THE BILLIONAIRE WHO REJECTED HIS LUNA

The rain started before I reached the road, and by the time I got to the forest, I was soaked. I didn't care.

My dress dragged through the mud behind me, the expensive fabric tearing against branches as I stumbled deeper between the trees. I just needed to get away - from the pack, from the whispers, from Adrian. Especially Adrian.

My chest still burned where the mate bond had shattered, and every heartbeat sent another wave of pain through me. I pressed my palm against my chest. "Please," I whispered, my voice cracking. "Just stop."

My wolf didn't answer. She had gone strangely quiet - too quiet. Normally she'd be screaming inside my head, demanding I turn around and go back to our mate. Tonight there was nothing. Only emptiness.

I stumbled and fell against a tree, my knees hitting the wet ground, and a sob escaped me before I could stop it. I covered my mouth immediately. I didn't want anyone to hear. I had spent my entire life being the girl nobody noticed, and tonight everyone had noticed me. I wished they hadn't.

My phone vibrated once, then twice. I pulled it from my purse.

*Mother.*

I stared at the name - the one person I wanted to hear from - and answered. "Mom?"

Silence.

"Mom?"

Then her voice came through. "Elena, where are you?"

I wiped my face. "I'm outside."

"Outside where?"

"The forest."

There was a pause, a long one, too long, and my stomach tightened. "Why?"

I swallowed. "Adrian rejected me."

Silence again. But this time I heard something in her breathing. Fear. My mother was afraid.

"Mom?"

"Listen to me carefully." Her voice dropped. "Do not go back to the pack."

I frowned. "What?"

"Do you understand me?"

"Why?"

"Elena, don't ask questions. Just listen."

A branch cracked somewhere behind me. I turned. Nothing - only darkness.

"Mom, what's happening?"

"You need to leave."

"Leave where?"

"Anywhere. Just don't let them find you."

My heart began racing. "Who?"

She didn't answer.

"Mom!"

"I love you."

The call ended. I stared at the screen, my hands trembling. She had never said those words like that before - not because she didn't love me, but because she had never sounded like she was saying goodbye.

I called back. No answer. Again - nothing.

"Mom..."

A low growl rolled through the forest, and I froze. That wasn't my wolf. Something was out there.

I slowly stood. "Who's there?"

No answer. The growl came again, closer this time, and my body reacted before my mind did. I ran. Branches slapped against my face, my heels sank into the mud, and I didn't know where I was going - I just knew I had to move. Behind me, something crashed through the trees. I screamed.

Then a hand grabbed my arm.

I opened my mouth to scream again.

"Don't." A man's voice - low, urgent. "Elena, it's me."

I stopped. I knew that voice. I turned. "Daniel?"

My mother's driver stood behind me, soaked from the rain, his face terrified. "Get in the car."

"What are you doing here?"

"Your mother sent me."

I stared at him. "Where is she?"

His eyes moved away.

"Daniel."

"There's no time."

"What happened to my mother?"

He grabbed my wrist. "Elena, you have to trust me."

I pulled away. "No."

He looked at me. "Your mother knew this would happen."

My blood went cold. "Knew what would happen?"

He hesitated. "The rejection."

I stared at him. "What?"

"She knew Adrian would reject you."

The world seemed to tilt. "That's impossible."

"Get in the car."

"How could she know?"

"Because your mother has been preparing for tonight for years."

I couldn't speak. Daniel opened the car door, and I stood there, frozen. Then another thought hit me. "Why?"

He looked at me. "I don't know everything."

"You know something."

He said nothing.

"Daniel."

His jaw tightened. "Your mother told me that if Adrian rejected you, I was to take you somewhere safe."

"Where?"

He looked toward the forest. "Far away."

"From whom?"

His eyes hardened. "From everyone."

A gunshot exploded in the distance. I flinched. Daniel shoved me into the car. "Get down!"

Another shot. The windshield shattered. I screamed. Daniel pulled out a gun. "Stay here!" He ran around the car, and I curled against the floor, my heart pounding.

Another gunshot. Then silence.

I waited. Five seconds. Ten.

"Daniel?"

Nothing.

"Daniel!"

I lifted my head. He was lying beside the car, blood spreading across his shirt. I covered my mouth. "No."

The driver's door opened, and a stranger climbed inside. He wore black; his face was hidden. I scrambled backward. "Please..."

He looked at me. Then at my stomach. His expression changed.

"She's pregnant."

I froze. "What?"

He reached for me. And that was when my wolf finally woke up.

*Run.*

I kicked the door open and threw myself out of the car. I ran. I didn't know where. I didn't care. The stranger shouted behind me, but I kept running. The forest swallowed me, the rain grew heavier, and my vision blurred, my body weakening with every step.

I tripped over a root and fell down a steep slope. Pain exploded through my ankle. I tried to stand. I couldn't.

Footsteps approached, slow and deliberate. I looked up. The stranger stood at the top of the slope, gun raised. "Found you."

I closed my eyes.

Then a roar shook the forest - not human, not normal. The stranger turned. A massive black wolf emerged from the trees, its eyes glowing silver. The stranger dropped his gun. "No-"

The wolf lunged, and the forest erupted into chaos. I watched through half-closed eyes as the two figures disappeared into the darkness.

Then everything went black.

---

When I woke, I was lying in a strange room - white walls, soft sheets, a faint beeping sound beside me. I tried to sit up, and a sharp pain tore through my abdomen. I gasped.

A woman rushed into the room. "Don't move!"

"Where am I?"

"You're safe."

"My mother?"

The woman hesitated.

"Where is my mother?"

"I don't know."

I looked down, my hand instinctively moving toward my stomach. "Why does it hurt?"

The woman stared at me. "Because you almost lost the baby."

My heart stopped. "The what?"

She looked confused. "You didn't know?"

I couldn't breathe. She gently placed a hand on my shoulder. "Elena..."

"What baby?"

Her eyes filled with pity. "You're pregnant."

The room went silent. My hand remained on my stomach.

*Pregnant.*

No. That wasn't possible. I had only been with one man - one - and he had just rejected me.

Adrian.

I looked toward the window. Rain streaked the glass, and my heart broke all over again. But this time, something inside me changed.

I didn't know what the future held. I didn't know who had tried to kill me. I didn't know why my mother had known this would happen. But I knew one thing.

If Adrian Sterling didn't want me, then he would never know about his child.

I closed my eyes and made the first decision that would change all our lives.

Adrian Sterling would never meet his son.