My Alpha Mate Rejected My Divine Pregnancy

"Lila, you're pregnant."

Elena, the pack's healer and my guardian, had spoken those words when she was in the cottage earlier today. They cut through me like a knife, and they still rang in my ears long after she was gone.

Pregnant? How could that be? I had never even been touched by a man.

I sat up on the small bed in the tiny cottage the pack had given me, staring into space. My heart pounded so hard it echoed in my ears. The silence pressed in on me, I was all alone now.

"I... I think you must be mistaken," I responded to her, my throat dry. "That's not possible."

Elena had only looked at me with pity, her wrinkled hands clutching the herbal concoction she'd made earlier. "The signs are clear, my child. I know what I felt, what I heard. There is life inside you. A strong one."

Her words made the air heavy, and my skin went cold as they crashed into me. Pregnant. Me. A weak omega that has not even gotten her wolf, the orphan of the Silver Moon Pack that everyone pitied at best, and ridiculed at worst. If anyone found out, the insults would get worse, and the bullying and punishments would increase. Calling me a disgrace would be the nicest word in their books.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trembling. The mate ceremony was only days away. If the Alpha, found out that I am pregnant I won't be allowed to participate, the only chance I had in escaping this hellhole has been terminated. Even if I were allowed to participate in the ceremony, what would happen when my supposed fated mate finds out??

He would reject me.

I stood up, walked towards the cracked mirror, and stared at myself for a while still in thought.

The girl in the mirror looked back at me like a stranger, skinny, frail, with crimson red eyes that made them call me a curse. When I blinked, I saw another memory, an old memory.

I went back to the day Elena found me. It's the first thing I can remember after being found, and I remembered it as clear as if it just happened yesterday. People don't believe me when I say that, because I don't remember anything from before that day.

The river was freezing, it looked like it went on forever, and all I could see was darkness.

I was barely old enough to stand but then I recalled shivering on the muddy bank. I was told I was found there, my body half in the water, the moonlight clinging to me like a veil. Elena said I had not cried, not even once, which was true. I just stared with eyes too old for a child.

She had carried me into the pack, wrapped in her shawl, like some stray pup. Took me to the elders who then tried to read my Moon Star that night, to trace my bloodline, but their power slid off me like water. Something shielded me. Something they could not name.

"Blocked," the eldest of them whispered. "That can only mean weakness."

And that word has followed me ever since. Weak.

I blinked, my reflection sharpening again. My fingers brushed the wolf-shaped birthmark on my collarbone, the only thing along with the color of my eyes I had that set me apart. But even that was wrong, too strange to belong.

The door creaked open and Elena stepped inside, her arms full of herbs and folded cloth. Her sharp eyes softened the moment they landed on me, standing frail in front of the mirror.

"I brought supplies," she said gently, setting the bundle on the wooden table. "You shouldn't be alone right now," she murmured, her voice low but urgent.

I forced a bitter smile sitting in front of her. "I have always been alone."

The smell of sage and wild mint filled the room, but it couldn't chase away the heaviness between us.

She sat down beside me, brushing strands of hair from my face. "Lila, we need to talk."

"Listen to me, Lila. This child... It is not ordinary but if Alpha Kai learns about this, he'll....."

"He'll punish me," I cut in, tightening my throat. "He'll banish me before the pack even gathers. Maybe I should..." My voice dropped to a whisper. "Maybe I should remove it.

Elena's eyes showed sudden intensity, almost sacred. "Don't speak that curse. This pregnancy... It doesn't seem normal. It is divine. I can feel it. The Moon Goddess has placed something inside you. Something I don't think the pack would understand."

We both fell silent, listening to the firewood burn.

Then she spoke ever so softly. "We will hide this until after the mate ceremony or better still we don't have to speak of this at all and that's our only option because the Alpha must never hear of it."

I swallowed hard and my throat felt really sore."And if I don't make it through the ceremony?"

Her gaze softened, her eyes glistening. "Then I will protect you as best I can. But for now, staying quiet will keep us safe."

She cupped my face briefly before standing up. "Stay strong, Lila. And please try to stay out of sight for now."

I gave a small nod because both of us knew staying out of sight would be next to impossible. She muttered a quiet prayer while gathering the herbs and wolfsbane, then a sudden snap echoed outside, like a branch breaking underfoot.

I immediately went to bolt the door behind.

******

Elena left the cottage at last, her lantern glow fading into the woods. I lay beneath my thin blanket, hands pressed against my stomach.

Sleep came effortlessly. One moment I was in my bed, the next I stood barefoot in a river of silver light. The water glowed around me, cool yet burning, and when I looked at my reflection, I saw not one, but two shadows behind me.

One was me when I was a child and the other was a huge white wolf with red streaks and red glowing eyes just like mine, I didn't recognize the wolf though but it looked enormous, dangerous and still beautiful at the same time.

Before I could turn back to fully grasp her beauty a strong wind came and blew me to a forest, endless and silver. The trees whispered like voices, chanting my name. And in the center, on a bed of light, lay a child.

A child with crimson eyes like mine.

I froze immediately. My heart is beating very fast. My lips trembled. "That can't be..."

The Moon Goddess appeared behind the cradle, pale as moonlight, crowned with stars, her presence so overwhelming I dropped to my knees.

"You doubt me, little one. You fear. But what grows inside you is not shame... it is a legacy."

I staggered back falling from my knee, shaking my head. "No. I don't understand. Why me? I'm nothing. I can barely survive in the pack."

"You will be more than strong," she interrupted. "But strength is not given freely. To gain it, you must lose everything first."

Tears blurred my eyes.

Her hand lifted, and suddenly the wolf-like birthmark I'd always hidden on my collarbone flared, glowing fiercely. The same glow pulsed faintly on my wrist, where a mate mark should have been, though I had none.

"Your path begins on the night you are cast away," she whispered. "And when blood stains the ground, the world will remember your name."

The trees suddenly howled like wolves, their silver bark bleeding red. The forest trembled, the child's crimson eyes glowed, and before I could reach for it, I woke, gasping for air.

Outside, a wolf howled in the distance, long and mournful, as if it had been listening to my dream.

I woke with a sharp, stabbing pain just below my breast, the kind that tore a gasp out of me even before I knew I was awake.

Initially, I thought it was the baby, maybe something had gone horribly wrong. My hand flew to my stomach, clutching the spot where the ache pulsed hot against my skin.

I got up to observe my stomach in front of the mirror and that was when I saw it.

A mark, faint but unmistakable, it looked like a crescent mark or more like a crown, it was hard to describe, but it shimmered on my stomach, light pulsing like it was alive. It looked different from the birthmark faintly carved on my collarbone since I was a child, only brighter and it felt stronger.

That wasn't there before.

The Goddess... She's still here.

The thought barely left me when I felt the air change, heavy and strange. The cottage felt crowded, as if someone had been standing in the corner a moment ago, watching.

I swallowed hard, the glow fading as quickly as it came, leaving my heart still beating fast.

******

When I finally dragged myself up from the bed, the light coming in through the window told me I was late. I fell asleep thinking of the mark and now I'm late.

I blinked to fully wake up though my body wanted something else, it begged me to sink deeper into the mattress, but the stiffness in my shoulders wouldn't let me. Sleep had been hard to come by since I woke up from the dream last night, it was filled with endless tossing, and yet I still managed to wake late.

It was not like anyone cared whether I slept or not, what mattered was the work. And all of it had fallen on my shoulders.

I rushed across the room trying to get myself ready for the day, the floor felt cold under my bare feet and I thought about the endless list of chores waiting at the Alpha's house.

I could still feel yesterday's ache in my back from lifting barrels and arranging crates of wine. My hands were raw, still stinging from scrubbing the kitchen tiles until they shined, only for muddy boots to undo my work within minutes.

The work was even part of the reason I fainted the day before and found out I was carrying a child, let me not think about that right now.

And then there is the preparation for the mating ceremony which had turned the whole Ranch into a very chaotic mess, not like it was peaceful to begin with.

Though the distance from the Lunaris hold the ranch house to my tiny cottage was far, I could still hear the noise outside, voices rising and falling, tables being dragged across stone, women arguing over fabrics, the sharp scent of wolfsbane mixed into garlands for protection.

I bent over the trunk that held my clothes, if one could even call it that. I picked out two dresses, both worn thin, one patched across the belly where the fabric had given up long ago, while the other one was patched so many times the threads looked like spiderwebs.

My hand fell to the plainest piece, a grey dress thin from years of wear. It had no shape, no color worth noticing, but it was dependable, and dependable was all I could afford to be.

I slipped it on, fingers fumbling with the ties in my haste and grabbing my apron.

The Alpha's mansion would already be a commotion, and the thought of showing up late sent a shiver down my spine. I snatched my cloak from the wooden hook and darted outside.

I stepped out into the crisp morning air then something hit me. The world didn't sound the same. The rush of wind carried every note, every shift of leaf against leaf, like the forest itself was whispering to me.

The air wasn't just air anymore. It carried every detail, crisp and distinct the sweet smell of pine, the sour smell of sweat from wolves training in the distance, the faint spice of roasted meat already smoking near the Alpha's yard. I heard laughter, too, not close but faint. A door creaked open at the far end of the Ranch, a child laughed, a hawk screamed overhead and I heard them all as if they were on my shoulder.

I froze on the step, clutching my gown, my pulse racing. I felt that something in me had shifted. I didn't know how or why, but I shrugged it off. What was on my mind right now was to get to the Lunaris hold and start my work for the day.

*******

Lunaris Hold was alive when I arrived, pulsing like the heart of the pack itself. Wolves moved to and fro, about barking orders over one another, carrying barrels of wine, shoulders brushing as they carried crates, ladders, trays. Everyone moved with purpose, every hand contributing to the preparation of the ceremony. Everyone but me.

The whole place smelled of wolfsbane, pine juice, and cooking meat. The decorations were finally coming together and it should have been beautiful, but all I felt was the pressure of my eyes.

I kept to the edges, head down, steps quick because I knew if they saw me, they'd whisper. The girl who fainted. Too weak to handle even her chores.

I prayed to the moon goddess not to allow me to bump into anyone because their questions would be:

Why did you faint? Can't you keep up? What good are you? And their scorn weighed more than the work ever did. So I tried to move silently and unseen.

But someone always did.

"Well, well. Look who crawled back."

Raven Cross's voice slid across the courtyard like oil. I stiffened. She walked towards me, sky blue silk hugging her body, her dark hair pulled tight to frame her perfect smirk.

She is the daughter of old Beta Darius, his precious jewel. Everyone said she was destined for our Alpha Kai, Luna-in-waiting and she carried herself like it was already true. But I saw her for what she truly was, a bone in my neck.

"Lila," she called again.

I didn't answer. I just walked faster.

Her laugh followed me, sharp and cruel. "Ignoring me again? How rude."

She walked faster to catch up to me and then her hand clamped around mine, the moment our skin met my vision tunneled, filled with light and smoke. A voice unfurled in my head, low, steady, ancient, soft yet commanding it slipped through the cracks of my mind:

She burns. She is fire-born. Her gift is flame.

The words weren't mine but they filled me, heavy and sure, and with them came the flash of knowledge: Raven's power. Heat, flame, destruction. It rippled against my skin like smoke.

I gasped, yanking my hand back, the smell of smoke still clinging to my senses though nothing burned around me.

Raven's smirk deepened, like she'd felt it too. She leaned in, her nails biting into my wrist.

"Careful, Lila. I know your little secret. And I wonder, what will the pack, especially the Alpha say when they all find out about it too?"

I thought I had escaped her, I should have been focused on the task ahead which was dusting, polishing, sweeping every inch of the Alpha's chambers until my back ached and my hands snapped. But the further away I walked from the courtyard, the louder the silence became.

My hand was still tingling where Raven's had grabbed me, but it wasn't the burn I felt when she touched me that worried me...... It wasn't even the voice, that strange, echoing whisper that hadn't belonged to her, or to me, yet had curled inside my mind like it had always lived there.

It was Raven's smug words, her smirk..... She knew my secret, what secret?? I kept wondering what she knew. My chest tightened at the thought. Did she? Did I even know it myself?. I really hope it's not what I have in mind. I'll be in deep trouble if anyone knows that.

Each step toward the Alpha's room felt heavier, my mind thought over every possibility, every meaning hidden in her taunt.

As I pushed open the door of the Alpha's room I tried to push aside every thought of Raven cause I had just only one thing to focus on right now and that's my chore in this room.

I closed the door behind me and pressed my back against it for a second, closed my eyes and did a little prayer.

I tightened my jaw and went directly to the Alpha's desk, the place where he spent most of his nights. The surface was filled with half-finished papers, an ink bottle, and the faint smell of leather. I arranged the papers, dust clung to the edges of the desk. My hands found the rag in my gown apron and as if by instinct immediately went to dusting.

As I wiped, my thoughts slipped, I thought of the Alpha and days when we were younger, back into the days when my world was brighter.

I could still see Kai as a boy, with his unruly brown hair and the stubborn grin he always threw at Raven when she tried to boss us around.

I went back in time a bit, I was seven and they were ten when the field belonged to me, Kai, and Raven.

The sun had been bright that day, spilling across the wide fields of Lunaris Hold. My bare feet slapped against the grass as I ran, breathless from laughing too hard, hair sticking to my damp forehead.

"Slow down, Lila!" Kai said to me, his voice was boyish yet firm. His small hand gripped mine when I almost tripped. "Don't let go.,If you fall, I'll pull you up. Always."

Always. That word became a promise I carried in my heart.

Raven got angry whenever Kai pulled me behind him, rescuing me from her mini bullying.

"She's mine, Kai. She doesn't need you always rescuing her" Raven said "You're coddling her, she'll never be strong".

But Kai would look at me, only me, and shake his head. "She doesn't need to be strong when I'm here."

That had been who Kai was, my shield, my protector. I had never felt weak with him.

But years later, everything would change.

I still remember the whispering fear in the pack when Kai and Raven turned sixteen. One of the elders got a premonition and it had spread like fire in dry leaves because it wasn't directed to just our pack:

There will come a wolf, the strongest Alpha in history. He alongside his Luna will stand against The Eclipse King (the rebellious brother of the moon goddess), The divine Alpha will be the breaker of curses and The savior of the goddess's kin.

The name of the said Alpha was not mentioned and that silence was what terrified everyone the most.

None of us slept well after that. Every parent looked at their sons with both hope and fear. Fear because we knew The Eclipse King would never let such a wolf live to fight.

Two years went by and everything was alright until the night Kai was to become Alpha. The night he turned 18, they were supposed to get their mates then because it was supposed to be our mate ceremony that year.

But then the Rogues came, they were the creations of the eclipse kings they came in the night, visiting different packs. I remember the way they smelled, like filth and rot filling the air as screams tore through the ranch.

They destroyed everything on their part, the incident killed the previous Luna, Kai's Mum. They weren't werewolves. Something about them felt strange, different even like they weren't our kind.

They weren't after everyone, they knew what they wanted.

They were after the ones with a future too bright to ignore, they came looking for the future Alpha.

And Kai was one of them,

Kai fought. Of course he did. Even at eighteen, his strength had begun to bloom, the power in his voice when he shifted was resistance like fire.

But the witch was waiting.

She didn't speak, she didn't have to but I'll never forget her. She wore a long black robe that seemed to swallow her whole body. She lifted her pale hands which were glowing like the moon, to bind him. Her eyes were cold and merciless, her hands twisting shadows around his wrists.

I still see it when I close my eyes, the shadows dragging him into the dark, his voice hoarse from shouting in pain, eyes glowing pale blue as her hands marked him with something unseen. A curse.

One that would turn him from the boy who once stood between me and the world... into the Alpha whose eyes I barely recognize now.

The sound of the vase shattering made my heart stop. I froze, staring at the sharp glittering pieces scattered across the polished floor. My hands shook so badly I didn't even dare to bend down and pick them up.

Kai emerged from the bathroom, towel draped around his waist, droplets trailing down his chest. His eyes landed on the shattered vase, then on me, and they hardened instantly.

"Pathetic," he muttered. His tone stung, "Can't even stand in a room without ruining something."

My throat closed. "I didn't me...."

"Don't bother," he cut me off, voice low and cold. "You're nothing but trouble. Out of my sight."

The words hurt worse than any punishment. I bowed my head, and left the room. I didn't cry until the door clicked shut behind me, until I was sure he couldn't see.