Rejected Mate's Revival

The metallic scent of blood mingled with dust and smoke as I knelt beside my father's body. His eyes, once bright with laughter, now stared emptily at the ceiling of our shattered home. My hands trembled as I reached for his face, hoping to find some spark of life, some miracle that would make this nightmare disappear.

"Dad," I whispered, my voice breaking. "Please wake up."

But he couldn't hear me anymore. The rogues had made sure of that.

I turned toward my mother, lying unconscious across the room, her head surrounded by a pool of crimson. Her breathing came in shallow gasps that terrified me with each labored rise of her chest.

"Mom," I choked out, crawling to her side. "Stay with me. Please stay with me."

I didn't know how long I knelt there, tears streaming down my face, before the sound of heavy footsteps made me look up. Warriors in uniform filled the doorway of what remained of our living room. Behind them stood a tall figure whose presence commanded immediate attention.

Tyler Montgomery. Future Alpha of the Montgomery Pack.

His eyes swept over the destruction before landing on me. The moment our gazes locked, something electric surged through my body. A warmth spread from my chest outward, despite the cold terror gripping my heart. His eyes widened slightly—he felt it too.

"MATE," his wolf's voice echoed in his mind, though I couldn't hear it then.

"April," he said softly, crossing the room with deliberate steps. "I'm so sorry."

I didn't understand why this stranger knew my name, but his voice somehow steadied me as he knelt beside me. Guilt flashed across his features before he masked it with concern.

"Your mother needs immediate medical attention," he said, already signaling to his warriors. "Our pack has the best healers in the region."

---

The hospital room smelled of antiseptic and wolfsbane—though I didn't recognize the latter scent then. My mother lay motionless, tubes and monitors surrounding her bed.

"The brain damage is extensive," Dr. Cross explained gently. "Her wolf is severely weakened."

I nodded numbly, unable to process anything beyond the fact that my father was gone and my mother might never wake up.

"I've arranged for round-the-clock care," Tyler said, his hand warm on my shoulder. "She'll receive the best treatment possible."

Over the following weeks, Tyler visited daily. He brought me meals I barely touched, sat with me through endless nights of waiting, and held my hand when the doctors delivered grim updates.

"Your mother's wolf is showing signs of distress," Dr. Cross mentioned one afternoon. "We're doing everything we can."

I didn't see Tyler slip into the room later that evening, adding a small amount of powdery substance to my mother's IV. I didn't notice how his hands trembled slightly as he adjusted her medication.

"What are you doing?" a nurse asked, entering unexpectedly.

"Just checking on her," Tyler replied smoothly. "As Alpha, I want to ensure everything possible is being done."

The nurse nodded respectfully and left. Tyler exhaled slowly, his eyes troubled as he watched the wolfsbane enter my mother's bloodstream—ensuring her wolf would never heal enough to remember what happened.

---

Six months passed in a blur of grief and slowly healing wounds. My mother finally woke, but she didn't recognize me. Her eyes, once full of love when they looked at me, now held only confusion.

"April?" she whispered, the name sounding foreign on her lips. "Is that you, sweetie? Where's your father?"

I broke down completely that night, collapsing into Tyler's arms as he held me through my sobs.

"She'll never remember," he murmured against my hair, his voice gentle but his eyes distant. "It's better this way."

---

The mating ceremony was a blur of tradition and expectation. Both packs gathered in the ceremonial clearing as Tyler stood before me, resplendent in the Alpha's ceremonial attire.

"April Bradley," he announced, his voice carrying across the hushed gathering. "The Moon Goddess has blessed me with you as my fated mate."

Sabrina stood at the edge of the crowd, her smile frozen in place as she watched Tyler place the Luna's crown upon my head.

"I, Tyler Montgomery, future Alpha of the Montgomery Pack, claim you as my mate," he continued, his eyes never leaving mine.

When his teeth sank into the sensitive skin of my neck, marking me as his Luna, a strange sensation washed over me—pleasure mixed with something darker, something wrong that I couldn't name.

Sabrina's eyes narrowed as she watched from the shadows, her fingers curling into fists at her sides.

"Congratulations," she whispered to no one in particular, her voice honey-sweet with venom underneath. "May you enjoy your new position, Luna."

As Tyler pulled away, his eyes met hers briefly over my shoulder—a silent communication I couldn't understand then but would soon come to haunt me.

Something in his mark burned beneath my skin, an undercurrent of wrongness I couldn't shake as the pack erupted in cheers around us.