Chapter 1"Well, well. Look who crawled back from the ditch."
That was my ex-mate. Three years after he dumped me at our bonding ceremony for her and her daddy's power.
"Get on your knees and beg," he says. "Scrub floors as an omega. Serve my heir. Am I too generous?"
Excuse me?
Before I could answer, she laughed. "Don't flatter yourself. We're waiting for the Alpha King's Luna."
Then she ripped the necklace off my throat—the one my second mate gave me.
"Nice try with the fake," she sneered. "But don't insult the king."
I tried to tell her the truth.
Yeah, like that worked.
She slapped me twice. "Shut your mouth!"
So I just smiled. Blood on my lips. Counting down.
Ten seconds.
Those doors burst open. The Alpha King's son came running.
Straight into my arms.
"Mommy!"
--
At my bonding ceremony with my fiancé Tristan Reid, he was supposed to become Alpha. Instead, he dumped me right there in front of everyone. He picked Camille Whitmore and her unborn kid—because apparently that fit his power grab better.
Three years later, I was touring the territory with my mate Magnus Thorne when I ran smack into Tristan again.
He laughed at my "shabby" clothes and offered me a servant position.
He had no clue I was actually the Alpha King's mate—the most respected Luna in the entire werewolf world.
I scanned the airport crowd for whoever my mate said would be picking me up. Finally spotted a sign at the private exit: "Luna of Nightfang Pack."
Then I froze.
I saw the sign. But I never expected to see who was holding it—Tristan. My ex-fated mate.
Standing beside him was Camille, the woman who shoved me aside at my own bonding ceremony, plus a few wolves I recognized from Tristan's pack.
"Oh my God, look who it is," a wolf named Shane spotted me first, grinning like a donkey. "Aurora Grey? You've got some nerve showing your face around here."
"I figured she'd be dead in a ditch by now," another woman snickered behind her hand.
Tristan turned. When he saw me, his expression shifted—complicated for a split second—then settled into smug satisfaction.
"Aurora," he said, dripping with that I-told-you-so arrogance. "Knew you'd come crawling back eventually."
I said nothing. Just stared at them, forcing myself to stay calm.
Three years. These people hadn't changed one bit.
"Look at you," Camille said, eyeing me up and down with pure disgust. "That's what you wore out? Can't even afford decent clothes anymore? Guess that's what happens to rogue wolves without pack protection."
I glanced down at my loose outfit.
It was maternity wear Magnus had custom-made for me. The fabric was woven with protective spells—even a silver blade couldn't pierce it.
But they didn't need to know that.
"If you're struggling, just say it," Shane stepped closer, fake sympathy all over his face. "Stop pretending. You're here to beg Tristan to take you back, aren't you?"
"Yeah, otherwise why would she haul herself all the way from Silver Creek?"
They were all chiming in now, like they'd already figured out my whole tragic story.
Tristan raised a hand to silence them.
He walked up to me, wearing that fake magnanimous expression. "You've had your little rebellion, haven't you?"
I looked at the man in front of me. A complete stranger.
Was this really the person I loved for seven years?
"Come back, Aurora. Camille's boy needs someone to look after him. I'll pay you omega wages."
Camille instantly clung to Tristan's arm, tilting her chin up with that superior look.
"You should be grateful, honestly. Tristan's throwing you a lifeline here—an omega position babysitting the kid. What other options do you even have? Wait around for some pack to rip you to shreds?"
The wolves behind them snickered again.
I listened to all of it, just tired.
The man who used to read me poetry under the moonlight was gone. Standing before me then was an arrogant Alpha drunk on power.
"So, Aurora, have you thought it over? Don't do something stupid out of jealousy. Who else is going to take care of you besides me?"
I lifted my head, met his eyes, and let a mocking smile pull at my lips.
"Take care of me? What about the child in my belly—you gonna take care of that too?"
Tristan's smile vanished completely. "What?!"
Chapter 2
Camille heard that and burst out laughing—loud and exaggerated. "You're pregnant? Oh my God. But you don't even have a bonding mark... Don't tell me..."
She exchanged that knowing, disgusting look with the others.
I knew exactly what they were thinking—that I got knocked up by some rogue wolf and then got dumped.
The truth? I had deliberately used a special spray to cover Magnus's scent. That man's possessiveness was insane—anyone could have smelled his mark on me from a hundred feet away. Honestly, it was embarrassing, so I had sprayed that stuff before leaving.
I was done listening to their crap. I ignored the ugly scowl on Tristan's face.
"Aren't you here to pick me up? Let's go."
Tristan froze, staring at me for a few seconds.
Then Shane behind him suddenly exploded into laughter, cackling like a maniac.
"Hahahaha—what did she just say?" Shane was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face. "She said we're here to pick her up?"
"Oh my God, Aurora, are you out of your mind?" Another she-wolf was doubled over laughing. "Who do you think you are? The Queen?"
Camille clicked over in her heels, nose practically pointing at the sky. "Aurora, did getting knocked up by some mutt scramble your brain or what?"
"Look at that sign, Aurora," she extended one perfectly manicured nail, pointing at the sign in Shane's hand. "We're waiting for the Luna of Nightfang Pack—Alpha King Magnus' cherished mate!"
She deliberately emphasized "cherished" like it was the punchline.
"Of course, a rogue like you wouldn't know. Nightfang Pack is the most powerful pack in all of North America. From the Northern Territories to the West Coast, every piece of land answers to them."
Tristan's pack members quickly chimed in.
"I heard he absolutely worships his Luna—treats her like she's made of glass."
Camille's voice was dripping with excitement and jealousy. "Just last month, King Magnus personally went to Europe and wrestled that 'Moon Goddess's Tear' necklace away from Lord Caspian and his vampires! All for his Luna."
"I heard that necklace is carved from a single piece of moonstone that only glows under the full moon, with a wolf's claw mark etched into the center. Whoever wears it is recognized as the Moon Goddess's chosen one."
"That Luna must've saved the world in her past life..."
"She's so lucky..."
Listening to their envious, jealous chatter, I unconsciously touched the necklace around my neck.
Yep. That was the Moon Goddess's Tear.
When Magnus had put it on me two nights before, he just casually said, "Wear this when you go out. It'll keep the idiots in line."
At the time, I was too worried about the injuries on his hand—he had fought vampires to get that necklace, and his hand was covered in burns from silver weapons. I was scolding him while treating his wounds, and he just sat there grinning like a fool.
I had had no idea that necklace was famous.
"So, Aurora," Camille turned back to me, eyes full of malice. "We're waiting for a real Luna. A woman cherished and loved for real. And you..."
She dramatically looked me up and down again. "You're just a discarded omega. A slut who screwed around with rogues and got herself knocked up with a bastard. Where the hell do you get the nerve to think we're here for you?"
"Yeah, take a good look in the mirror!"
"This is hilarious."
I said nothing. Just let them perform.
But they took my silence as guilt. As humiliation.
"Although, wait..." Camille's eyes suddenly locked onto my neck, her voice going sharp. "That thing around your neck—why does it look so much like the Moon Goddess's Tear?"
Before I could answer, she gasped, like she had figured out something huge. "You're wearing a fake!"
Tristan frowned and stared at me for a moment.
"Pretty convincing replica," he reached out and grabbed the necklace around my neck, looking at me like he had seen right through me. "Which rogue gave you this?"
He yanked hard. The chain snapped.
The clasp scraped across my skin, tearing a thin line. Blood beaded up instantly, and I hissed in pain.
"Tristan!" I reached for it, but Camille had already snatched the necklace from his hand.
She held it up to her face, shaking it, tapping the moonstone with her nail. "Tsk tsk tsk, someone spent good money on this. This is the best fake I've ever seen."
Then she waved the necklace in front of me like she was teasing a dog. "You traded your body for this, didn't you? It's all you're good for anyway."
"You didn't actually think wearing this would make you a Luna, did you?"
Another round of laughter.
I stared at the necklace Magnus had risked his life for, now dangling from her filthy hand, and I couldn't take it anymore. I lunged forward to grab it. "Give it back! Magnus gave that to me—"
SMACK.
A sharp slap whipped across my face—stinging like hell. I staggered back several steps, blood trickling from the corner of my mouth.
"Shut the fuck up!"
Chapter 3
Tristan's hand was still hanging in the air—the same one that had just slapped me—eyes blazing with fury.
"You dare call the Alpha King by his name? And you have the nerve to spread these disgusting lies to slander him?"
"You got a death wish? Don't drag my entire pack down with you!"
"Tristan's right!" Shane jumped in, practically frantic. "Shadowmoon Pack is trying to secure Nightfang Pack's protection. If you piss off the Alpha King with these lies, he could wipe us out with one hand!"
I pressed my hand to my stinging cheek, watching that circus of clowns in silence.
The irony was killing me. The Luna they were all worshiping—too precious to even touch—was standing right there. Being mocked. Being humiliated.
Maybe the coldness in my eyes was too obvious, because Tristan actually flinched and took half a step back.
"Tristan!"
Camille's shrill scream broke the weird tension. She rushed to his side, glaring daggers at me. "Stop acting!"
"You're just jealous Tristan chose me! Jealous I gave him an heir! This is your sick little revenge plan, isn't it?"
"Tristan's being generous enough to take you back, and this is how you repay him? Making up disgusting lies to ruin his future?"
Tristan snapped out of his momentary panic, staring at me, his voice going ice-cold.
"You're exactly the same as before."
I knew what he meant. Camille used to pull that shit all the time—start drama, then pin it on me, and make me look like the crazy one.
Just like before, Tristan would side with her, call me a jealous bitch.
But that time was different. Back then, the worst he would do was ignore me, give me the silent treatment until I came crawling back in tears to apologize.
Now, he took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across my face. When it landed on my stomach, disgust twisted his features.
"I'm willing to overlook your disrespect. For old times' sake, I won't just leave you out here to rot."
Tristan fished a wolf fang insignia out of his pocket—Shadowmoon Pack's emblem carved into it. He flicked it at my feet like he was tossing scraps to a stray. "Come back if you want. I'll let you stay—even if it's just scrubbing floors as an Omega."
He paused, then added, "As for that thing in your belly, I'll take care of it."
His pack members murmured in agreement.
"Alpha Tristan is so merciful..."
"Any other Alpha would've banished her for good."
They were all waiting for me to drop to my knees and grovel in gratitude.
I just found it funny.
What had he just said? He would take care of my child?
What gave him the right?
To everyone's shock, I kicked the insignia away and snatched my necklace back from Camille's hand.
"You—" Tristan's expression froze.
I lifted my head and flashed that sweet, deadly smile at the fuming Alpha.
"No thanks, Alpha Tristan."
"I don't want anything from you."
