His Unwanted Mate: The Secret Silvermoon Heir

Isla POV

I used my ten-million-dollar dowry and exhausted my health to keep my mate's bankrupt pack afloat and buy life-saving elixirs for his dying mother.

However, when Alpha Justin finally returned from the war, he not only reeked of another she-wolf's scent, but also slapped a Royal Decree on the table, coldly announcing that Gamma Brenna would be his "Co-Luna."

His parasitic family, who had survived entirely on my blood and wealth, immediately turned on me, mocking me as a "wolfless orphan" whose family was slaughtered.

"Brenna is a warrior; she doesn't have the time to raise children," Justin told me arrogantly. "So, you will act as their unpaid nanny. If you behave, I'll sleep with you just once to give you a pup as a 'consolation prize.' But my heart and body belong entirely to Brenna."

They demanded I swallow this ultimate humiliation, step aside, and continue funding their luxurious lifestyle.

They thought I was a pathetic, wolfless victim who would obediently act as their personal ATM just to avoid being cast out into the woods as a Rogue.

They didn't know that my "wolfless" body harbored a rare, ancient White Wolf. They didn't know that Justin's so-called "heroic glory" was stolen-built on the slaughtered corpses of my family to cover up his own cowardice.

And they certainly didn't know I had already visited the Alpha King.

Keep your consolation prize, Justin.

I'm packing up every last cent of my ten million dollars and securing my Royal Severance Decree.

With the entire Royal Army standing behind me, I'm going to sit back and watch your arrogant pack starve to death.

--

The dim wall lamps of the Luna's Suite cast long, twisted shadows of the ancient oak trees outside. I sat perfectly still in the heavy, carved oak chair, my hands folded in my lap, counting the seconds. I was waiting for the triumphant return of my mate and newlywed husband, who had spent the last year fighting Rogues at the border.

The heavy oak door creaked open. Alpha Justin Hayes stepped into the room, wearing his scuffed, half-worn tactical armor.

"You're back!" A joyful smile broke across my face as I lifted my skirt and rushed forward, my heart pounding with a year's worth of longing.

But as I neared him, my smile shattered.

The first thing that hit my nose wasn't the familiar, intoxicating scent of his cologne and sweat. It was the sharp, suffocating stench of cheap spices and another she-wolf's pheromones.

My blood ran cold. The air was violently sucked from my lungs. My hands, which had reached out to embrace him, froze in mid-air and began to tremble uncontrollably. Deep within my soul, my dormant White Wolf let out a visceral, agonizing whimper before it twisted into a furious growl.

Justin recoiled slightly, as if my enthusiasm disgusted him. His eyes, once full of devotion, were now cold and impatient. He didn't even bother to greet me.

"I returned with Gamma Brenna Wilson," he announced, his voice devoid of any warmth or guilt. "She fought by my side this past year. We share a profound soul resonance, and the Alpha King has already granted my request to make her my Co-Luna, equal in rank to you."

A phantom silver blade plunged straight into my chest, twisting violently. "Soul resonance?" My voice cracked, barely a whisper. "Do you remember what you told me before you left?"

Before he marched to the battlefield, he had gently kissed my forehead, his eyes full of tenderness as he swore devoutly to the Moon Goddess: "For my entire life, I will only love Isla, my one and only Luna. Wait for me to bring back the news of victory."

He brought back the victory, yes. But he also brought back a knife to stab me in the back.

He scoffed, pacing the room with an arrogant swagger, completely dismissing my pain. "Forget those words. I didn't know what true love was back then. I only thought you were a suitable match-until I met Brenna."

Each word was a resounding slap to my face.

"She is different from you," Justin continued, his eyes practically dripping with tenderness at the mention of her name. "You are wolfless, uselessly waiting at home, offering me no help at all. Brenna possesses a powerful Inner Wolf. She can fight by my side and resonate with my Alpha blood. If you truly love me, you should respect my feelings."

He paused, adding with a sickening tone of mercy, "Besides, this is a Royal Decree we earned through our military merits. I don't need your permission. You should be thanking me that I didn't ask the Alpha King to strip you of your Luna title entirely."

A wave of profound nausea twisted my stomach. My fingers dug into my palms so hard my nails nearly pierced the skin. Yet, with a trembling breath and a lingering trace of desperate defiance, I asked, "Did your mother, Luna Bertha Hayes, agree to this?"

"Of course," Justin's voice softened remarkably. "Brenna has a bright and pleasing nature. She coaxed my mother into such good spirits that her condition has significantly improved."

A bitter, metallic taste flooded my mouth.

His mother had been gravely ill. During the year he was away, I managed the Bloodfang Pack's crumbling affairs by day and played the devoted nurse by night. I ate and slept by her bedside. I exhausted my own health and drained my dowry just to keep her breathing. And this was my reward? They gladly accepted my blood and sweat, only to welcome another woman the moment she smiled at them.

The agonizing pain in my chest suddenly peaked, and then... it went completely numb. The shattered pieces of my heart hardened into pure ice.

"Before I consider whether or not to respect your decision," I said, my voice eerily calm as I locked eyes with him, "I want to meet this future Luna with my own eyes."

"Absolutely not," Justin snapped, his tone laced with absolute disdain. "Brenna is the kingdom's first female Gamma. She doesn't have time for petty, inner-pack jealousy, nor would she want to entangle herself with a wolfless girl like you."

I slowly stood up, my spine perfectly straight. The air around me dropped a few degrees. "A girl like me? Justin, have you forgotten that I am a daughter of the Silvermoon Pack?"

"My father, Alpha Arthur Crawford, and my brothers bled into the earth defending this kingdom. Do not speak to me as if I am some ignorant child."

"That was them," Justin rolled his eyes, completely oblivious to the lethal stillness in my posture. "You're ultimately just a fragile woman who belongs hidden away in the Pack House, living off your dowry. Don't embarrass yourself by trying to stand in the presence of a real warrior. You'd suffocate under her Gamma aura."

He stared down at me, his chest heaving with arrogant indignation, waiting for the tears and the pathetic submission he believed he was owed.

I didn't give him the satisfaction.

Instead, I let out a soft, humorless laugh. It wasn't a sound of sorrow, but of chilling, absolute mockery that echoed in the dim Luna's Suite, making his Alpha brow twitch in sudden, inexplicable discomfort.

Isla POV

"A Gamma aura?" I repeated, my voice dropping to a deadly, icy whisper. "Justin, you speak so proudly of strength, yet you are completely blind to the pathetic reality of your own Pack. Bloodfang isn't a wolf pack anymore. It's a hollow shell."

His eyes narrowed dangerously, a low growl rumbling in his chest. "Watch your mouth, Isla."

"Or what?" I challenged. I didn't raise my voice, but I projected a sudden, suffocating stillness that made his Inner Wolf instinctively flinch. "Will you cut off my funds? Oh, wait. You can't."

I leaned forward slightly, stripping away his last shred of dignity. "Your Pack's vault couldn't even produce a hundred thousand dollars if your life depended on it. For the past year, while you were out finding your 'soul resonance,' I have been the one keeping this crumbling estate from collapsing. My dowry put the food on your Warriors' tables."

Justin stiffened. The arrogant swagger vanished, replaced by a defensive rigidity.

I tilted my head, locking my unyielding gaze with his. "And your mother, Luna Bertha? Those Lycanthrope Elixirs from Doctor Fritz Klein cost ten thousand dollars a pill. My dowry paid for every single one of them to keep her failing heart beating. You brought back a 'hero'? Let's see if her battlefield scraps can pay the medical bills."

Justin's face flushed a dark, ugly red. His fragile, unearned Alpha pride shattered violently against the cold, hard truth. He had been playing the victorious king, completely ignoring the fact that his throne was built entirely on my gold.

"You dare throw your money in my face?!" he snarled, his voice vibrating with a desperate, heavy wave of an Alpha's Command. It was meant to force me to my knees.

But the invisible pressure washed over my dormant White Wolf like a light, meaningless breeze. She didn't even blink.

Seeing that I was entirely unaffected, panic flickered in his eyes before he masked it with blind rage. "I am the Alpha! I am informing you of a Royal Decree, not asking for your permission. Brenna is moving in, and that is final!"

Unable to face my piercing stare any longer, he spun on his heel and stormed out, slamming the heavy oak door behind him. The suffocating reek of cheap spices and metallic blood trailed after him like a plague.

As his furious footsteps faded down the hall, the fragile, unsealed mate-bond in my chest gave a pathetic, dying throb. It was the biological instinct of a wolf losing its mate. But deep within my soul, my White Wolf let out a low, rumbling scoff of pure disdain. She felt no heartbreak-only relief. He wasn't worthy of us.

A soft, terrified sniffle broke the silence.

Effa Rose, my loyal wolfless maid, slipped out from the shadows of the adjoining dressing room. Her round face was streaked with tears, her eyes red and swollen from witnessing the humiliation I had just endured.

"Oh, My Lady," she wept, dropping to her knees beside my chair and clutching my skirt. "How could the Alpha be so cruel? After everything you've done for this Pack... After all the blood and sweat you poured into them..."

"Do not call him that, Effa," I said quietly. My voice was completely devoid of the sorrow she expected.

I reached up, brushing my fingertips against the smooth, unblemished skin of my neck. "He is no true mate of mine."

Effa blinked through her tears, staring at my bare neck. "But... the Moon Goddess... you are married..."

"A year of marriage," I murmured, a cold, mocking smile returning to my lips. "He left for the border the day after our wedding. He never gave me his Marking. Our bond was never sealed by blood. To me, he is nothing more than a stranger."

Effa choked on a sob, her fear for our future overwhelming her. "But your mother's dying wish... She wanted you safe here. She told you to stay hidden away from the wars and the bloodshed."

The sudden mention of my mother sent a violent jolt through my mind.

In a flash, the opulent walls of the Luna's Suite melted away. I was dragged back to the nightmare. I saw the burning ruins of the Silvermoon Pack. I could smell the suffocating stench of Rogues, the metallic tang of fresh blood, and the searing, unnatural burn of Silver weapons piercing wolf flesh. I saw my father, Alpha Arthur Crawford, and my brave brothers, their bodies torn apart defending our home.

And then, my mother's desperate, tear-soaked face flashed before me. She had smeared dirt on my face, screaming at me to suppress my aura, forcing me to hide my rare White Wolf bloodline just to survive the massacre.

The memory didn't bring tears. It brought a lethal, icy clarity that froze the last drop of warmth in my veins.

I was done hiding. I was done playing the weak, wolfless victim for a Pack of ungrateful leeches.

I reached out and firmly tapped Effa's forehead, snapping her out of her crying fit.

"Safety is an illusion, Effa," I said, my tone absolute, leaving no room for argument or fear. "Dry your tears and go to my private vault."

"M-My Lady?" she stammered, rubbing her forehead, stunned by the sudden shift in my aura.

"Bring me the Dowry Ledger," I commanded, standing up to my full height. The weak, heartbroken wife was gone. "Every last cent of the ten million dollars I brought to this pathetic Pack is leaving with me. I am going to watch them starve."

Isla POV

The heavy, leather-bound Dowry Ledger hit the mahogany table with a solid, final thud. Beside it sat a locked wooden box containing my land deeds and bank certificates.

Effa Rose stood trembling beside the table, her round face pale. As a wolfless maid, the world outside the Pack borders was nothing but a death sentence to her. "My Lady," she whispered, her voice cracking. "If we leave... where will we go? What if we become Rogues? We have no Warriors to protect us."

At the word Rogues, the phantom stench of rotting flesh and metallic blood filled my nose again. My mind violently dragged me back to the ruins of the Silvermoon Pack-the torn bodies of my brothers, the lifeless eyes of my father. Deep within my soul, my dormant White Wolf let out a low, resonant growl. It wasn't a sound of fear. It was a vow of absolute, unyielding resolve.

I reached out and gently squeezed Effa's trembling shoulder. "Anywhere is better than a Pack that reeks of betrayal and rot, Effa. But do not worry. We are not sneaking out into the woods like banished criminals."

She looked up, wiping her red eyes. "Then how?"

"I am the daughter of Alpha Arthur Crawford," I said, my voice steady and cold as ice. "My father bled for this kingdom. I will not let Justin Hayes discard me in the shadows. We are going to the Royal Capital. I will demand an audience with Alpha King Adrian Reynolds, and I will Accept the Rejection in front of the King himself. I will sever this bond legally, publicly, and I am taking every last cent of my ten million dollars with me."

Effa gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, but the sheer terror in her eyes slowly morphed into a glimmer of awe.

By the time evening fell, the sky outside the window had turned the color of bruised blood, and a bitter autumn wind rattled the glass panes. A sharp knock interrupted the silence. Gilda Brock, Bertha's personal maid, stood in the doorway. She reeked of cheap face powder and newly inflated arrogance.

"Luna Bertha requests your presence in her quarters," Gilda announced, her chin tilted up, clearly treating me like a deposed Luna.

I didn't bother replying. I simply walked past her, my posture perfectly straight, treating her like the invisible dust she was.

The moment I stepped into Luna Bertha's quarters, the suffocating scent of decaying leaves-Bertha's natural scent-mixed with the heavy, bitter stench of medicinal herbs assaulted my senses.

The room was crowded, a pathetic assembly of the Hayes family. Brent Hayes, Justin's older brother, stood near the wall, his weak Inner Wolf practically invisible. Beside him was his wife, Amanda, a timid Omega who kept her eyes glued to the floor. Sitting on the velvet sofa was Kaci, Justin's sixteen-year-old sister. Having just experienced her first Shift, she radiated the sour scent of unripe fruit and glared at me with newfound, puffed-up arrogance.

Only Elder Alda, the matriarch of the second branch, sat quietly in the corner. Her cold mint scent remained completely detached, her sharp eyes observing the room with silent disdain.

Bertha was propped up against a mountain of pillows on her massive bed. Her skin was sallow, her hands resembling skeletal claws. Yet, she forced a sickeningly sweet smile as I approached.

"Isla, my dear," Bertha croaked, reaching out to grab my hand.

I let her take it, forcing my stomach not to churn at the cold, greedy clamminess of her skin. She needed me. Or rather, she needed my dowry to keep buying those ten-thousand-dollar Lycanthrope Elixirs to keep her failing heart beating.

"I know Justin's news must have been a terrible shock," Bertha began, her tone dripping with fake sympathy. "But you must be reasonable, child. With the Silvermoon Pack gone... a wolfless girl like you has no backing. You need the protection of the Bloodfang Pack to survive. Justin is an Alpha; he needs a strong warrior by his side. You must be generous and welcome Brenna. It is for the greater good of our family."

My White Wolf gagged in absolute disgust. They really thought I was a pathetic, helpless orphan clinging to their scraps. They thought they could use my slaughtered family as a weapon to force me into submission, all while I paid for the very breath in Bertha's lungs.

I smoothly and firmly pulled my hand out of Bertha's skeletal grip. The temperature in the room seemed to plummet.

I looked down at her, my expression entirely unreadable. "Tell me, Bertha," I said, my voice cutting through the heavy, suffocating silence like a silver blade. "Have you already met Gamma Brenna in private?"

Bertha's fake, motherly smile instantly shattered. She was completely caught off guard by the direct, razor-sharp question.

"I... well, I..." Bertha stammered, her eyes darting nervously toward Brent and Kaci. She cleared her throat, frantically trying to recover her poise. "She is a bit rough around the edges, of course. She lacks the proper etiquette of a noble Luna, but her military merits-"

She was already making excuses for the woman who was supposed to replace me. The sheer audacity of this family was almost laughable.