His Rejected Mate, His Secret Queen

The moonveil park's gathering is a storm of hope and betrayal. Since I was ten, I had anticipated this day and finally today it was here.

I'm Lila Evergreen, eighteen years tall and a common omega which no one spoke about.

Nobody knew about me till today, the day that the wolf in me got tired of hiding. For the first time, the wolf in me stirred. I shifted, and immediately I felt an electric connection with him, my mate-Evan Thornhart, the alpha of the pack.

I was excited and filled with anticipation, so I ran towards him, screaming and shouting his name.

Evan, I screamed at the top of my voice. You felt the same way, right?

Evan came forward, his face looking confused, like he didn't know what I was talking about.

"Felt what," he asked me with a commanding, intimidating tone.

"The bond, the connection, you're my mate Evan. I felt it very strongly".

"No, I didn't feel anything, and you are not my mate, Lila," Evan shouted.

"You can't be serious, Evan," I said, breathless and heartbroken. You felt it too. I know you did."

"I don't know what kind of fantasy you're living in, Lila," he said. This time so loudly that everyone around us could hear. "I would never accept a lowly omega like you as my mate."

There was another loud roar among the pack gathering which was followed by a heavy silence.

I stood frozen, there came a heavy wind which swept through the mark that had appeared the moment my wolf stirred. My wolf had roared with excitement the moment it happened.

But now... this?

"You're rejecting me?" I whispered, my voice audible enough.

He scoffed in a ridiculous manner. "What else do you want me to say? You're not my equal.

You are a common omega and can't be bound to a royal bloodline. The only person fit to be my mate is Clarissa Vain. She is of the royal lineage and worthy of becoming the Luna.

As if summoned by his betrayal, Clarissa stepped forward, her hips swaying, her sleek golden hair catching the moonlight like a goddess descending from the stars. She wraps her arm around Evan's with a smile that says she has won.

"I'm sorry, Lila," she said, not sorry really. "You really thought you were his mate? That's adorable."

"No," I shouted, "this isn't right." The bond, I felt it and I know what I felt, Evan."

"There is no bond," Evan snapped. What you felt was your desperation, not fate. "The moon goddess must've made a mistake."

A sharp, collective gasp echoed through the crowd at his blasphemy. Even daring to question the moon goddess during the Bondmate Ceremony-the most sacred tradition of our kind.

Tears blurred my vision as I realized some of the pack were beginning to make mockery of me. Some of the she-wolves shook their heads in pity.

"Did I imagine it all?"

I looked down at the soft glow on my skin, already fading.

"No... this mark doesn't lie."

But then... why?

Why did it feel like my soul was tearing apart?

I sank to my knees in the middle of the pack circle. The same earth I'd dreamed of dancing on beside my fated mate now felt like it was swallowing me whole.

"Maybe she forced the bond," someone whispered.

"She's just an omega. "She probably did some spelling," another muttered.

"No one like her would ever be chosen. Evan deserves someone of alpha blood."

Their words were like daggers, each one digging deeper into my heart.

I bent forward, clutching my chest and shaking. "Moon goddess, I whispered in tears, why would you do this to me?"

This was supposed to be the happiest night of my life. The Annual Moon Ceremony-where fated mates were revealed under the goddess's light. I had trained for this moment, hoped for it and prayed under every full moon for the moment everyone looked forward to.

And I felt it, the instant shifting, the connection and the pull until Evan rejected me.

We weren't strangers. I wasn't some random wolf trying to claim him.

No.

We had a history.

"Please," I said tearfully, still on my knees. "Tell me you are joking."

Evan's jaw tightened. "I'm serious, Lila. And you need to stop making a scene."

Clarissa laughed beside him. "Too late for that." She'd already embarrassed herself in front of the whole pack. What a tragic little fairytale."

The laughter rose again-low, cruel, echoing around me like a nightmare.

"I didn't ask for this bond!" I shouted suddenly, the words too strong for me to say. "I didn't want it to be you-but it is! You think I wanted this pain? You think I chose you?"

"You don't belong with me, Lila," he said, his voice low but firm. Accept it. Walk away with dignity."

Dignity?

I had none left.

I staggered to my feet, my legs trembling like a newborn baby.

"You told me I was special," I said, my voice cracking. "Was that a lie too?"

He didn't answer.

I took a deep breath, holding back the scream blocking my throat. I turned around and pushed through the crowd, not caring when I ran into someone or what they were saying about me.

I just needed to run, far away from this shame.

I ran with my limbs aching and my heart tearing at the same time. My feet pounded the earth as I ran into the forest.

But I didn't stop.

I couldn't stop.

Because the moment I did, I knew the pain would swallow me whole.

I stumbled over a root and fell hard, scraping my palms on the rough dirt. My breath started to cut, and my body burned like burning charcoal.

Something was wrong, but I couldn't decipher what it was.

I pressed my palm into my stomach. A sharp pain twisted through my abdomen, fierce and hot.

My vision was blurred. I leaned against a tree to regain my strength.

"What... what is this?" I whispered. "Moon goddess, what's happening to me?"

I felt so dizzy instantly.

I lay there tired and confused, and then I remembered, just like a flash, I remembered all the memories I had shared with Evan.

The night Evan kissed me under the blood moon, just a few months ago. I could remember vividly the hunger I sensed in his kiss, how his hand trembled when he held me like I was his breath.

"You're mine," he had cried then, burying his face in my neck. "Even if no one sees you, I see you."

Lie, I muttered to myself, everything he had told were all lies.

My stomach twisted again, harder this time.

I screamed at the pain that gripped me. I was confused and didn't know how to help myself, curled into myself holding my stomach with trembling hands.

This wasn't just about the rejection and shame, it was something more .

Am I?

No it can't be.

"Please, I whispered to the moon goddess again," don't let this be the end of me.

And that was the last thing I remembered.

Pain was the first thing I felt when I opened my eyes. It was not just an ordinary ache in my body, it was a deep pulling sensation that came from-I don't know where-which seemed to have taken away all my strength.

I heard faint voices, it seemed to come from a long distance.

"She's still breathing, thank the Moon."

I blinked against the blinding white light above me, then I realized it was already morning. Just then, I saw a strange face hovering over me. I opened my eyes clearly to see a tall but lean figure that looked too old to be alive but still glowing with strange serenity. Her eyes were pale and her mouth black.

"You're awake," she said softly. Stay still and don't move. You are safe now."

"Who are you?

"My name is Mariya. I found you collapsed and lying lifeless here in the woods, but luckily for you, I usually pass here, so I happened to have found you on time.

I tried to sit up, but pain lanched through my side. My breath caught and I felt weak instantly.

"Careful," she warned, gently placing a hand on my shoulder. "Your body's been through something fierce." You were burning up with a fever, and you kept muttering strange words in your sleep. I think you are..."

She hesitated.

I turned my head slowly toward her. "I'm what?"

Mariya studied me carefully. "You're carrying life inside you, meaning you are pregnant."

Pregnant! The word stuck in my ear. There was silence for a little moment.

I blinked again. "No, that can't be true."

"But it is, you are pregnant, and I can tell you that for sure.

I was mute and confused for a while. How could I be pregnant, I muttered in my heart.

He rejected me and now his child is inside me.

"No," I whispered again, this time anger in my voice. He rejected me, he said I was nothing. How could the Moon Goddess still tie us like this?"

Mariya sighed and helped me sit against a tree trunk. "Sometimes things that happen are things we may never understand. Fate doesn't bind us to what we want but what must be. You must embrace yourself and become strong for you and your baby."

Tears rolled down my eyes. "I don't want this."

"You may not have wanted it, but it's already happened and the child you carry is innocent, "Mariya said again.

I stared into the distant trees, everywhere looking strange.

"I don't know how."

Mariya smiled faintly. "Then let me show you."

---

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Mariya took me deep into the mountain trails, to an old cottage nestled high above the valley. A place that is hidden and safe, surrounded by thick woods.

I gave birth under a full moon to a baby boy. Leo.

He came out screaming like a warrior, with silver flecks in his eyes and a tiny crescent birthmark over his heart.

I cried when I held him-for what I had lost and for what I had gained.

And I cried because I knew one day, he'd want to know who his father was.

Mariya never rushed me. But she never let me wallow either.

"Come," she'd say each morning. "The wolf inside you is restless, it's time to make her rest."

And so, the training journey of my new life began.

Mariya taught me how to fight, how to center my mind and keep my emotions from controlling my shift. How to breathe when rage threatened to unravel me. How to strike without mercy, how to endure pain without showing it

"You are not just an omega," she said one morning, tossing me a staff. "You are now a mother and a fighter. You don't have to beg the world anymore to see your worth. You must show them."

We trained through the wind, through the cold, even through rain. Most times my muscles screamed at the constant pull, my wolf snarled in frustration, but I never gave up. I kept on pushing.

I did it because I needed to be strong for myself and my son. Because I didn't have to let Evan's betrayal define me.

---

One evening, after training, Mariya handed me a small blade. It was simple but looked so deadly.

"This belonged to my mother," she said. She taught me how to fight when the world tried to break me. Now, I'm passing it on to you."

"Why me?"

"Because the ones who are broken know how to fight the hardest."

I held the blade in my hand and felt a part of myself lock into place.

That night, while Leo slept in his crib, I stood beneath the moon and let my wolf rise. My shift was smoother now, more powerful. Her fur was darker and her eyes sharp.

I was no longer an omega-I was now a fighter and a warrior.

---

The next morning, while Mariya bathed Leo in the wooden tub, which was unlike her, she usually insisted I do the bathing.

The room was quiet except for the sound of water trickling, and suddenly Mariya froze.

I turned just in time to see her eyes widen, her entire body going rigid.

"Mariya?" I called, standing at the door. "What is it?"

She didn't answer.

Her fingers trembled as they gently brushed behind Leo's ear again, her expression showing that something was wrong.

And then-

She screamed, "It's the same mark, Lila!"

"What mark?"

"The same mark you have-Leo has it too. This is not ordinary."

"You're confusing me, Mariya. What is not ordinary?"

Before I could finish, Mariya ran out, so hastily that I had to run after her, forgetting I had left Leo behind.

"Mariya!" I continued screaming as I ran after her, my feet making a heavy sound. But she ran so fast, like a wild animal, that I couldn't catch up with her.

"Wait! "What do you mean by the same mark?" I shouted as I ran after her.

But she was gone.

I stopped, panting so heavily and unable to catch my breath. The air was thick with pine, and instantly I smelled something different. I looked beside an old tree, and there lay a man, wounded and lying in his own pool of blood.

He was massive, almost unnaturally so, with dark hair matted to his head. He was bleeding heavily, and his leg was twisted at an odd angle. But what struck me most was the armor around his waist-it's something I had never seen since childhood.

I should've run. Instead, I rushed to where he lay.

"Hey! Hey, can you hear me?"

He groaned so weakly. I touched his neck with my hands and I could still feel some pulse. I knew he was still alive.

With all of my strength, I carried him home and nursed him back to life.

When we got home, Mariya was not yet back.

After I cleaned his wounds and dressed him, I sat down patiently waiting for Mariya.

Leo stirred in his crib, and I went to feed him. When I returned, the man was awake.

His eyes locked on mine. Immediately, our gazes matched-those pale, weak eyes had transformed into golden, scary ones.

And then, suddenly, he sat up.

"Don't move," I said quickly. "You're still healing."

His eyes scanned me, then the room, and then Leo.

He looked at me again and saw the mark-the same mark Mariya talked about.

He jolted.

"Your Majesty," he breathed, his voice cracking.

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

Then he dropped to his knees, wincing at the pain.

"Forgive me. I didn't realize I was in the presence of the Bloodline."

I stared at him, confused, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

He didn't answer. Instead, his eyes searched my face, then fell to Leo.

"The child... he bears the Moon Crest. Only the royal heirs carry that birthmark."

My throat dried. "Moon Crest?"

He pointed to the spot beneath Leo's ear.

"That mark is sacred. It's the seal of the true Luna lineage, you must be the omega heiress.

"That's impossible," I said.

"It is not. I have seen that mark only once before, on the late Queen's child, before the massacre."

Before I could speak, the door burst open, and Mariya came in.

Her face looked pale, and immediately she saw him-the wounded warrior. Her facial expression changed.

"What is he doing here?"

"He was dying," I said. "I brought him here so I could help him."

Mariya rushed forward, shoved the man against the wall. "Who sent you? Speak now!"

He winced but held her gaze. "I serve no one. I was part of the Crescent Guard, but we were betrayed. I was the only one that escaped. "I have been on a search to find the remnants of the royal bloodline, and I think I have found her," he said, nodding his head towards me.

"Her."

Mariya looked at me and then at Leo.

Then she stepped back, slowly.

"You need to go," she told him quietly. "You've done enough, leave before the others find you."

The man nodded and left almost immediately.

Days had passed.

But Mariya was still quiet, always watching Leo with a look of contemplation. She avoided my questions.

And then, the signs began.

It started small. Leo stopped crying during the full moon. Instead, he would stare up at the sky with his eyes wide open.

Next, he began humming-soft, melodic sounds that didn't belong to any lullaby I ever taught him.

One night, as I bathed him, the water began to glow around his body. I blinked, thinking I was imagining things, but it was real. The glow pulsed like a heartbeat.

Then came the dream.

I saw a throne. It was golden and surrounded by light of different colors.

Leo stood before it, but in the dream, he appeared much older, dressed in silver fur, and his eyes glowed like those of the moon. On his head rested a crown of leaves.

And when he turned to me, he said, "The time has come."

I woke up, sweating and panting heavily.

Later, while feeding him, the cottage began to tremble-little by little, until it became bigger.

I carried him to where Mariya was.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He did," she said, pointing to Leo. "The earth answered him."

I held him tighter.

"What is he becoming, Mariya?"

She stared at him, her voice trembling.

"Not becoming, Lila. He already is."

Before I could ask another question, a knock came in.

We both turned but didn't move to open the door.

The knock came again, this time faster and louder.

We still didn't open. There was silence for some time but we saw a paper slip beneath the door.

Mariya picked it up, read it and handed it over to me .

It was a letter, which had only one line; Lila of lycan, you must return to moonveil to fulfill the blood pact.