Alpha's Rue:His Shunned Luna

AELIANA

Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.

I've learned to run from mine, the ones that unleashed demons to torment me for the rest of my life, but as I stare at the warning in my hand, I reckon I didn't run far enough. Not too fast either.

[To Aeliana Hartley, With the blessing of their families, Seraphine Paul Hartley & Diego Rollins request the honour of your presence to bear witness to the start of their union. Save the date: February 28th. Venue: Valour Hall] it reads, my name penned in cursive.

I don't understand why I have to go, I'm pretty sure the bride-my stepsister doesn't want me there. Sera and I don't get along, I'd hate to ruin her special day with my presence and besides, going back would mean soaking up waters that once drowned me.

That was why I tried to decline, made up every possible excuse to not attend but my father wouldn't hear it. He wouldn't want to appear as though he didn't have a perfect family, but he does. Without me that is. I'm the one who ruins things, the one who should have died in the delivery room, but mom died instead.

My heart races when the pack gates open, and I pull up to the checkpoint.

"Identification please," the pack patrol officer says. "And state your purpose."

"Aeliana Hartley, here for my sister's wedding. I will be residing in Oaks, house number twenty-six, Hartley Street." I say, handing him my passport.

The officer looks at me, then my ID. "Are you sure this is you?" He raises an eyebrow.

No, surely this is some kind of joke. The picture is a few years old, but I look the same, and I just had a sixteen- hour flight, not to mention the nine-hour flight before that one.

Thankfully, he doesn't press further. "And do you plan on staying long?"

"Sir, I was born here. I have every legal right and document to stay as long as I prefer, but I will only be here until tomorrow."

He nods, giving me back my ID card. "New pack laws state absence for more than five years warrants renewal of membership by the legal office."

"Good thing I'm just visiting," I smirk.

"Have a good one," he smiles, slapping the top of the car.

I give him one last smile before I drive away in my rental car. A service I'm grateful for because I don't want to bother anyone tomorrow when it's time to leave. I have several missed calls from dad, along with a few messages saying I'm late from my other siblings. In my opinion, I'm on time but in reality, I missed the church ceremony, and I'm going to get scolded for that but I'm here.

When I step out of the car, I'm met with many faces, some familiar, others not at all. The pack smells familiar, it smells like memories, both good and bad. So many memories that the air is almost suffocating, I want to get back into the car and get on the next flight out of here, but I can't.

I swallow down the lump creeping in my throat and remind myself it's just one day. One ceremony, a few fake smiles for the camera, and then I can leave again. People seem to be having a ball, a few others are drunk outside the hall, others are getting drunk, others are only just now arriving....like me.

My father stands near the entrance, his posture rigid, a cigar between his fingers while he speaks to a man I don't recognise. I'm thinking of a way to enter without him seeing me, but his eyes find me first, fast and cold. He's mad.

I take a deep breath and walk towards him. "You're late," he says.

"Flight issues," I calmly retort. If anything I wished for an emergency landing so I couldn't come.

Father nods, his jaw ticking. "Follow me," he says. Not bothering to introduce me to his colleague like he always does with my siblings.

He doesn't say a single word, he walks in front of him, and I follow, my heart syncing up with the fast pace of my heels clicking on the floor. People are staring at me, whispering, laughing, I'm getting every dirty look in the book and I know why. But it's one of those things I've decided to live with, the kind that doesn't matter where I'm at in life now.

Father leads me to a crowd of women, I can smell his wife before he turns to look at me. "Be seen." He orders, walking past them, leaving me with them.

"Honey-" Pandora, my stepmother calls out, her smile wide and bright. She must be so proud of her little girl Sera. This venue is expensive, and the wedding package they offer is just as expensive. "Oh, she came."

I lift my hand to wave, but she pulls me into a tight hug. "Hello, Liana baby." she kisses my cheek. "Lovely of you to join us."

"Liana?" Mrs Thorne gasps, "As in Aeliana? Freya's little girl?"

Mom Pandora nods, "Yes that's her."

"Oh my, you look so different, dear." Mrs Cole smiles, eyeing me up and down. "How beautiful."

I swallow, "Thank you." It's hardly a compliment, she's called me ugly a few times, and while Pandora stood up for me, she also laughed.

"You're so blessed Pandora, you have such gorgeous children." Another remarks, one I don't recognise. "Wow."

Mom laughs, the sound forced and fake. "Oh stop it. This one isn't even mine, I can't take credit for her."

Translation: she's a screw-up but not mine. I'm only the Hartley family's daughter when it's convenient and unfortunately for me, that's once in a never-blue-moon.

"Where have you been, little Freya?" Mrs Thorne asks with a smile. My mother's name is sweet on her tongue, from what I know they used to be good friends.

Before I can answer, Mrs Cole chimes in. "Are you mated dear?" She asks, not giving me a chance to speak-just like her daughter. "When is your wedding? Seraphine is merely two years older than you."

"I'm unmated"

"If you'd stayed in the pack rather than running off to do lord knows what, you'd have found him by now," Mom says.

Mrs Thorne snickers, "Oh, Pandora. Mates will always find each other, and there's nothing wrong with the girl, she's a looker she's bound to find someone to fall for her."

Mrs Cole rolls her eyes, unbothered by any attempt to hide her hostility towards me. "Beauty is one thing, character is another."

And there it is, the reason I left.

Half the pack has seen me naked, seen my shame, seen the pictures but no one asked for my side of the story. To them, there's nothing words could say any louder than pictures did and that's okay, I had no words then, I have no words now.

Mom nervously laughs, "Aeliana, why don't you say hi to your sister? It's her that you're here for isn't it?"

"Yeah," I nod, swallowing down my shame. "Excuse me."

"Wait-""Mom calls out, trying to come with me or rather escape the awkwardness and embarrassment my presence just cost our family, again."

I give her a small smile and shake my head. She stares for a moment before nodding for me to go ahead. The Valour Hall is large, but finding the bride isn't exactly hard. Seraphine and her friends are standing at the open bar, giggling and pointing at the guests, as usual.

"She doesn't see me, her friend Dalton is the first to see me. "Her smile vanishes as she taps my sister's shoulder. " Sera."

"What?" Sera asks, her eyes shifting when Dalton doesn't speak. Unlike Dalton, her smile widens. "Oh, would you look who it is, Aeliana."

"Hi sis," I force the words out. "Congratulations, you look lovely."

Seraphine pouts. "Oh, thank you."

"I must say, I thought you wouldn't show." Her friend says, "But here you are, and without a gift."

I frown, she's gotten bold. Usually, it's Seraphine's best friend who speaks to me like that, but I don't see her anywhere. Audrey and Seraphine are a package deal, could they have had a fall-out?

"Rita, it's fine." Seraphine stops her, "There's no need for two gifts I didn't ask for, her presence is enough."

"I'll just..."

"Wait, come here." Seraphine blurts out, her lips twitching with a smile. I know that smile, I hate it. It always means something is about to happen, something only her sadistic self finds funny, "You should meet my husband." She says, snapping her fingers, and walking away.

I roll my eyes, walking closely beside her while flashing my best smile for anyone watching, and trust me, everyone is watching the Gamma's daughter who was caught in one of the very few high school sex scandals. " He's been dying to see you."

"So, when I meet him, do I say condolences, or would you want me to lie and congratulate him on marrying you?"

Sera scoffs, "An invite doesn't mean show up. You know better than to be here." She tsks, pausing a few steps away from men in suits surrounding a table. "Bae," she sweetly calls out. "My sister is here."

A few men turn, none of them the groom but when he finally turns to meet us, my whole world spirals.

"Aeliana," he says. "Long time no see."

No.

That voice.

He smiles at me, and my stomach coils with disgust, disdain, and discomfort. Everyone is talking but I can't hear anything, my eyes start to ring. It's him.

The air in my lungs is deflating. I stumble backwards, and everyone's eyes fall on me.

My wolf mumbles something but I don't hear it, I'm too focused on trying to breathe, to run. Even the hem of my dress feels heavy. My vision is starting to double, I need out.

I need air...

I stumble into something hard, no, someone?

Nobody catches me, I fall to the floor, the ringing in my ears is dulled by the embarrassment, and when I try to stand, the worst thing that could have happened tonight spawns on me.

"Mate." My wolf says, "Mine."

My gaze lifts, immediately locking with cold eyes. And for the second time tonight? My whole world comes crumbling down.

No. Not him.

KINGSTON

My wolf has been restless over the last few days, asking for his mate, and tonight, he made a show of having me walk around in search of a mate that doesn't exist.

I'm past mating age, I was sure I was going to have to choose a mate, and I have though unmarked but she's my choice.

My girlfriend Audrey, had been a ray of sunshine when I needed it most, and the pack adores her very much. Audrey accompanied me out for a smoke, but when we returned inside, my wolf grew even more restless, ecstatic. This is the first of many times it's happened, and I was going to dismiss it until someone ran straight into me.

It wasn't her fault, I was looking at something Audrey was showing me, but when I look down to apologise, my wolf loses his mind.

"Mate," he chants repeatedly, each time more clear, possessive, claiming. His voice is so loud that it drowns out the music and chatter in the room. "Our mate, Kingston."

"Are you sure? She's scentless." I tell him.

I can't smell her but when her gaze lifts, everything changes. The bond hits me like a tidal wave, my chest burns. With anger, shock, and so many emotions I can't give name to.

Aeliana Hartley.

She's not supposed to be here. Not in my territory. Not in my life. Not anywhere close. Her eyes grow wide with a familiar hue of violet that only she has.

I can't believe my eyes. Aeliana disappeared from our lives almost five years ago, and no one has heard from her since and here she is, dressed in gold like the angel that I used to perceive her as.

"Mate," my wolf grumbles. "Claim her." He snaps.

My fists ball, nails digging into my palms as I fight hard to restrain myself. This has to be a joke, maybe my mate is somewhere in this room and not at my feet. Audrey tightens her grip on my arm, but I pull away, stepping closer to Aeliana.

She rises, and just like she does when things get hard? She tries to make a run for it, refusing to address what only we two just felt. I grab her arm, and a zap of electricity tremors through my hand. I don't think she felt it, she's still staring at me in disbelief. "You felt it, didn't you?" I ask, not the zap but the bond. That pull was strong, it almost brought me to my knees, and it weakened her for a moment.

Aeliana doesn't speak, she simply watches me, eyes distant, and her chest heaving. She's high. I've heard about this habit of hers, but it's my first time witnessing it. I'm disgusted, appalled at the moon goddess's choice for me. "You don't belong here, you can't be my mate."

"Let go," she swallows, her hand trembling.

"I'll make this very easy for both of us, Hartley." I bite out, refusing to say her name. I haven't said her name out loud in years but I will have to.

Her eyes soften, something flickers in them, but it passes so fast I don't get to decipher it. "Kingston, please.." she says, I'm unsure of what she's begging, for but there is no way we could be together. Not in this lifetime.

I straighten, I need to end this now. I can't have her for a mate, or for a Luna, my pack deserves better, and her selfishness won't ruin it. "I Alpha Kingston Vale of Mooncrest, reject you Aeliana Hartley, as my mate and Luna. I reject all bonds and sever all ties." I force the words out, pain clawing at my chest. People gasp, whisper, murmur. "Accept my rejection," I demand, squeezing her wrist tighter.

She doesn't speak, her lips part but nothing comes out. When a tear rolls down her cheek I snap again, "Accept my rejection." I growl.

"I Aeliana Hartley of Mooncrest," she begins, her voice raw and breaths heaving like she's running. I squeeze tighter and she chokes out a cry, "I accept your rejec..."

"No!" someone interrupts. I let go of Aeliana's wrist, ready to tear apart whoever dares interrupt. My jaw clenches when I see who it is. My father, Alpha Dante. "What is going on here?" He demands.

Someone beats me to it before I can speak. "Aeliana is Kingston's mate." The familiar voice says. My younger brother, Damien.

"Not for long," I counter. "I will sever this bond, it's a mistake. Someone like her could never be my mate, or my pack's Luna."

"You will do no such thing, King." Dad snaps, "Aeliana is fated, you can't reject her."

Fated?

Does he hear himself? She's not fated she's troubled, she's not fit to be my mate. "I already rejected her and I will do it again. All she has to do is accept it."

Aeliana's lip quivers. "I accept your..."

"No, Aeliana." My Dad interrupts yet again, stepping between us. "You can't reject a bond forged by not only the moon goodness herself, but the fates."

"Father," I warn.

"Aeliana is to be your Luna. If you reject her, you disrupt the order of things, you renounce your right to the pack, Kingston." He firmly asserts, watching me with a kind of disappointment he reserves for my other siblings.

Aeliana lets out a loud gasp, as if starving for air before she runs out. Nobody follows her, everyone is familiar with her dramatics.

"Without her, you will not be Alpha, the final handover won't happen. You can only get my blessing if she's by your side." He warns, "Gamma Hartley, a word."

I watch as he walks away and right behind him is Aeliana's father, People are whispering about what just happened, the public threat my dad bestowed upon me, and how Aeliana ruined Seraphine's wedding celebration.

A hand smooths over my bicep, I look down to find Audrey staring at me. "King," she chokes out, tears streaming down her cheeks. "What's happening?"

"Go home, Audrey." I gritt through my teeth, annoyed by the last twenty minutes. "I'll meet you there."

My dad's voice reaches me through the pack link, "Conference room fourteen."

That's all he says.

Knowing my dad, he'll be gone if I'm a second late so I walk fast, pacing my feet in alignment with the thumping sound in my chest. The door to conference room fourteen is slightly ajar, and inside are my mother, father, and Damien.

"Dad, I can't marry Aeliana."

"Why not?" he asks, swirling his liquor.

"Are you serious?" I scoff. "Don't you know..."

"If this is about her past incident, she made a mistake, she was young." he interrupts. But that's no excuse, she knew better than to act as she did. "What she did is no different from what you'd been doing, except there was no audience. The tape was unfortunate."

"It's not about the tape," I groan. Sure, I was disappointed when I learned Aeliana filmed herself getting fucked by some random man, but that's her personal business. It's the way she treated people that unerved me, the way she cut me out of her life like I was nothing, but she was everything to me. "Dad, you don't know the kind of person that she has turned into, Aeliana is..."

"King, calm down." Mom shakes her head, "You're getting so pale."

"Mom," I say with a heavy sigh. Of course, I'm pale, I just saw a ghost from my past and I'm bonded to it.

Mom frowns, "You used to love Aeliana, what changed?"

My answer is instant, obvious. "She changed, and the things she did..."

"Forget them," Dad groans, his tone bored. "Aeliana is going to be your Luna. You will marry her, and only her if you desire for the handover to proceed as planned."

My eyes shift to Mom and she nods, of course she'd agree with him. They're a team, something Aeliana and I can't be. "Your father is right, you have to marry your true mate, or you'll curse our bloodline."

"The bloodline will be fine. I'm not the first to reject a mate."

Anger flashes in Dad's eyes, "You will not reject her."

"I already have," I argue. He will drop this obsession with true mates, he didn't think I had a mate until minutes ago.

"And that better be the last time you say it, Son. Unless you want to pass on being Alpha."

I scoff. "Don't you think that's a bit too far?" I ask, an eyebrow raised. I have worked so hard for this pack, I earned the handover not only because I'm his first or oldest. "I can't just marry her, I have..."

"That lost omega who can't see left or right without you?" Mom chuckles.

I pause.

Shocked. She loves Audrey, everyone does. But suddenly Aeliana appears, and she's degrading her? "No, my love. You will drop her. The girl is sweet, but she doesn't have what it takes to be Luna."

"And Aeliana does?" I almost laugh. "What does Audrey have to do to become qualified? Is sleeping with random men the..."

My cheek flares up.

It takes a second for me to realise I've been slapped. Damien lowly chuckles when I go silent, touching my cheek. My Mom's gaze hardens, "If you don't want her say the word and your father will have one of your brothers be Alpha, but if you want this pack still? You will respect your Luna, Kingston."

Dad rises from his seat with a smirk that says, I had that slap coming the second I disagreed with him. "Come on, my Luna. It's late." He says.

They leave the room without so much as a goodbye. Aeliana has only been here a few minutes and everything is falling apart.

My leg swipes one of the chairs and it hits the little table at my left, breaking the glass vase on top of it. "Wooo," my brother whistles, nursing a bottle of beer. "Kingston," He calls out, proceeding to get close despite my silence. "Listen, if you're so attached to Audrey, keep her as your mistress." The idiot smirks, "Nobody cares, but is that pussy worth passing out on the keys to the kingdom..."

"Shut up," I groan, caressing my temples. I'm trying to soak in the last hour, and he won't quit talking.

"I don't get it, big bro, you've wanted this, and not for the reasons I did. You care about this pack, and you're just going to give it up? For Audrey?" He sneers, "You're smarter than that Kingston."

I shoot him a glare.

"Don't shoot the messenger because he's right." He smirks, raising his hands in defeat. "Just take my advice, the pack is safer in your hands. I'd ruin it, Callum would fuck it up. And Rowan could be better but he's not eligible unless he overthrows our father. Which is highly unlikely, Rowan kisses father ass he can't challenge him." He reminds me, his gaze shifting. "Oh, here's Row now."

"What's going on?"

"Aeliana?" I scoff. "Why her?"

"You've been obsessed with the girl you were in diapers, you've always had eyes for her so what's the problem now?" Damien asks, once again, unprovoked.

"Shut up Damien," I growl.

"Yo Rom, wasn't he obsessed with her?"

"Tread carefully," Rowan warns him.

"Come on," Damien chuckles. "Are you going to encourage him to give the pack up to be with Audrey just because she's pretty?" He pauses, and when no one answers him he speaks again. "And have you seen Aeliana yet? The girl grew into her body." he whistles, the sound ticking me off. "If I weren't mated or married already then trust, I'd have no problem pursuing her. Those tits? They look so sexy, juicy like something crafted for p**n by a skilled surgeon. I bet they're better when she's nak..."

My fist swings before I can think to stop myself. The collision leaves me with a dull ache in my knuckles. Damien chokes, stumbling. "King!" Rowan warns, rushing to aid my idiot brother.

Damien laughs, "Relax, everyone has seen her tit's although they were smaller back then."

I'm overstimulated, if he mentions Aeliana's tit's again I'm going to cripple him. Rowan must read my mind because he shakes his head. "Leave," he sighs. "You're drunk, he's annoyed, this will get bloody fast."

To my surprise, Damien listens but instead of going out the door he pauses and sighs heavily-loud. "All I did was try to be a good brother but fuck me and discard me like you will be doing with Audrey..." Damien smirk, "Or is it Aeliana you will discard?" He smirks, "Goodnight brother." He says, slipping away.

Between Damien, Dad, and Aeliana, I'm losing my mind. And Audrey.

God, what do I do?

She's dedicated her life to me, and the way she looked at me out there...

Rowan slaps a hand on my shoulder, "You good man?"

"Why her?" I grunt. I'd take a crazy woman over her, although there's not much difference between the two.

Rowan lets a brief chuckle. "Are you surprised? I mean, it's Aeliana."

"It's not," I snap. "The Aeliana we left doesn't exist anymore Rowan, you know what she did."

"I do," he nods. "I hate her actions too, but I'm not surprised she's your mate. Uncle is making you choose between the pack and a Luna of your choice..." he trails off on an unspoken thought. He can't even find the words.

"I know," I nod. Aeliana is no longer haunting my dreams, she's here again. 'Tis cruel of my father to make me choose between the pack and a life without Aeliana.

"So, what are you going to do?"