Alina's POV
The guards carried me to my small chamber and locked the door. I collapsed on the narrow bed, body still shaking from the severed mate bond. Every breath sent fresh waves of pain through my chest. Luna's broken whimpers echoed in my mind.
Why? Luna whispered over and over. We felt the bond. It was real. He loved us.
I pressed my face into the thin pillow, trying to muffle my sobs. Two years of believing Damien was my salvation. Years of secret meetings and stolen kisses that I thought meant something. How had I been so blind?
The rejection pain came in waves - crushing agony in my chest, then emotional devastation that left me gasping. I'd heard about rejection sickness but experiencing it was worse than anything I'd imagined. It felt like dying slowly, piece by piece.
A soft knock interrupted my breakdown. "Alina?" Sera's voice came through the wooden door. "I heard what happened. Are you okay?"
"Go away," I managed through my raw throat. I couldn't let Sera see me like this - broken and pathetic, exactly what everyone expected from the bastard daughter.
"I'm not leaving you alone right now," Sera said firmly. "I don't care what those assholes say about bloodlines or ceremonies. You're worth ten of them."
Despite everything, I felt a small spark of warmth. Sera Monroe was the only person who had ever defended me without wanting something in return. We'd met at a coffee shop during one of my rare escapes from the estate. Somehow the sharp-tongued human had become my only real friend.
"The door's locked," I whispered.
"Good thing I have skills," Sera replied. Moments later the lock clicked open.
Sera slipped inside, dark eyes immediately checking my condition. At twenty-six, she had the confidence of someone who'd survived things most people couldn't imagine. Her black hair was pulled back, and she wore dark clothes that helped her blend in.
"Jesus, you look like hell," Sera said bluntly, sitting on the bed and pulling me into a hug. "What really happened down there? I could hear all the screaming and murmurs coming from the servants' quarters."
"He rejected me," I said simply, hating how small my voice sounded. "In front of everyone. Just stood there and threw me away like trash."
Sera's arms tightened around me. "That bastard. I never trusted him, you know. Too smooth and too political for his own good. Men like that don't suddenly grow hearts."
We sat quietly for several minutes, Sera's presence steady while my world crumbled. The rejection pain was settling into a constant ache instead of sharp spikes, but Luna remained silent - a bad sign that worried me more than the physical agony.
From the hall below, renewed cheering and applause erupted. I flinched at the sounds of celebration continuing, as if my public humiliation was just a minor interruption.
"They're still partying," I whispered bitterly.
"Let's see what they're celebrating now," Sera said grimly, moving to the window.
I joined her, peering through the curtains. In the courtyard below, pack members streamed out of the hall, voices carrying on the night air.
"Did you hear?" one woman exclaimed. "Elira is pregnant with the Alpha's child!"
"Finally, a proper Luna for our pack," an elder replied with satisfaction.
"The bloodline will be pure," another voice added smugly.
My legs gave out. I gripped the windowsill as the words hit me like another rejection punch.
"Elira?" I whispered. "My stepsister Elira?"
Through the window, we watched as Elira appeared in the courtyard, glowing as pack members congratulated her. Her golden hair shone in the light, and her hand rested over her flat stomach.
"The future of our bloodline is secure," Elder Silas announced to the crowd. "Unlike the contaminated heritage we nearly suffered under."
His words were clearly meant for me to hear, even from my tower prison.
Sera's face darkened. "That manipulative little snake. She's been planning this."
"The pregnancy, the timing, everything," I realized, my voice hollow. "She orchestrated all of it."
"Wait," Sera said suddenly as her eyes sparked. "I saw Elira at the coffee shop yesterday. She downed a large coffee and took aspirin for a headache without thinking twice." Sera's eyes narrowed. "If she was really pregnant, wouldn't she be more careful?"
I turned from the window, hope and dread fighting in my chest. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying I think she's lying," Sera replied grimly. "And if she's lying about being pregnant, then everything that happened tonight was planned. Including your rejection."
The celebration continued below, but something was shifting inside me. The broken girl was still there, but underneath, anger was beginning to burn.
A sharp knock echoed through the chamber.
"Miss Gray," a guard's voice called through the door. "Alpha Damien requests your immediate presence in his study."
Sera's eyes went wide with alarm. "Don't go," she whispered. "Not after what he just did to you."
But I was already standing, wiping my face with the back of my hand. The tears had stopped, replaced by something harder. "I need answers, Sera. I need to know why he did this to me."
"Then I'm coming with you," Sera said firmly.
"No." My voice was steadier now. "This is something I have to face alone. But stay close, okay? If something goes wrong."
Sera nodded reluctantly. "I'll be right outside his study. One scream and I'm coming in, Alpha or not."
I smoothed down my ceremonial gown, the same one I'd worn for my humiliation. The embroidery caught the lamplight as I moved toward the door as my hands shaked slightly.
"Miss Gray," the guard repeated, impatience creeping into his voice.
"I'm coming," I called back. I turned to Sera one last time. "If Elira isn't really pregnant, then this whole thing was a setup. We need to find the proof of her deceit."
"Already planning on it," Sera replied with a grim smile. "That coffee shop has security cameras. And I know the owner."