The Rejected Luna Returns as a Warrior

I was a warrior of the Shadow Council, but to my Fated Mate, Darwin, I was just a barren, "useless" housewife.

On the night I planned to finally reveal my pregnancy, his mistress threw herself against a railing, framing me for attempted murder.

Blinded by the Red Haze, Darwin didn't ask questions. He used his Alpha Command to freeze me in place, paralyzing my body.

Then, he delivered a bone-shattering kick directly to my stomach to "protect" his mistress.

I fell backward into the freezing lake, the water turning red around me.

That kick didn't just end our marriage; it killed the rare White Wolf pup I was carrying—the legendary heir he had always desperate for.

While I washed away into the dark water, Darwin was left with a lying mistress and a severed bond.

It took him days to find the security footage.

It took him moments to realize he had murdered his own soul and his true son for a woman who had orchestrated my death.

For ten years, he went mad with grief, turning into a monster who tortured those who deceived him, praying to the Moon Goddess for my return.

He thought if he fixed my broken engagement ring, I would forgive him.

But when I finally resurfaced, I didn't come back to be his Luna.

I watched him beg on his knees in the rain, clutching the phantom thread of our bond, looking like a corpse.

"I love you," he screamed.

I slammed the car door in his face.

Gloria the housewife died in that lake.

Echo, the executioner, has returned to burn his kingdom to the ground.

Chapter 1

Gloria POV:

"You are a warrior of the Shadow Council, Gloria, not a house pet."

Elder Christian's voice was gravelly, echoing off the concrete walls of the safe house. He sat in the shadows, nursing a glass of whiskey, his one good eye fixed on me with disappointment.

"I know what I am, Christian," I replied, adjusting the strap of my bag. "But I am also his Fated Mate. The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes."

"The Goddess deals the cards; men play the hand," Christian countered, standing up. He walked over to me, smelling of old parchment and cold steel. "You are suppressing your aura. You are hiding your claws. And for what? For an Alpha who smells like another woman? We have intel, Gloria. The Dark Moon Elders are moving pieces on the board. Darwin isn't just straying; he's being steered."

I flinched. The accusation hit harder than a silver bullet because it was true.

"I have to go back," I said, my voice tight. "If I don't return to the Pack House, he will get suspicious."

Christian sighed, a sound that rattled in his chest. "Remember your training, Agent Echo. If the bond breaks, you don't break with it. You eliminate the threat."

I nodded, turned, and walked out into the cold night air.

Crossing the border into Dark Moon territory usually felt like coming home. Tonight, the Mind-Link-that psychic static connecting the pack-felt like a wire garrote tightening around my throat.

Gloria? Where are you, baby? I was worried.

Darwin's voice resonated in my mind. It sounded warm, concerned, dripping with the honeyed affection that had made me fall for him three years ago.

I just went for a run near the border, Darwin, I replied, masking my thoughts behind a wall of mental white noise. I needed to clear my head.

Come home soon. I'm making dinner. It's our anniversary week, remember?

I cut the link. Anniversary. Right.

Three days ago, I had come home early from a Council mission. I had ghosted into the house, silent as a shifting shadow. I had approached his study, intending to surprise him.

Instead, my enhanced hearing picked up the wet, slap-slap sound of skin hitting skin. I heard the low growls of a male wolf close to climax. I heard a woman's high-pitched moan.

Elyssa. His secretary. A low-born Omega with ambition bigger than her ability.

I hadn't stormed in. I hadn't shifted and torn their throats out. I had stood there, frozen, as the realization shattered my world. Later, I checked the security logs. I saw the fresh Marking on her neck-a temporary bite. The ultimate insult.

I pulled my car into the driveway. The massive estate was lit up like a Christmas tree, a beacon of fraudulent domestic bliss.

I walked inside. The smell hit me instantly.

It wasn't the smell of dinner. It was him.

To a wolf, scent is everything. Darwin used to smell like pine forests and rain. Now, beneath the pine, there was a cloying, sickly-sweet odor. Cheap vanilla perfume. And under that, the unmistakable, musky stench of sex.

"You're back!"

Darwin walked out of the kitchen, wearing an apron over his designer shirt. He looked handsome, his jawline sharp, his eyes bright. The perfect Alpha facade.

He moved to hug me.

As he got close, my inner wolf let out a low, dangerous growl in the back of my mind. She didn't want him. She wanted to rip his throat out.

I stiffened as his arms went around me. The smell of Elyssa was suffocating.

"What's wrong?" Darwin asked, pulling back slightly. He touched my cheek.

"Nothing," I lied. "Just tired."

My eyes drifted to his neck. There, just above his collar, was a faint red scratch. He followed my gaze and quickly pulled his collar up.

"A tree branch snagged me while I was on patrol," he said quickly. Too quickly.

"Is that so?" I asked, my voice flat. "It looks like a claw mark."

"Don't be silly, Gloria." He laughed, but the sound didn't reach his eyes. "Come, I made your favorite. Beef stew."

We sat at the long dining table. He placed a bowl in front of me.

I looked down at the stew. Floating among the carrots and potatoes were small, purple chopped leaves.

My blood ran cold.

"Darwin," I said softly. "What is this herb?"

"Oh, just some garnish I found in the garden. It looked pretty," he said, taking a bite of his own bowl-which I noticed lacked the purple leaves.

"It's Monkshood," I said, pushing the bowl away. "Wolfsbane."

Wolfsbane is fatal to wolves in large doses. In small doses, it acts as a suppressant. It weakens the wolf spirit, causes paralysis, and induces miscarriage.

Darwin's spoon paused halfway to his mouth. "Is it? My bad. I'm just a clumsy cook, aren't I? I thought it was parsley."

He wasn't clumsy. He was an Alpha. He knew every plant in his territory.

He smiled at me, a charming, empty smile. "Just pick it out, honey. It won't kill you."

I looked at him, really looked at him. I saw the man I had sacrificed my career for, the man I had hidden my White Wolf lineage for.

He wasn't trying to kill me. Not yet. He was testing me. Or maybe, he was ensuring my "barren" womb stayed empty on the Elders' orders.

"I'm not hungry," I said, standing up.

"Gloria," his voice dropped an octave, a hint of Alpha command bleeding into it. "Sit down."

My inner wolf bristled. Challenge him, she whispered. Show him what we are.

Not yet, I told her. Three days. We need three days to move the assets and clear the Council logs.

"I feel sick, Darwin," I said, clutching my stomach. "I think I need to rest."

I turned my back on him and walked up the stairs. I could feel his eyes boring into my back, cold and calculating.

In the safety of the guest room, I locked the door. I pulled out the letter I had written to him on our wedding day-a blood oath of eternal loyalty.

I took a lighter from my pocket and set the corner of the paper on fire. I watched it curl into black ash, dropping it into the metal wastebasket.

My chest throbbed. The Mate Bond-the golden thread that connected our souls-was fraying.

"Three days," I whispered to the empty room. "In three days, Gloria the housewife dies."