Rejected Mate, True Heir

The white ceremonial gown felt like a shroud against my skin as I stood in the sacred grove, moonflowers blooming around me in silver clusters. I'd imagined this moment for five years—ever since the night Cade and I discovered our mate bond, ever since his scent of pine and winter storms first crashed through my defenses and made my wolf, Luna, sing with recognition.

The full moon hung heavy overhead, and the entire Moonstone Pack had gathered in the circular clearing. Their faces glowed with anticipation in the torchlight. My heart hammered against my ribs as Cade stood across from me, looking devastatingly handsome in his ceremonial Alpha attire, his dark hair catching the moonlight.

'Finally,' Luna whispered in my mind, her voice trembling with joy. 'Finally, we'll be marked as his. Finally, we'll be complete.'

I smiled, tears pricking my eyes. After tonight, I would be Luna of the Moonstone Pack. After tonight, the bond that already thrummed between us would be sealed before the Moon Goddess herself.

The Elder raised his hands to begin the ceremony, and my breath caught. This was it. The moment when everything I'd dreamed of would become reality.

Then Azaria Coleman stepped forward from the crowd.

My stomach dropped. Something about the way she moved—calculated, deliberate—made Luna go quiet in my mind. Azaria's face wore an expression of deep concern, her eyes wide and sorrowful, but there was something underneath it that made my skin prickle.

"Elder Marcus," Azaria's voice rang clear through the grove, respectful but urgent. "I request permission to speak before the Moon Goddess's blessing is invoked."

Murmurs rippled through the assembled pack. My fingers went numb. No one interrupted a mate ceremony. No one. It was sacred, ordained by the goddess herself.

The Elder's bushy eyebrows drew together. "This is highly irregular, Miss Coleman."

"I understand, Elder. But what I have to share concerns the future of this pack. The bloodline of our Alpha." Azaria's gaze swept across the crowd before landing on me, and for just a fraction of a second, I saw something cold flash in her eyes. Then it was gone, replaced by that mask of gentle concern. "Surely the pack's safety comes before ceremony."

I looked to Cade, searching his face for reassurance. He would tell her to wait. He would protect our moment. Our bond.

But Cade's jaw was clenched, his body rigid. He wasn't looking at me at all. He was looking at Azaria with an expression I couldn't quite read—conflict, loyalty, something that made my chest constrict.

"Speak," the Elder finally said, his voice heavy with reluctance.

Azaria produced a leather folder from beneath her shawl, handling it like it contained something precious and terrible. "I've recently uncovered documents regarding Lauren Watkins's bloodline. Medical records. Genetic testing."

The grove went deathly silent.

"What?" The word escaped me as a whisper. Luna stirred uneasily in my mind.

Azaria's expression remained sorrowful as she opened the folder, displaying documents to the Elder and then