The Luna He Rejected Was the True Heir

Selene's POV

"I'm sorry,"the healer said the moment my eyes opened."Your pup did not survive.You lost too much blood.We tried everything."

My throat felt like dry bark.

"My mate,"I whispered."Caelan...did he come?"

Her expression fell."No one has come for you,my lady."

Tears ran down my face as the stone walls blurred.

Three days ago,I pressed my fingers to the Communication Stone until it burned.Ninety-nine pulses.Twenty pleas lost in its silver light.

Send the pack escort.I am in labor.

The Eastern Path has collapsed.I cannot cross.

I am bleeding.

When no one answered,I reached through the Stone to Caelan's war chamber.

"I am in labor,"I cried."Where is Caelan?"

His attendant paused."The Alpha is not here.He took the Blood Moon Carriage to bring his pregnant mate to the Sacred Den.May I take a message?"

The world went quiet.

"Pregnant...mate?"The words came out smaller than a breath.

"You are mistaken.I am his mate.I am the one in labor."

A contraction tore through me.I cried out,clutching my belly.

"Tell him it's Selene,"I gasped."Tell him to come now."

"I'm sorry,my lady.I think the Stone found the wrong chamber."

"Please...call Caelan..."But the Stone had already gone cold.

Pain took over.My vision went dark.

"Caelan."His name left my lips like the last hope of a dying flame.

He did not come.Then there was nothing.

"Here is your Stone."The healer pressed it into my shaking hands,then left me alone with the quiet.

I held it against my chest and waited for his warmth to come through it.

When we first mated,Caelan could not go an hour without reaching for me.Once I was gone for three hours.He searched the whole territory.

I searched the Stone's memory.Nothing from Caelan.Nothing from my parents.Nothing from Verra.

Then a pact announcement scroll opened across its surface.

I pressed my palm to it:Caelan,my parents,and Verra in the Sacred Den's finest birthing chamber.A newborn pup in her arms.

One word at the bottom of the scroll:

Family.

I found another scroll sent three days ago.The very hour I had been laboring alone on the forest ground.

Verra sat inside the Blood Moon Carriage,her lips pressed to Caelan's jaw.Moon Goddess Flowers were braided through her hair.

The Eastern Path collapsed and he would not let me be stranded.He carried me here himself.He takes such good care of me.

Such a devoted Alpha.

Blessed by the Moon Goddess herself.

So while I bled out alone on the road,Verra was the one he rode through the dark to save.

My grip tightened around the Stone until my knuckles went white.

Her father was my father's Beta.He died saving him,losing his wolf in the act.As payment,my father raised Verra as his own.

She grew up in my home.What I never knew was that she had Caelan's heart too,before my father arranged our mating.

When Caelan nearly died in the border war,Verra gave a piece of her wolf-soul to save him.I watched and felt grateful.

But when he opened his eyes,gratitude became something more.He answered her calls before mine.He lingered near her too long.

I told him how it felt.

"I love you.Not her."

"I am repaying what she gave me."

"She saved my life."

I believed him.I silenced the wolf inside me and told myself I was jealous.

When Verra came back pregnant,my parents were furious.I shielded her.Brewed her teas.Cared for her pregnancy alongside my own.

And now her face was on a pact announcement scroll beside Caelan's name.

My hands trembled as I pushed myself from the healing furs.Pain shot through my legs but I barely felt it.

Caelan.My parents.Verra.All in a chamber at the far end.Verra's voice stopped me just outside the door.

"I feel so guilty,"she whispered."Selene's pup...I never wanted this."

"Stop."Caelan's answer came at once."You did nothing wrong.We had no choice."

"Selene's son was the only spirit-compatible vessel,"he said."The seers confirmed it.His was the only soul strong enough."

"You truly used his soul-essence?"Verra asked.

"Yes."No pause.No regret."He came into the world strong.The transfer held."

My mother cut in."She should be grateful.She never saw you as an equal for twenty-two years.Saving your child is how she repays that."

"When your time comes,the pup will need someone.Selene can raise him.That is enough for her,"my father said.

"You gave your life for mine,"Caelan said."I could not let our son die.Not when I am already losing you."

"Thank you,"she whispered."For saving him.For this one wish."

He kissed her forehead.The Moon Goddess Flower glowed softly beside her.

"You are worth everything,"he said.

The grief that came was not loud.It simply settled,cold and heavy.

My parents had known all along.They watched me protect her and give everything.They said nothing.

Caelan had looked me in the eye every day and said words he did not mean.

Together they had agreed to take my son's soul.

I found the washroom.My knees gave out at the basin.Nausea rose in my throat.Tears came without sound.

The wolf inside me did not howl.She simply lay down.

"Dearest sister."Verra's voice was smooth and slow."I saw you at my door.Why didn't you come in?"

She stood wrapped in birthing furs.The gentle face she wore for the world was gone.What remained I had always seen and never named.

A smile.Quiet and satisfied.

"You."The word broke apart in my mouth.

"I have waited so long for this."Her eyes swept over me."The good sister.The dying girl.And now look at you.Broken.Just as you should be."

"Why?"My voice cracked."What did I ever do to you?"

"You lived my life."All softness left her."Caelan was mine.My father died for yours.What did I get?You in my place.You with my mate."

"You could have had everything,"I sobbed."Why did you take my son?"

"Because I want no trace of you left,"she said."And the dying wolf act made everyone do exactly what I needed."

She tilted her head."But here is the truth.I do not have spirit rot.I never did."

"You lied,"I breathed."For years.To all of them."

"I'll tell them.I'll tell the whole pack."

She laughed,soft and unbothered."No one will believe you.Not after this."

Before I could move,she drove her own head into the stone wall.Then she dropped to the floor and screamed.

"Caelan...help me...she is going to kill me!"

The door burst open.Caelan's eyes found Verra on the floor.Then me.His face closed like a gate.

"What have you done?!"he roared.