His Unwanted Luna: Revenge Of The Crippled Bride

Elena POV:

"A wolfless cripple? I'd sooner marry a corpse than make her my Luna!"

Kade Warren deliberately raised his voice, making sure every noble in the Silver Hall-and especially the pack members and wealthy young nobles gathered around him heard every word.

His friends and followers burst into laughter, eagerly joining in his public humiliation of me.

I dragged my stiff left leg toward the altar, every step sending agony through the shattered bones beneath my silk skirt. Hundreds of eyes followed me, some mocking, others openly disgusted. Not one person offered to help. They had come to watch me humiliate myself, and my fiancé was making sure they got their money's worth.

Moonlight caught Kade's pale blond hair, but his murky gray-brown eyes held nothing but contempt. As the future Alpha of the powerful Warren Pack, he made no effort to hide his disgust.

"The Rich family must be insane," a noblewoman whispered behind her feathered fan, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Sending a wolfless cripple to form an alliance!"

In our kingdom, any werewolf who failed to awaken their Inner Wolf by eighteen was branded wolfless-unable to shift or use the mind-link, condemned to be treated as an ill omen.

A warrior knight sneered. "How could Young Master Kade accept such a useless Luna?"

Wolfless. Cripple. Disgrace. The insults followed me up the steps. In their eyes, I wasn't a noblewoman. I was a defective bargain the Rich family had failed to unload.

My biological father, Pack Alpha Burdell Rich, sat upon the high lord's throne. He should have silenced them. Instead, he avoided my eyes and swallowed his wine.

Beside him, my stepmother, Concetta Rich, twirled a blood-red stone ring around her scarlet-painted finger. Her smug smile told me everything. My humiliation was entertainment to her.

Swallowing the pain in my knee, I reached the altar and raised my right hand, following the ancient royal etiquette. Kade was supposed to clasp it, test our spiritual bond, and complete the final marking.

He didn't move.

"Do you really think I'd entrust the future of the Warren Pack to trash without a wolf soul?"

My hand remained suspended between us. He wouldn't even touch me.

With a look of utter disdain, Kade finally delivered the words he had clearly been waiting to say.

"I, Kade Warren, reject you, Elena Rich, as my mate!"

Kade's rejection took effect, and an invisible force slammed into my chest. Our spiritual bond snapped, sending a violent shockwave through my body. Pain exploded behind my ribs, and something deep within my mind suddenly shattered.

Then, memories came flooding back.

Three days ago, after enduring brutal torture, my body had fallen into a deathlike state. At the brink of death, my soul had somehow been pulled into an entirely different world-a vast interstellar civilization beyond anything imaginable in this kingdom.

While my body remained here, I had lived another lifetime among the stars. Time flowed differently there, allowing me to spend years studying and mastering countless disciplines, from medicine and forensic science to human anatomy and advanced technology.

But that second life had ended in a catastrophic accident. After my death, my soul had somehow returned to my original body. Yet the memories and experiences I had gained among the stars remained sealed deep within my consciousness.

Until now.

The violent shock of Kade's rejection, combined with the humiliation he had inflicted upon me before the entire hall, finally shattered that seal. Every memory, every skill, and every fragment of knowledge from my life among the stars came rushing back.

I was Elena Rich. I had always been Elena Rich. But now, I carried the knowledge and abilities of an entirely different world.

And finally, I was fully awake.

My fingers dug into the carved stone altar to keep me upright.

I had no idea why fate had sent my soul across two worlds, or why I had been given a second chance after two brushes with death. But one thing was certain: I wouldn't waste it. I certainly wouldn't beg a man like Kade Warren to love me.

I brushed my fingertips over the silk covering my mangled left leg and met his gaze.

"Trash?" My voice was cold and steady. "A comminuted fracture of the left tibial shaft, with fang-inflicted lacerations at a thirty-seven-degree angle. Kade, have you forgotten how I got this scar? I took the hit from that rampaging silver wolf to save someone else."

The color drained from his face. A low, restless growl rumbled deep in his throat as his Inner Wolf paced in agitation. His gaze darted away from mine.

He remembered. He knew perfectly well that I had shattered my leg saving him from that rampaging silver wolf.

Back then, he'd promised to make things right. Instead, he'd abandoned me to suffer with a crippled leg.

And now, the very man who owed me his life was standing before an entire hall of nobles, using my disability to humiliate me and justify breaking our engagement.

To hide his panic, Kade kicked the silver incense burner. It crashed down the steps, scattering burning ash across my path.

Gasps rippled through the hall. Hundreds of eyes waited for me to break.

"A cripple who can only crawl in the mud doesn't deserve to stand beside me," he spat.

Cold sweat dampened the back of my dress, but I drew a slow breath and held his gaze without blinking. He would get no tears from me.

Kade spun toward the throne. "Lord Burdell! The Warren Pack refuses to marry a cripple. I demand a bride swap!"

Burdell jerked, spilling red wine over his embroidered robes. "S-swap for whom?"

Kade pointed toward the velvet curtains.

"I will marry Carmen Rich! She is the only true Luna worthy of me!"

The hall erupted in whispers. My fiancé had rejected me in front of everyone and now demanded my younger half-sister as my replacement, as if I were nothing more than a broken contract.

Carmen was Concetta's biological daughter. Although we shared the same father, she had always been the pampered darling of the Rich family, while I was treated like an unwanted reminder of my dead mother.

Concetta sprang to her feet, pressing a hand to her chest in an exaggerated gasp. Greed gleamed in her narrow brown eyes.

"Oh heavens! Carmen is Elena's younger sister!"

Her feigned shock couldn't hide the triumph in her eyes. The woman who should have protected me was already imagining her daughter wearing my crown.

Around us, the nobles murmured. Kade unleashed a wave of Alpha aura toward Burdell, pressuring my cowardly father to make a choice, while Concetta whispered urgently in his ear.

I shifted my weight, using basic orthopedic principles to ease the pressure on my twisted knee. Then I straightened my spine, forcing my injured leg to bear just enough weight to keep me standing tall.

I looked directly into Kade's eyes.

"I, Elena Rich, accept your rejection."

Kade froze, clearly expecting tears, pleading, anything but my calm acceptance.

The crowd fell into stunned silence. They had expected me to crumble. Instead, I stood tall.

I turned away from Kade and faced my father and stepmother.

"Father. Stepmother. Do you truly believe letting an outsider trample our family laws at the sacred altar will buy you peace?"