After My Mate Rejected Me for His Mistress

The silence after my words felt like the calm before a storm. Then Beckham moved.

I watched him step forward, my son—the boy I'd raised from infancy, the child I'd loved when my own had been ripped away. For one stupid, hopeful second, I thought he was coming to comfort me.

He spat at my feet.

The glob of saliva landed on my shoe, and I stared at it like it was something from another world.

"Finally," Beckham said, his voice dripping with contempt. "I'm glad to be rid of you. A weak mother who couldn't even give Dad a real heir."

The pack gasped. Even Johnny looked surprised.

"Beckham—" I started, but he cut me off.

"Sylvie's the only Luna I recognize. She's carrying my real sibling. Someone who'll actually matter." He crossed his arms, looking so much like his father it made my stomach turn. "I knew about Dad's plan the whole time. We all did. You were just too pathetic to see it."

Something inside me cracked. Not broke—I was already broken. This was different. This was the last thread snapping, the final chain falling away.

I looked at the boy I'd raised. The boy I'd sung to sleep, taught to read, protected from every shadow. I'd given him everything, and he'd learned nothing but cruelty.

"Then we're done here," I said quietly.

I walked upstairs to the room that had been mine for ten years. My hands moved mechanically, stuffing clothes into a duffel bag. A few photos—not of Johnny, never of Johnny. Just landscapes. Places I'd never been. Places I'd go now.

The rain started as I walked out the front door. No one tried to stop me. The pack members parted like I was already a ghost.

I didn't look back.

The rain turned brutal within minutes, the kind of downpour that soaked through everything. My feet carried me toward neutral territory, away from Silver Creek's borders, away from everything I'd known.

Aria was silent inside me, but I felt her presence. Solid. Real. Mine.

The fever hit somewhere around midnight. The severed bond was poison in my veins, burning through me like acid. My legs gave out near a dark stretch of forest, and I collapsed into the mud.

I should get up. Should keep moving.

But I was so tired.

Footsteps. Heavy. Deliberate.

I tried to lift my head, but my body wouldn't cooperate. A shadow fell over me, massive and dark.

"Easy." The voice was deep, commanding, but not cruel. "Don't move."

Strong arms lifted me like I weighed nothing. I caught a scent—cedar and leather and something wild that made Aria stir for the first time since the rejection.

*Mate,* she whispered, confused and hopeful.

No. That wasn't possible. The Moon Goddess wouldn't be that kind.

"You're burning up," the voice said. Male. Controlled. "How long since the bond broke?"

"Hours," I managed. "Maybe... I don't know."

"You're lucky I was patrolling." He adjusted his grip, and I felt the shift of powerful muscles. "Most rogues don't survive their first night in neutral territory."

"Not a rogue," I mumbled. "Was a Luna."

"I know exactly who you are, Luna Morrison."

That made me open my eyes. His face was all sharp angles and dark intensity, with eyes that seemed to glow gold in the darkness. Beautiful and terrifying.

"Who—"

"Rest," he commanded, and the Alpha authority in his voice was absolute. "We'll talk when you're not dying."

I wanted to argue, but the fever dragged me under.

I woke to softness. A bed. Clean sheets. Warm.

For a moment, I thought I'd dreamed everything. Then I moved, and pain lanced through my chest where the bond had been.

Real. It was all real.

"You're awake."

I turned my head. The man from the forest sat in a chair by the window, watching me with those unsettling gold eyes. In daylight, he was even more imposing—tall, broad-shouldered, with an aura of power that made my wolf sit up and take notice.

"Where am I?"

"My estate. Neutral territory." He stood, moving with predatory grace. "You've been unconscious for two days."

Two days. I tried to sit up, and he was there instantly, helping me with surprising gentleness.

"Easy. The bond severance nearly killed you."

He handed me a glass of water, and I drank gratefully. When I finished, he was still watching me with that intense, calculating gaze.

"You know who I am," I said. "But I don't know you."

"Kaiden Richardson." He let the name hang in the air.

The Alpha King. The Lycan who ruled the underground territories with absolute authority. I'd heard stories—everyone had. Ruthless. Powerful. Dangerous.

"Why help me?"

"Because you're Luna Morrison, the legendary strategist of Blood Moon Pack. The woman who kept Silver Creek from collapsing for a decade." He leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "And because I want something from you."

At least he was honest.

"What?"

"Information. Everything you know about Johnny Davis and his crimes. Every treaty he violated, every deal he made, every body he buried." His eyes glinted. "In exchange, I'll help you regain your strength. Train you. Give you the resources to destroy him."

Revenge. He was offering me revenge.

"Why do you care about Johnny?"

"That's my business." His tone left no room for argument. "Do we have a deal?"

I should ask more questions. Should be cautious.

But Aria was howling inside me, and my hands were already reaching out.

"Deal."

Our palms met, and electricity shot through me. Not painful—the opposite. Like coming home after a lifetime of wandering. His eyes widened, just for a second, and I knew he felt it too.

The true mate bond.

We both pulled back, but the damage was done. The Moon Goddess had spoken.

Kaiden's expression was unreadable. "Rest. We start tomorrow."

He left without another word, but I could still feel the ghost of his touch on my skin.

What had I just agreed to?