Unwanted Luna - Chapter #4 - by Nina Soelian

[Daphne’s POV]

Three days since Connor ripped our bond apart in front of the entire pack, and I'm still trying to prove I have worth.

My hands shake as I pour tea into Alpha Hector's cup, hyperaware of every eye in the dining room tracking my movements. The rejected mate serving breakfast like nothing's changed.

Connor sits across the table with Talia practically in his lap, their new bond on vulgar display. His hand slides up her thigh beneath the table—not even attempting subtlety.

The fresh marks on his neck are visible. Fresh-red proof that she can give him what I couldn't. That she's everything I'm not.

My teapot trembles in my hands and a single drop of amber liquid splashes onto the pristine white tablecloth. Connor's laugh cuts through the quiet morning air, sharp and cruel.

"Still as useless as ever." He leans back in his chair, smirking at me with the casual cruelty. "At least you were good practice for what a real woman feels like."

Talia giggles against his shoulder, her fingers tracing the marks she left on his skin.

"Practice should be somewhat enjoyable though, shouldn't it?"

Heat floods my face—humiliation burning across my cheeks, down my neck. Spreading like poison through my chest.

I set the teapot down carefully, keeping my eyes lowered, preparing to retreat to the kitchen where I can disappear. Then I hear the chair scraping against stone sounds like thunder.

Alpha Hector stands abruptly, his massive frame radiating authority that makes me want to bare my throat in submission. The temperature in the room drops and everyone freezes at his next words:

"Have anything left to say? Perhaps something clever this time."

Connor's smirk falters at his father’s words, while Talia's hand stills on his chest.

"Just because my younger son couldn't give Daphne a child," Alpha Hector continues, addressing everyone behind the table while his voice dangerously soft, "doesn't mean she was the problem."

His eyes lock on Connor with predatory focus on these words.

"Have you considered that perhaps the issue lies with you, Connor? That your failure to produce an heir might be your own inadequacy?"

Connor's face drains of color. "Father, I—"

"And her wolflessness?" Hector talks over him like he hasn't spoken. "There have been rare cases where those who remained wolfless for years eventually met their wolf. And when they did, they proved more powerful than anyone could have expected."

My heart hammers against my ribs. Is he… defending me?

Alpha Hector, who's watched me struggle for two years without intervention, is suddenly speaking in my favor?

"Since my younger heir has proven himself unworthy of the gift he was given," Hector says, moving around the table with predatory grace, "I'll correct his mistake."

Each step toward me feels deliberate, calculated. The room holds its breath.

I should move, should step back, but my feet are rooted to the floor as he approaches. He stops directly in front of me, so close I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes.

They're amber—lighter than Connor's dark gold, more calculating. His hand reaches out, fingers gentle as they brush a strand of hair from my face.

"I, Alpha Hector Silvermoon of Shadow Ridge Pack," his voice rings through the dining room with ceremonial weight, "officially declare my intention to take Daphne of Shadow Ridge Pack as my chosen Luna."

The world tilts. Connor chokes on his drink, liquid spraying across the table. Talia's shriek of outrage pierces the air.

"You can't be serious! She's worthless! She's—"

The crack of wood splitting drowns out her protests.

Xander's fist has gone through the dining table, the expensive mahogany breaking down the middle like it's made of paper. He stands and his entire body vibrates with rage.

"Have you lost your mind?" Xander snarls at his father.

I've never heard him sound so feral, so barely controlled. His eyes flash silver—pure wolf rising to the surface.

Alpha Hector remains perfectly calm. His arm slides around my waist, pulling me against his side with possessive certainty.

I'm too shocked to resist, too stunned to process what's happening.

"Daphne's chosen Luna ceremony will take place during the upcoming royal visit."

He announces it to the room, like he hasn't just ignited a hellfire in the middle of breakfast.

"Our union will be solidified in front of the Crown, witnessed by the most powerful wolves in the realm. There will be no question of her status, no doubt about her worth."

The royal visit. The event we've been preparing for—when the Lycan King and Queen come to assess pack alliances.

Alpha Hector wants to mate me then? In front of everyone?

His hand cups my chin, tilting my face up to meet his gaze. For just a moment—so brief I almost miss it—something possessive flickers in his amber eyes, that makes my stomach clench.

"You're worth more than you know, little moon." His thumb strokes along my jaw gently. "Soon, everyone will see it."

"This is insane!" Connor finally finds his voice, standing so abruptly his chair falls backward. "She can't be Luna! She doesn't even have a wolf! She's broken, used, worthless—"

Hector's growl cuts through his son’s protests like a blade. The sound is pure Alpha dominance, making every wolf in the room—even Xander—tense with the instinctive need to submit.

"You rejected her. You severed your bond and claimed another mate in front of the entire pack. You have no say in her future. No claim to make."

Connor's mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out.

Beside him, Talia looks like she wants to scream, her perfect face twisted with fury and disbelief.

I can't breathe. Can't think. Can't process that the Alpha, the most powerful wolf in our territory, just declared his intention to make me his Luna.

Me. The wolfless omega everyone mocks. The rejected mate who can't even pour tea without trembling.

Why? Why would he want someone like me?

Movement catches my attention. Xander is staring at me, and the intensity in his eyes makes my knees weak.

Xander's jaw clenches so hard I can see the muscle jumping in his cheek. His hands are fisted at his sides, knuckles white, and for a second I think he might attack his own father.

But then he turns and storms out of the dining room, his shoulder slamming into the doorframe hard enough to crack the wood. The door crashes shut behind him, and I flinch.

Hector's thumb continues its slow stroke along my jaw, his touch burning against my skin in a way that's nothing like Connor's cold fingers.

"Go prepare yourself, my dear," he says softly, intimately, like we're alone instead of standing in a room full of shocked witnesses. "Your new life begins now."

He releases me, and I stumble backward, my legs barely holding me upright. I turn and flee the dining room on shaking legs.

I make it to the hallway before my legs give out, collapsing against the wall.

Three days ago, I was publicly rejected.

Now the Alpha himself has declared his intention to mate me.