My Alpha Rejected Me for His Chosen Luna

The morning sun filtered through the trees as I stood at the edge of the forest, my bare feet already bruised from yesterday's punishment. Julian had ordered a pack run—a brutal display of dominance disguised as discipline.

"Since you disrupted the mating celebration," Julian announced to the gathered pack members, his voice carrying that unmistakable Alpha command, "you will run with us today."

My heart sank. A pack run was sacred—a time when wolves shifted and celebrated their bond with nature. But Julian's eyes held no mercy.

"In human form," he added, his gaze boring into mine. "Barefoot."

Tiffany stepped forward, her wolf form sleek and white beside Julian's massive black one. "Don't worry, Elena," she purred, her voice dripping with false concern. "We'll go slow... at first."

I removed my shoes as the pack began to shift around me. Bones cracked and reformed as human bodies gave way to wolves—beautiful, powerful creatures that moved with grace I could only dream of. My wolf whimpered inside me, longing to join them.

*Stay strong,* she whispered. *We'll survive this.*

The run began slowly, almost leisurely. I kept pace with the pack, my feet burning against the forest floor. Sharp rocks and branches cut into my skin, but I refused to cry out.

"Look at her," I heard a she-wolf snicker as she passed me. "The rejected mate, crawling like a human."

Julian's eyes flashed at me from his wolf form—cold, distant. Not a trace of the brother who had once protected me remained.

As we deeper into the forest, the pace quickened. My lungs burned, my legs trembled, but I pushed forward. The rejected bond made every step agony—like running with glass in my veins.

"Faster!" Julian commanded, his Alpha tone hitting me like a physical blow.

I stumbled, my damaged leg protesting the strain. The pack pulled ahead, leaving me behind in a cloud of dust and mockery.

"She can't even keep up with humans," someone called back. "Pathetic Omega."

Then I felt it—a presence at my side. Tiffany, her white fur gleaming in the dappled sunlight, nudged me toward a side path.

"This way," she urged, her voice innocent. "There's a shortcut."

My wolf growled a warning. *Don't trust her.*

But exhaustion clouded my judgment. I followed, desperate to catch up with the pack.

The path narrowed, winding through denser trees. Tiffany stayed close, occasionally nipping at my heels—playful at first, then with increasing aggression.

"Stop it," I gasped, stumbling forward.

"Make me," she growled, her eyes glittering with malice.

I turned to face her, but as I did, my foot sank into something hidden beneath fallen leaves. There was a sickening click, and then—

Pain. Blinding, white-hot pain exploded in my right leg as steel jaws clamped around my calf, severing muscle and tendon in one brutal bite.

My scream tore through the forest, echoing among the trees. I collapsed, the world spinning around me as blood poured from the wound.

Tiffany howled—not in alarm, but in triumph. The sound masked my cries as I writhed on the ground.

Footsteps approached rapidly. Julian appeared in human form, his expression unreadable as he surveyed the scene.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Tiffany shifted back to human form, tears streaming down her face. "She attacked me," she sobbed. "When I defended myself, she stumbled backward and... Julian, it was an accident!"

I tried to speak, but the pain overwhelmed me. "Trap..." I managed to gasp.

Julian knelt beside me, his fingers probing the wound with clinical detachment. "Clumsy," he said coldly. "You're lucky it wasn't your throat."

Dr. Evelyn Hayes appeared behind him, medical bag in hand. Her eyes widened at the sight of my mangled leg.

"Alpha, she needs immediate treatment," she said urgently. "The hamstring is severed. Without Alpha blood or healing salve—"

"No special treatment," Julian cut her off. "Just stitch it up."

"Julian, please," I begged, tears streaming down my face. "I can't—"

"You can and you will," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Perhaps this will teach you to be more careful where you step."

Tiffany leaned down, her lips brushing my ear. "This is just the beginning," she whispered. "By the time I'm done, you'll wish you'd never been born."

As Dr. Hayes reluctantly began stitching my wound without the benefit of healing magic, I stared up at the sky through a haze of pain. My wolf howled in anguish inside me, mourning not just our physical pain, but the death of any hope that Julian would remember what we once meant to each other.