Rejected After He Killed Our Pup

A week of confinement in the East Wing felt like a slow, agonizing death. I hadn't eaten a full meal in days. The violent bouts of nausea came in relentless waves, leaving me trembling on the cold bathroom tile. I thought it was the poison of our rotting mate bond. I thought my body was simply failing under the weight of River’s constant rejection. Inside my mind, my wolf, Maeve, was nothing but a silent, shivering shadow.

Then, the frantic screams erupted from the pack garden.

The sheer terror in the voices pulled me from my bed. Ignoring River’s strict orders to remain out of sight, I stumbled down the grand staircase and pushed open the heavy glass doors leading to the courtyard.

The crisp autumn air was tainted. Beneath the familiar scent of damp earth and pine, a bitter, acidic odor burned my nostrils. Wolfsbane.

A crowd of pack members stood in a wide, terrified circle on the manicured lawn. I pushed through the frozen warriors, my bare feet sinking into the cold grass. What I saw made the blood drain from my face.

River was on his knees. In his massive arms lay Leilany. Her body convulsed violently, her eyes rolled back into her head, and thick white foam bubbled past her pale lips. The sickeningly sweet scent of jasmine and peaches was drowned out by the lethal poison radiating from her pores.

Beside River’s knee, a crumpled piece of parchment fluttered in the wind.

"Alpha," a trembling Delta warrior whispered, pointing to the paper. "She left this note... She said the Luna’s cruelty... she said she couldn't take the bullying anymore."

River snatched the forged note. His broad shoulders went completely rigid. When he slowly lifted his head to look at me, my breath caught in my throat. His irises weren't their familiar, warm golden brown. They were completely pitch black. His inner wolf had taken over, driven into a blind, irrational frenzy by the sight of the dying Omega he had sworn to protect.

"You did this," River snarled. His voice wasn't his own; it was a demonic, layered growl that shook the yellowing leaves on the trees. "Her blood is on your hands, Serena."

"River, no," I choked out, stepping forward. I held my empty hands up in surrender. "I haven't left my room in seven days. I swear to the Moon Goddess, I had nothing to do with this!"

"Stay back!" he roared, clutching Leilany tighter to his chest.

"Please, just listen to me!" I took another desperate step toward my mate, needing to snap him out of this blinding delusion.

But River didn't see his Luna. He didn't see the woman he had loved since childhood. He only saw a threat to the fragile creature in his arms.

He lunged forward.

I braced myself, expecting him to shove me away. I expected the crushing, suffocating weight of his Alpha aura to force me to my knees once again.

I didn't expect the sickening sound of flesh tearing.

Slash.

Time stopped. The horrific sound echoed in my ears, drowning out the gasps of the surrounding pack. A sudden, blinding fire erupted across my stomach. I looked down, my mind unable to process the horror.

Four deep, jagged claw marks ripped horizontally across my abdomen. My pale sweater instantly soaked crimson, the hot, thick blood spilling over my trembling hands.

River stood frozen. The black receded from his eyes, replaced by a sudden flash of raw, unadulterated shock as he stared at his own blood-soaked claws.

Before he could even speak my name, my knees gave out.

I hit the grass hard. The pain was absolute, tearing through my physical body and ripping straight into my soul.

"Luna!" Beta Marcus’s voice shattered the paralyzing silence. He sprinted across the lawn, dropping to his knees beside me. His large hands pressed desperately against my torn flesh, trying to stem the massive flow of blood. "Get Healer Elena! Get her to the infirmary! Now!"

The world blurred into muted colors and distorted sounds. I felt myself being lifted into Marcus's arms, rushed down the sterile white hallways of the packhouse. The metallic smell of my own blood choked me, pulling me into a merciful darkness.

When I finally blinked against the harsh fluorescent lights, I was lying on a metal cot. The searing pain in my stomach was tightly bandaged, but it was eclipsed by a hollow, agonizing void echoing deep within my womb.

Healer Elena stood over me. Her medical apron was covered in my blood, and heavy tears streamed relentlessly down her face.

"Elena?" I whispered, my voice barely a dry rasp.

"Oh, Luna..." she sobbed, her shoulders shaking violently as she gripped the edge of my bed. "I tried. Goddess, I tried so hard to save it."

"Save what?" I breathed. A new, terrifying coldness gripped my heart.

Elena took my trembling hand in hers. She looked at me with a pity that shattered whatever was left of my soul. "You were pregnant, Serena. You were carrying the Alpha's pup."

The words hung in the sterile air, heavy and fatal.

"But the trauma..." She choked on a sob, her eyes dropping to my bandaged stomach. "The depth of the Alpha's claw wounds... I'm so sorry, Serena. The pup is gone."

Inside my mind, Maeve let out one final, blood-curdling wail before falling completely silent. The relentless nausea of the past week hadn't been our rotting bond. It had been my baby.

My fated mate hadn't just struck me. He had slaughtered our unborn child to protect a lying rogue.