The Rejected Luna’s Secret Twins

"Carys! How could you not tell me!"

Two days later, Chloe's voice cracked like a whip across the café. Her silver eyes flashed with her wolf's fury.

"You wait until now to tell me something this huge!"

I sat across from her, a small warmth spreading through my chest as I watched my best friend lose her mind on my behalf.

"That bastard Ryker!" Her voice rose. "I always said he was going crazy for his so-called 'strong bloodline'!"

Other customers started to stare.

"Chloe, keep your voice down."

"Quiet? Screw quiet!" She slammed her hand on the table. "It's not enough that he let that bitch move into your home? Now he's humiliating you in public!"

She shot to her feet, her wolf's presence growing stronger.

"I'm going to rip him apart right now!"

"It's okay." I quickly grabbed her hand, a weary smile on my face. "I don't care anymore."

Chloe froze, her eyes instantly turning red.

"How could you not care!" Her voice trembled. "You were mated for ten years! I saw how much pain you went through for him!"

She was right.

Every time Ryker was with another woman, the mate bond sent waves of soul-crushing agony through me. I would curl up on the bathroom floor, biting a towel to keep from screaming.

"You think I didn't see you on all those painful nights?" Chloe's tears started to fall. "Every time I wanted to kill him, you told me to wait, to just hold on a little longer."

Seeing the look on my face, she quickly wiped her tears.

"Fine, let's not talk about it."

Watching my friend fight for me, my nose began to sting. For ten years, she was the only one who stood by my side.

"Chloe." I said softly, placing her hand on my lower stomach. "I'm going to be a mother."

Chloe's eyes widened, and her face went pale.

"You're keeping Ryker's cub?" she practically screamed. "Carys, are you insane!"

Everyone in the café turned to look at us.

"It's not his," I clarified quickly.

Chloe's expression shifted from shock to confusion.

"Not his? Then who—"

Just as I was about to say Kian's name, the door to the restaurant's VIP room swung open.

Ryker walked out with his arm around Lorelei.

The woman was dressed in an expensive white dress, her stomach showing a slight swell. She was leaning against him, cooing.

"Ryker, the cub is kicking again. He must be so excited to feel his Alpha father."

Her voice was so sickeningly sweet it made me want to gag.

Chloe saw them, and pure rage ignited in her eyes.

She stood up abruptly and grabbed her glass of red wine.

"Chloe, no—"

But before I could finish, she was moving.

Splash.

The red wine hit her white dress like a spray of blood.

"Who the hell do you think you are, carrying an Alpha's child!"

Lorelei shrieked and immediately hid behind Ryker.

"Ryker, she's crazy!"

Ryker's face darkened as he shielded Lorelei.

"Chloe, what are you doing!"

"What am I doing?" Chloe sneered. "I'm teaching a shameless little bitch a lesson!"

Lorelei started to cry, looking pitiful. "I know this must be hard for you," she purred. "After all, being unable to give your Alpha an heir... to feel the joy of a cub connected to his bloodline in your womb... it's the greatest failure for a Luna. Ryker was only doing what was best for the pack. He had no choice but to... set you aside."

Her words were a knife straight to my heart.

Chloe was completely enraged. Lorelei wasn't just flaunting her pregnancy; she was using the "joy of motherhood" to define my "failure."

"Listen here, you little bitch!" she snarled, pointing a finger at Lorelei's face. "He has a Luna! What you're doing is called homewrecking! It's shameless!"

Lorelei clutched her stomach and burrowed deeper into Ryker's arms.

Ryker, finally snapping back to reality, shoved Chloe away.

His eyes were filled with a biting cold. "Chloe, watch your place! Carys is my Luna, and Lorelei is carrying my heir. You, an outsider, have no right to interfere."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over me before he added coldly, "And you have no right to disrespect the mother of my child."

Chloe's face went white at his words.

My own face hardened, and I stood to stop him.

But then I heard Lorelei’s tearful voice add the final blow. "Besides," she added, her voice dripping with fake sympathy, "if Ryker hadn't taken pity on you, how could a... defect... like you ever be Luna?"