Regret: Rejecting His Billionaire Supreme Mate

I spent three months in Zurich securing banking rights for my family's pack. I couldn't wait to give my five-year-old daughter, Lily, the rare Starlight Moonstone Beast I'd bought to soothe her shifting pains.

But before I landed, I saw a photo online: my husband's "distant nephew" was playing with that very toy in my living room.

I rushed to the Pack Academy, only to find a teacher raising a riding crop laced with wolfsbane against my child.

Instead of protecting us, my husband, Austyn, stepped out with a woman wearing my furs and my grandmother's emerald necklace.

He told the gathered crowd I was a mental patient having a delusion.

He hugged his mistress and announced she was the true Luna, claiming our marriage was a mistake and publicly rejecting our bond.

For five years, I had suppressed my Supreme Alpha aura to let him feel powerful, funding his lifestyle and building his reputation.

In return, he brainwashed my pack, abused my daughter, and tried to cast me out as a beggar in my own queendom.

He thought he had won because he believed his own lies about my weakness.

But when his illegitimate son threw a rock that drew blood from my daughter's face, my patience snapped.

I stopped suppressing my scent, and my eyes turned molten gold.

"This is not a dispute, Austyn. This is an execution."

Chapter 1

Kimberly POV:

The air in Zurich was crisp, smelling of money and old snow, but my mind was thousands of miles away. I'd been gone for three months. What started as a simple banking negotiation had turned into a grueling diplomatic tour to secure the Miller Pack's European assets. I stood in the private viewing room of the auction house, holding the box that had cost me days of agonizing negotiations. Inside lay the Starlight Moonstone Beast.

It was a plush creature, but woven with threads soaked in moon water and stuffed with crushed calming herbs. It was a relic, the only thing known to soothe the bone-breaking agony of a high-blooded pup's first shifts. My daughter, Lily, had been complaining of joint pain lately. Her blood was powerful. It was waking up early.

I just wanted to go home.

I pulled out my phone, intending to check the nursery cameras one last time before boarding the jet. A notification from Instagram popped up. It was a post from a local socialite in our territory back in America.

The caption read: The Little Prince enjoying his new toy. So regal!

My blood turned to ice.

The photo showed a boy. Jaylin. He was the five-year-old son of a "distant cousin" my husband, Austyn, had insisted we take in. Jaylin was sitting on the velvet sofa in my living room. In his hands, he held a Starlight Moonstone Beast.

Not just any beast. The beast. The one I had commissioned a month ago as a prototype. The one that was supposed to be locked in my safe until I returned.

My thumb trembled as I switched apps to the nursery camera. The screen was black. Connection error.

Austyn, I called out through our Mind-Link. Austyn, answer me.

Silence. The mental pathway was fuzzy, like trying to tune a radio through static. He was blocking me. He'd been distant for weeks, blaming it on stress, but this felt deliberate.

I dialed the landline of the pack house. No answer. I dialed the nanny. Straight to voicemail. Panic, cold and sharp, clawed at my throat. I switched to the emergency video feed in the hallway, a hidden camera Austyn didn't know about.

The image flickered to life.

My breath hitched. Lily was there. My beautiful, five-year-old Lily. She was curled into a ball in the corner of the hallway, her small hands covering her head.

A shadow loomed over her. It was Ms. Albright, the headmistress of the Pack Academy.

"You ungrateful little thief!" Ms. Albright's voice was tinny through the speaker, but the venom was clear. "That toy belongs to Master Jaylin! Austyn made it clear-a mixed-blood runt like you doesn't get to touch holy artifacts!"

Lily sobbed, her body jerking. "It... it was Mommy's... she said..."

"Your mother is a sick woman in a facility!" Ms. Albright screamed. "She's not coming back!"

I saw purple bruises on Lily's arms. The distinct shape of fingers.

A low, guttural sound ripped from my chest. It wasn't human. My Inner Wolf, a dormant beast I had suppressed for five years to make Austyn feel powerful, woke up. She didn't just wake up; she exploded.

KILL THEM.

I didn't pack. I didn't say goodbye to the dignitaries. I sprinted to the tarmac, my heels clicking like gunshots against the pavement.

"Fly," I commanded the pilot the second the door sealed. "Now."

The flight felt like an eternity, though it was supersonic. When we landed on the private strip at the edge of the Miller territory, I didn't wait for the car. I shifted.

My bones cracked and reshaped, a pain I usually welcomed, but today I was too numb to feel it. I ran through the forest, a blur of white and grey, tearing through the underbrush until the lights of the Pack Academy came into view. I shifted back behind the gymnasium, throwing on the spare clothes I kept in my emergency cache.

I could smell it before I opened the door. The scent of fear. My daughter's fear.

I moved like a ghost. Being a high-ranking Alpha meant you didn't just have strength; you had absolute control. I suppressed my scent, masking my presence entirely.

I reached the kindergarten classroom door. It was slightly ajar.

"Hold out your hand," Ms. Albright commanded.

I peeked through the crack. Lily was shaking, her palm extended. Ms. Albright held a riding crop. The tip glistened with a greenish liquid.

Wolfsbane.

They were using diluted wolfsbane on a child. On my child. It caused a burning sensation that felt like fire on the skin of a werewolf.

"This will teach you your place, you dirty little liar," the teacher spat. She raised her arm.

I didn't think. I kicked the door open. The wood splintered, the hinges screaming as the heavy oak slab slammed against the wall.

The teacher turned, her eyes widening. She brought the crop down, not stopping.

I crossed the room in a blur. My hand shot out and caught the riding crop inches from Lily's palm. The leather bit into my skin, and the wolfsbane sizzled against my flesh, but I didn't flinch.

Ms. Albright gasped, trying to yank the weapon back. I held it fast.

"You," she sneered, recognizing me. Her fear vanished, replaced by arrogance. "The crazy nanny returns. I heard you escaped the psych ward."

"Mommy!" Lily screamed, scrambling off the stool and burying her face in my stomach.

I dropped the crop and wrapped my arms around her. She smelled of tears and terror.

"You have five seconds," I said, my voice terrifyingly calm, "to explain why you are holding a weapon laced with poison against my daughter."

Ms. Albright laughed. It was a nervous, high-pitched sound. "Poison? It's discipline. And she's not your daughter, you delusional stray. She's a charity case, just like you."

"Call the Enforcers," I said. "Now."

"Oh, I don't need to," Ms. Albright smirked, looking past me toward the door. "The Luna is already here."

I stiffened. Luna? I was the Luna. I was the heiress of the Miller Pack.

I turned around.

Standing in the doorway was a woman. She had blonde hair styled in perfect waves. She was wearing a white coat made of pristine Arctic Fox fur-a coat my father had given me for my twenty-first birthday.

It was Evalena Dotson. A woman Austyn had sworn was just an old college friend down on her luck.

She walked in, her hips swaying. A cloud of perfume hit me-roses and vanilla. It was strong. Too strong. It was the kind of scent designed to mask something rotten underneath.

"What is going on here?" Evalena asked, her voice dripping with false sweetness. She looked at me, and her eyes flashed with triumph. "Oh, dear. The nanny is back. Austyn warned me she might break out."

Kimberly POV:

My coat. She was wearing my coat.

But it wasn't just the clothes. It was the air around her. She had sprayed herself with high-grade pheromones, a synthetic mimicry of an Alpha female's scent. To a low-ranked wolf like Ms. Albright, Evalena probably smelled like royalty. Austyn had clearly been laying the groundwork for this coup for months, slowly replacing my image with hers while I was overseas.

To me, she smelled like a sewer covered in air freshener. She was a Rogue-a wolf without a pack, usually criminal or exiled-masking her rot.

"Get away from the child, Kimberly," Evalena sighed, acting the part of the weary matriarch perfectly. "You're scaring the poor thing."

"Scaring her?" I tightened my grip on Lily, who was trembling violently against my leg. "This teacher was about to whip a five-year-old with wolfsbane."

Evalena tutted, walking further into the room. She glanced at the riding crop on the floor and then at Ms. Albright. "Ms. Albright was merely instilling discipline. We can't have thieves in the pack, can we?"

"She stole Master Jaylin's toy!" Ms. Albright chimed in, puffing out her chest. She looked at Evalena with pure adoration. "Thank goodness you're here, Luna. This woman... she broke down the door. She's violent."

Luna. The word tasted like bile.

"I am the Luna of this pack," I said, my voice low. "I am Kimberly Miller. This is my territory."

Evalena laughed. It was a practiced, tinkling sound that made my skin crawl. "Oh, honey. See? I told you she was having an episode. Austyn warned us she gets like this when she forgets her medication. Delusions of grandeur are a side effect."

She tapped her temple significantly, looking at the other parents who had gathered in the hallway, drawn by the noise.

"Poor thing," a mother whispered loudly. "I heard she's been in a Swiss asylum for months."

"I heard Austyn only kept her around because he felt sorry for her," another whispered.

I looked around the room. Their eyes were filled with pity and disgust. Austyn. He had done this. He used my absence to rewrite history. Three months was plenty of time to poison the well when you hold the checkbook. He had turned me into a charity case in my own kingdom.

Ms. Albright stepped forward, her eyes glowing with a faint Beta yellow. Betas were the enforcers of order, stronger than regular wolves but weaker than Alphas. She thought she could intimidate me.

"Let go of the girl," Ms. Albright growled, grabbing my shoulder. "You are not fit to be here."

She shoved me. She actually shoved me.

My back hit the chalkboard. Lily whimpered.

My Inner Wolf snarled, clawing at the cage of my mind. Rip her throat out. Show them.

I could have flattened the entire building with a single release of my Alpha Aura. But Lily was right there. High-level Alpha pressure could burst the eardrums of a pup that hadn't shifted yet.

I swallowed the rage. I forced my muscles to relax, though my veins felt like they were filled with lava.

"Don't touch me," I said. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

Ms. Albright hesitated, her hand hovering. For a second, instinct warned her. But then she looked at Evalena, her fake Luna, and found courage in stupidity.

"I will have the guards drag you out," Ms. Albright threatened.

"Yes," Evalena said, checking her nails. "Call Austyn. Tell him his... houseguest is causing a scene again."

"I'm right here."

The voice came from the hallway.

The crowd of parents parted like the Red Sea. Austyn walked in. He was wearing a tailored Italian suit I had bought him. He looked handsome, in a superficial way-blonde hair, square jaw. But I knew the truth. He was a weak Alpha, barely stronger than a Beta. He relied on my strength, channeled through our mating bond, to command the pack.

"Daddy!" A boy's voice rang out.

Jaylin pushed through the crowd and ran to Austyn. In his hand, he clutched the Starlight Moonstone Beast. He was dragging it by its ear across the dirty floor.

My heart shattered.

Austyn looked at me. For a split second, I saw terror in his eyes. He knew who I was. He knew what I could do. But then his gaze flicked to the crowd, calculating. He had the numbers. He had the narrative. He thought my suppression of my aura meant I had lost it.

But then he looked at Evalena. She gave him a small, encouraging nod, touching the heavy emerald necklace around her throat.

My grandmother's necklace.

Austyn took a deep breath, his face hardening into a mask of arrogant pity.

"Kimberly," he said, his voice smooth and practiced. "I thought we agreed you would stay at the facility until you were well."

Kimberly POV:

The betrayal didn't feel like a knife. It felt like a hollow space opening up in my chest, sucking all the air out of the room.

"Facility?" I repeated, the word tasting like ash. "Is that what you told them? That I was in a mental facility? I was in Zurich, Austyn. Securing the banking rights that pay for that suit you're wearing."

Austyn chuckled sadly, shaking his head at the crowd. "See? She creates these elaborate fantasies. Zurich. Banking rights. Kim, you haven't left the state in a year. You've been... unwell."

The parents murmured in sympathy. "So sad," someone whispered. "She really believes it."

Jaylin tugged on Austyn's jacket. "Daddy, that girl tried to steal my toy. Make her go away."

Daddy.

I looked at the boy. Then I looked at Austyn. The resemblance was undeniable. The same nose. The same set of the eyes. Jaylin wasn't a distant nephew. He was five years old. Lily was five years old.

He had cheated on me the entire time. And he was brazen enough to bring the proof into my home because he thought I was too weak to stop him.

"Is he yours?" I asked. My voice was quiet, but it carried through the room.

Austyn stiffened. He placed a hand on Jaylin's head. "He is my nephew, Kimberly. You know this. Don't drag a child into your delusions."

"Liar," I hissed.

I stepped away from the wall, pulling Lily with me. "And you," I pointed at Evalena. "Take off that necklace. It belongs to the Alpha female of the Miller line. It burns the skin of anyone unworthy."

Evalena flinched, her hand flying to the emerald. I saw a flash of red irritation on her neck beneath the stone. It was burning her, leaving angry welts against her skin, but she was enduring the pain just to maintain the charade.

"Austyn gave this to me," Evalena said, pouting. "It's a symbol of his love."

Austyn walked over to her. He put his arm around her waist, pulling her close. The sight of them touching-his hand on the fur coat I owned, her body pressed against the husband I had elevated from poverty-made my vision swim with red.

"Kimberly," Austyn said, his voice dropping an octave, trying to use an Alpha Command on me. "Go home. Now."

It was pathetic. His command felt like a gentle breeze against a stone wall. He had no power over me. He never did.

"You are commanding me?" I let out a dry, humorless laugh. "You forget who holds the leash, Austyn."

"She's threatening the Alpha!" Ms. Albright shrieked.

"She's dangerous!" Evalena cried out, burying her face in Austyn's chest. "Austyn, protect us! She's crazy!"

"This is my Mate!" Austyn shouted, gesturing to Evalena.

The room went silent.

My heart stopped. The Mate Bond-the sacred, biological connection that tied two wolf souls together-screamed in agony. To deny your true mate publicly, to claim another... it was the ultimate blasphemy against the Moon Goddess.

"What did you say?" I whispered.

"I said Evalena is my Mate," Austyn declared, his voice shaking slightly but loud enough for everyone to hear. "The bond with you was a mistake, Kimberly. A glitch. Evalena is my true soulmate."

He was rewriting the bond. He was counting on the pack's ignorance. He thought because I had suppressed my aura for years to let him shine, that I had actually lost it.

"She's not your mate," I said, stepping forward. "She is a Rogue in a stolen coat."

"Get back!" Austyn snarled.

I didn't stop. I moved faster than their eyes could track. I reached out and grabbed the emerald necklace around Evalena's neck.

"No!" she screamed.

I yanked. The gold chain snapped with a sharp crack.

Evalena stumbled back, clutching her neck. The stone was in my hand. It pulsed with a warm, green light, recognizing its true master. The burn marks on Evalena's neck were visible now-angry, blistered red skin where the holy stone had rejected her flesh.

"Look!" I held up the stone. "It rejects her!"

"She attacked the Luna!" Ms. Albright yelled. "Guards! Warriors! Help!"

The door burst open again. Three pack warriors rushed in, their eyes glowing. They saw me holding the necklace, and Evalena crying on the floor.

They didn't see the truth. They only saw what they had been told to see.

They lowered their spears, aiming them at my chest.