the top entertainment news of the night.

"Tonight, Supreme Alpha Enzo Roy was spotted leaving an exclusive restaurant with actress Brittanie Cook, who recently returned to the country," the anchor announced. "Our footage shows Roy shielding Cook from photographers with his own jacket draped over her shoulders. His wife of five years, Luna Christiana, was notably absent. Neither Roy nor Cook has responded to requests for comment on their relationship."

I set the teacup down on the glass table and hovered my trembling fingers over the control panel. On the floating screen, my husband, Enzo Roy-the Supreme Alpha of the Dhark Pack and billionaire CEO of Dhark Holdings-was shielding the famous actress and national sweetheart, Brittanie Cook, as they walked out of an exclusive restaurant.

Enzo's broad, custom-tailored suit jacket was draped over Brittanie's frail shoulders. His usually cold, dark gray eyes held a rare indulgence I had never received in five years of marriage. My stomach dropped into a cold pit, and my fingers dug hard into the leather armrest of the sofa until my knuckles turned white.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to tell myself it was just media spin. Yet deep inside my chest, my inner wolf let out a restless, suffocating whimper, rejecting the image burning into my retinas.

I took a deep breath and focused my energy, reaching out through the private Mind-Link that connected mated wolves. In our world, the Mind-Link allowed direct, soul-bound telepathy only between packmates or mates. We still used communicators for outside contacts, business calls, and formal appointments.

"Where are you?" I projected my voice into the link.

A freezing, heavy force slammed back into my consciousness, feeling like my knuckles striking a locked iron door. Enzo had raised a mental barrier on his end, blocking my reach without hesitation.

I opened my eyes. My ice-blue pupils reflected the holographic footage of the two of them getting into his black town car, and a sour heat rose up the back of my throat.

The double mahogany doors of the penthouse swung open softly. Hessie Abbott, our senior Omega housekeeper who had served the main estate for decades, walked in carrying a stack of envelopes sealed with the red wax crest of the Elder Council.

Hessie kept her gaze fixed on the carpet as she placed the letters on the marble coffee table.

"Luna, the Elders sent another formal inquiry urging the birth of a pureblood heir," Hessie whispered.

I stared at the bright red wax seals. Five years ago, I had hidden my rare White Wolf bloodline and given up my legal career to become Enzo's Luna, yet failing to produce a pup remained my greatest weakness in this pack.

"Leave them there, Hessie," I said, forcing my voice to stay level as my hand instinctively rested over my flat stomach, my fingertips quivering against the fabric of my dress.

Hessie let out a quiet sigh and turned to leave the room. The second the doors clicked shut, the heavy mechanical thud of the private elevator echoed from the end of the hallway.

I walked briskly from the living room toward the foyer, my high heels sinking silently into the thick wool runner.

The motion-sensor lights in the entryway flickered on as Enzo stepped out. He brought a wave of early autumn chill with him, his wide shoulders and tall frame radiating the suffocating dominance of an apex Alpha.

He did not look at me. He reached up to loosen his silk tie and casually tossed the suit jacket-the same one that had been wrapped around another woman on the news-onto the console table.

I took two steps closer. Beneath his natural, crisp scent of cedarwood hung a thick, cloying trace of sweet lilies-Brittanie's signature scent.

"Where were you tonight?" I asked, my voice dry in the spacious foyer.

Enzo paused with his fingers on his platinum cufflinks, his dark gray eyes sweeping over me without warmth.

"Corporate entertaining. Do you need to interrogate every item on my schedule?"

"Does corporate entertaining require draping your jacket over Brittanie Cook?" I did not back down, keeping my gaze locked on the faint crease near the open collar of his dress shirt.

His eyes darkened instantly. The crushing weight of an Alpha's Command-a genetic dominance that forces lower-ranking wolves in the pack into physical submission-rippled through the narrow hallway, making my lungs lock up.

"Stop being dramatic, Christiana," Enzo warned in a low, freezing tone. "She just returned to the country and ran into some trouble with the press."

"Trouble with the press? So you had to slam a wall into our Mind-Link just to protect her?" I ground my teeth together as the faded mating scar on the side of my neck throbbed with a dull ache.

Enzo stepped forward, his towering shadow swallowing me whole as he looked down at me.

"Know your place. You are still my Luna. Stop acting like a jealous shrew."

The sheer indifference in his voice hit me like a bucket of ice water poured over my head. I stumbled back half a step, my spine hitting the cold marble wall.

He did not spare me another glance, striding past me toward his study. The sharp click of his leather shoes against the floorboards echoed in my ears until the study door slammed shut with a heavy boom.

I turned around and walked slowly back into the living room. My eyes fell on the stack of Elder Council inquiries again, and a suffocating heaviness pressed down on my chest.

Picking up the top envelope, I broke the wax seal and unfolded the stiff paper. Every cold sentence accused me of having a weak wolf spirit incapable of bearing an Alpha heir.

I crushed the letter into a tight ball and threw it into the fireplace. Watching the orange flames devour the paper, I pulled out my encrypted communicator and tapped the screen to open the appointment portal for the Healer Sanctum. Tomorrow, I would find out the truth about my body myself.