Rejected Luna's Rise

The pain hadn't subsided. Not the physical pain from losing my baby, nor the hollow ache in my chest that had settled there like a permanent resident. Three days had passed since I'd watched my world bleed out onto that marble floor, and I still couldn't move from this bed without feeling like my body might shatter into a thousand pieces.

I stared at the ceiling, counting the tiny cracks in the plaster to distract myself from the emptiness inside me. The pack doctor had come once, briefly, to confirm what I already knew—our baby was gone. He'd left some pills and instructions I could barely focus enough to understand.

The door creaked open, and I didn't need to look to know who it was. His scent—pine and leather—filled the room, but there was no comfort in it anymore.

"You're still in bed," Bear said, his voice flat. Not a question. Not concern. Just... observation.

I turned my head slowly, wincing at the pain that radiated through my abdomen. "What do you want, Bear?"

He stood at the foot of the bed, hands in his pockets, his Alpha aura filling the small room like a suffocating blanket. His eyes were cold, detached, as if he were looking at a stranger.

"I came to tell you that you should be grateful for my mercy," he said, each word precise and cutting. "After your public embarrassment at the gala, I could have cast you out. But I'm keeping you as my mate."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. "Mercy? Is that what you call this?"

His jaw tightened. "You disrupted important pack business with your dramatics. Do you have any idea how much that gala cost? How many alliances were being negotiated?"

I pushed myself up on my elbows, ignoring the sharp pain in my lower back. "Our baby died, Bear. Your child. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Something flickered across his face—so brief I might have imagined it. But it wasn't grief or regret. It was annoyance.

"You need to get yourself together," he said, turning toward the door. "The pack doesn't stop functioning because of your... situation."

And then he was gone, the door closing with a soft click that felt more final than a slam.

---

I must have fallen asleep again, because when I opened my eyes, the room was darker, and someone else was there. Not Bear—this presence was warmer, gentler.

"Lucy," a deep voice said softly. "Can you hear me?"

I blinked, trying to focus on the figure sitting beside my bed. Broad shoulders, dark skin, kind eyes that seemed vaguely familiar.

"Zyaire?" I whispered, my voice cracking from disuse.

Zyaire Greene, Beta of the Moonveil Pack, took my hand carefully in his. "I came as soon as I heard. Are you in pain?"

Everything hurt—my body, my heart, my soul. But his touch was the first kindness I'd felt in days.

"Why are you here?" I asked, though part of me already knew. We'd been friends at the werewolf academy, before life and pack politics separated us.

"I told your Alpha I was here to discuss border security," he said, a small smile playing at his lips. "But really, I was worried about you."

He glanced around the sparse room, his expression darkening. "They haven't taken care of you at all, have they?"

I shook my head slightly. "Bear doesn't... he doesn't see me as worth caring for."

Zyaire's jaw tightened, but his voice remained gentle. "I've arranged for someone to help you. A healer from my pack."

"Your pack would help me?" I asked, surprised.

"Of course," he said simply. "You're important, Lucy."

Those four words broke something loose inside me—a dam I'd built to hold back the flood of hurt and betrayal.

---

The Moonveil healer arrived under cover of night, a small woman with skilled hands and a kind voice. She examined me thoroughly, her expression growing more troubled with each passing moment.

"This should have been treated properly days ago," she murmured, applying a special salve to my abdomen. "There could have been complications..."

But I barely heard her words. I was focused on Zyaire, who stood by the window, his back straight, alert to any sound or movement outside.

"Why are you doing this for me?" I asked him when the healer stepped out to prepare more medicine.

He turned, his golden-brown eyes meeting mine. "Because you deserve better than this, Lucy. You always have."

Something warm unfurled in my chest—the first hint of feeling since that night at the gala.

"They took everything from me," I whispered, tears filling my eyes. "The baby... my position... even basic care."

Zyaire moved closer, his presence comforting without being intrusive. "Tell me everything," he said softly. "All of it."

And so I did. The words poured out of me like blood from a wound—Bear's neglect, Katherine's cruelty, the way pack funds meant for Luna duties were diverted to Katherine's luxuries while I was denied even basic medical care.

With each revelation, Zyaire's expression grew darker, but his touch remained gentle as he occasionally squeezed my hand.

"You don't have to stay here," he said finally. "There are options, Lucy."

Options. The word hung in the air between us like a promise—or a threat.