Rejected Luna's Second Chance Mate

I forced myself to breathe normally as I checked Damon Blackwood's vitals for the third time in an hour. The cardiac monitor beeped steadily, his blood pressure finally stabilizing after surgery. My hands moved with practiced efficiency, adjusting his IV line and checking the dressings on his wounds, but inside I was a storm of confusion.

*Stay professional. He's just another patient.*

But he wasn't. Every cell in my body knew it, and Lyra—my wolf who had been dormant for so long—was now pacing restlessly beneath my skin.

*Mate. Ours. Need him.*

I gritted my teeth, pushing her down again. *Stop it. We don't have a mate anymore. It's impossible.*

As if sensing my internal struggle, Damon's eyes fluttered open, that unsettling Alpha red flickering before settling into a deep amber. Even weakened and bandaged, he radiated power.

"You're still fighting it," he murmured, his voice rough from the breathing tube they'd removed an hour ago.

I focused on checking his bandages. "Fighting what, Mr. Blackwood?"

"The bond. Your wolf. Me." His hand moved with surprising strength, capturing my wrist. "And it's Damon to you, little mate."

The touch sent electricity shooting up my arm. Lyra whimpered, pressing against my mental barriers.

I jerked away. "I'm not your mate. I can't be. Rejected wolves don't form new bonds—it's biologically impossible."

A ghost of a smile touched his lips. "Yet here we are, defying biology."

"Here we are with you suffering from blood loss and trauma," I corrected, retreating to the clinical safety of my profession. "Your perception is compromised."

"My perception is the clearest it's been in years." His eyes tracked me as I moved around the bed. "Who rejected you?"

The question hit like a physical blow. I busied myself checking the monitors, avoiding his gaze. "That's not relevant to your care, Mr. Blackwood."

"Everything about you is relevant to me now."

The intensity in his voice made me look up, meeting those amber eyes that seemed to see straight through my carefully constructed walls. For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

The spell broke when my colleague Dr. Chen entered the room.

"Dr. Ellis, there's a rather... intimidating group of men insisting they need to speak with Mr. Blackwood. Hospital security is getting nervous."

Damon sighed. "My security detail. Tell them Marcus can come in, but the others need to stand down."

I nodded to Dr. Chen, grateful for the interruption. "I'll handle it."

In the hallway, I wasn't prepared for the wall of muscle and barely contained aggression that awaited me. Five men in dark suits stood like sentinels, radiating werewolf energy so strongly that even the human hospital staff gave them a wide berth.

The tallest stepped forward, his eyes assessing me with calculated precision. "You're the doctor treating Alpha Blackwood?"

"I'm Dr. Ellis, yes. Mr. Blackwood says one person—Marcus—can see him. The rest of you need to wait elsewhere. You're disturbing the hospital."

Something flickered in the man's expression. He leaned slightly closer, inhaling subtly.

"You're wolf," he stated quietly, surprise evident in his tone.

I stiffened. "I'm a doctor treating a patient. That's all that matters here."

The man—Marcus, I presumed—studied me for another long moment before nodding to the others. "Secure the perimeter. I'll assess the Alpha's condition."

As I led him back to Damon's room, my mind raced. I'd been so careful to suppress my wolf nature around humans, using scent-neutralizing soaps and avoiding other werewolves. Now, in the span of hours, my carefully constructed facade was crumbling.

Damon's eyes lit up when we entered, but not for his Beta. His gaze locked on me with an intensity that made my skin flush.

"Marcus, meet Dr. Ellis," he said, his voice carrying a weight of significance that made Marcus's eyebrows rise.

"Sir, we need to discuss the attack," Marcus replied, glancing between us with growing understanding.

"Later," Damon dismissed. "Dr. Ellis was just explaining why I can't be transferred to another facility."

I blinked in confusion. "I wasn't—"

"My injuries require specialized care that only this hospital can provide," Damon continued smoothly. "Arrange for additional security. I'll be staying."

The realization of what he was doing hit me. He had no intention of leaving—of letting me out of his sight. Panic fluttered in my chest.

"Mr. Blackwood, your injuries have been stabilized," I countered. "There's no medical reason you can't be transferred to a facility of your choosing."

His smile was predatory. "I choose this one. With you as my primary physician."

Marcus cleared his throat. "Alpha, with respect, after an attack of this magnitude—"

"My decision is final," Damon cut him off, his voice dropping to that Alpha timbre that made both Marcus and my wolf instinctively submit. "Secure this hospital. Dr. Ellis's safety is your priority."

"My safety?" I echoed incredulously.

Damon's expression darkened. "Whoever came after me won't stop. And now that you're in the picture..."

He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. If anyone suspected what I was to him—what he believed I was to him—I'd become a target too.

"This is insane," I muttered, running a hand through my hair. "I'm not part of your world anymore."

"Yet here you are," Damon replied softly, "with a wolf that recognizes mine."

Lyra whimpered in agreement, pushing against my control with growing strength. Two years of silence, and now she wouldn't stop howling for this man.

"I need to check on my other patients," I said abruptly, needing distance.

As I turned to leave, Damon called after me. "You can't run from this forever, Luna."

I froze in the doorway, a chill running down my spine. I hadn't told him my first name—it wasn't even on my hospital badge, which read 'Dr. L. Ellis.'

Slowly, I looked back at him. "How did you know my name?"

His smile was enigmatic, his eyes gleaming with something between triumph and wonder.

"I didn't," he said simply. "My wolf did."