The Ragpicker Mate He Cast Aside

In the Lunar Maternity sanctuary.

I stared at my sleeping pup, his tiny chest rising and falling in a rhythmic cadence.

Suddenly, salt water stung my eyes.​

Once, I'd dared to dream of a future painted in the hues of three howls under the full moon: me, Peter, and our pup.

But reality had shattered those idyllic visions into a million jagged shards. Instead, my mate had chosen a she - wolf, and he'd callously branded our pup a stray.​

A low, feral growl rumbled in my throat.

"Moon blood test,".​

"When?"

"Three moons at quickest."​

With a swift, almost brutal motion, the nurse plucked two hairs from the pup's scalp. Before I could protest, she vanished into the shadows.​

Just then, Peter's snarl crackled through the air.

"Lila Vance! Return the pup, or I'll break the bond!"

"Bond break? Fine. Try me after the pup's first lunar howl."

A guard's voice shattered the tense quiet.

"A she - wolf claims to be your mother. Shall I let her in?"

A photo popped up on the communication device, and my breath caught in my throat. There, staring back at me, was Eden Thornfield, my mate's dam.​

Since joining the Thornfield line, she'd been a beacon of kindness in Peter's storm of cruelty, kinder than the mate who now sought to destroy me.​

"Admit her."​

Eden burst into the room like a whirlwind. "Lila! If Peter's crossed you, I'll rip his ear! Stay here, or come to my villa-"

She fussed over the pup, her maternal instincts in full force, until a healer's bark cut through the tender moment:​

"Time to nurse."​

Eden leaned in.​

"Mom! Stop staring!"

"Just checking the pup's milk source."

She huffed, but her gaze lingered, a hint of something unreadable flashing in her eyes before finally drifting back to the pup.​

When she left, I called my lawyer.

I knew Peter would stop at nothing to leave me homeless, to strip me of everything I held dear. I needed proof of his tryst with Freya Caldwell, evidence of their secret meetings at the Wolfsbane Academy.

Once, Eden had blocked Freya's bond to Peter, choosing me as the worthy mate.

Now, fate seemed to be playing a cruel, twisted game.

Dawn's first howl had barely echoed when Eden Thornfield stormed in.

Behind her, Peter Thornfield lunged through the flap.

"Lila Vance, don't think cozying up to my dam settles this," he snarled.

"Today, you take the pup for a moon blood test. I'll see if he's Thornfield stock!"

Before I could snarl back, he snatched the pup from his crib.

"Blasphemy!" Eden's hackles rose

. "Of course he's yours!"

"Freya saw her with a strange wolf!"

Peter barked. "Why else hide in this manor? Guilt!"

He tried to bolt, but Eden blocked him.

"Five years of moon herbs to bear your pup, and you call her a cheater?"

"Maybe she had litters with others first!" Peter yelled, hoisting the pup high.

The pup's wails summoned other she-wolves.

"See? The pack judges you!" Peter leered.