The Rejected Luna: Rise of the White Wolf Queen

Maya Goldstein POV:

The Silver Moon Pack's "Full Moon Festival" was less a celebration and more a masterclass in hypocrisy.

Bonfires roared in the clearing, casting frenetic, dancing shadows against the trees. Tables creaked under the weight of gluttonous feasts. Music pulsed through the ground, forcing a rhythmic beat that felt out of sync with the anxious heartbeat of the pack.

I stood next to Liam on the raised dais. He was wearing his ceremonial Alpha robes, looking every bit the king he believed himself to be. He had his arm around my waist, his grip bruisingly tight, performative and possessive.

"Smile, Maya," he hissed against the shell of my ear. "The Elders are watching."

I stretched my lips into a grimace that barely passed for a smile. The amulet Elder Martha had pressed upon me burned against my skin, hidden beneath my dress. It was a heavy anchor, grounding my energy, protecting the baby from the chaos I was about to unleash.

Liam stepped back and presented me with a velvet box. "A gift for my Luna," he announced, his voice booming theatrically over the crowd.

He pulled out a necklace. It was heavy, gaudy, centered with a massive red ruby that looked like a drop of coagulated blood.

It was hideous. It was exactly the kind of thing Ava would wear. He didn't even know my taste anymore—or perhaps he just didn't care.

"Thank you, Alpha," I said, my voice hollow.

Suddenly, a hush swept over the crowd, strangling the conversation. The music cut out abruptly.

I looked towards the edge of the clearing.

Ava Sinclair was walking towards the dais. She wasn't wearing pack colors. She was wearing a flowing white gown that hugged her body, emphasizing the slight, deliberate curve of her stomach.

She looked like a bride. Or a queen.

She walked right up to the dais, parting the sea of pack members who gasped in her wake. Her eyes were locked on Liam.

"Liam," she said, her voice clear and ringing in the silence. "Our son is kicking."

The silence that followed was absolute. It was as if the air had been sucked out of the clearing, leaving a vacuum of shock.

Every eye turned to me. The pity. The shock. The humiliation. I felt naked, stripped of my dignity in front of the people I had served for years.

"Ava," Liam said, his voice cracking. He stepped away from me, moving instinctively towards her like a moth to a flame. "What are you doing here? We discussed—"

"I'm tired of hiding!" Ava shouted, turning to the crowd. She placed a hand on her belly. "I am carrying the Alpha's true heir! Why should I hide in the shadows while *she*—"

She pointed a manicured finger at me. "—stands there wearing a crown she doesn't deserve?"

Marc Chen, Liam's Beta, stepped forward, conflict warring in his eyes. "Ava, this is not the time—"

"Don't touch me!" Ava shrieked. She looked at me with pure venom. "And take that off. That necklace. It was meant for me anyway."

She reached out, her fingers clawing for the ruby necklace Liam had just put on me.

I slapped her hand away. "Don't touch me, you parasite."

The sound of the slap echoed like a gunshot.

Ava gasped, stumbling back with a dramatic flair. "Liam! She hurt me! She hurt the baby!"

Liam’s head snapped towards me. His eyes were black—his wolf was surfacing. Not to protect me. To protect *her*.

"Maya! Submit!" he roared, using the Alpha's Command.

The power of his voice hit me like a physical blow to the gut. My knees buckled instantly. I couldn't control my muscles; my own body betrayed me, forcing me down. The Command crushed my will into submission.

I fell hard onto the wooden planks of the dais. My elbow struck a protruding nail, tearing the skin. Blood trickled down my arm, staining my dress crimson.

Pain. Humiliation. Rage.

I looked up. Liam wasn't looking at me. He was holding Ava, checking her for injuries she didn't have.

"Are you okay?" he whispered to her, his voice tender.

"She tried to kill our baby," Ava sobbed into his chest, smirking at me over his shoulder. She reached up and unclasped a simple silver chain from her neck—*my* grandmother's locket, which I thought I had lost months ago—and flaunted it.

She had been stealing from me. She had been living my life.

Beta Marc looked at me, then looked away, shame burning on his face. He offered me a hand, but his grip was weak, hesitant. "Luna, please... just go to your room."

"No," I whispered.

The Command was fading. My White Wolf was furious. She was clawing at the mental barriers, fueled by the sheer indignity of seeing my mate choose a lying mistress over me.

I pushed myself up. My arm was throbbing, but the pain gave me clarity.

The pack was murmuring.

*Did the Alpha just Command the Luna?*

*He chose the mistress.*

*The bond is broken.*

I looked at Liam. He was ushering Ava away from the crowd, shielding her body with his own. He left me bleeding on the floor.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a dried sprig of Moon Grass—the first gift Liam ever gave me, supposedly to heal a childhood wound.

I crushed it in my hand. I felt the brittle stems snap, turning to powder. Dust fell to the floor.

I stood up. I wiped the blood from my elbow. I looked at the crowd. I didn't see my pack anymore. I saw witnesses.

I looked up at the full moon.

*You want a show?* my Inner Wolf snarled. *I'll give you a finale.*