The Rejected Luna Rising

”Miss, you should eat some of this porridge,” the maid insisted, placing the tray on the table beside the bed.

”I have no appetite,” Caroline whispered, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. Food was the last thing on her mind. All she could think about was returning home. She needed to see her parents with her own eyes. There was still a small part of her that refused to believe they were truly gone.

After a moment, she turned toward the maid. ”Can I see your master?”

The maid nodded and immediately left the room to inform Andrew.

A short while later, the door opened, and Andrew walked in. ”I heard you wanted to see me.”

His gaze immediately fell on the untouched tray and the covered bowl of porridge. He glanced at the maid with a displeased expression.

”Your Highness, Miss Caroline refused to eat,” the maid explained.

”Leave,” Andrew ordered. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

The maid immediately bowed and walked out. Once the doors closed behind her, Andrew approached the bed and pulled the chair closer before sitting beside Caroline.

”Why aren’t you eating?” he asked, looking at the untouched food. ”Do you think starving yourself will bring back the people you’ve lost?”

”I want to see my parents,” Caroline replied, her voice trembling. ”I want to go back.”

She searched his face as she continued, desperately looking for some reassurance. ”Please. Maybe one of them is still alive. Someone could have taken them to a hospital. Maybe they’re waiting for me.”

Andrew’s expression remained serious as he looked at her.

”They’re dead.”

Caroline’s hopeful expression immediately faded.

”After what you told me this morning, I sent my Gamma to your home,” Andrew continued. ”He told me their bodies were no longer there. They had been taken for a postmortem examination.”

He paused briefly before adding, ”By now, I believe they may have already been cremated.”

Caroline stared at him in complete silence.

Not a single word came out of her mouth. The last bit of hope she had been clinging to disappeared, leaving her staring blankly ahead as tears slowly filled her eyes.

Caroline’s thumb kept pressing against the side of her index finger, the sharp edge of her nail digging deeper into her skin. She was so consumed by her grief that she barely noticed when the skin broke and a small amount of blood began to ooze from the wound.

Andrew noticed it immediately. He reached over and gently covered her hand with his, stopping her from hurting herself any further.

”Don’t do that,” he said firmly. ”You shouldn’t hurt yourself.”

Caroline looked at him, her eyes filled with tears and exhaustion.

”Dad was probably already gone by the time I reached home,” she whispered. ”And Mom... she told me to run.”

Her voice trembled as she struggled to hold back another sob.

”I could have accepted Victor rejecting me. It would have hurt, but I could have survived it. But he had to murder my parents too. They never did anything to him. Not once.”

She lowered her gaze to their hands.

”I guess that’s how little our lives mean to an Alpha,” she said bitterly. ”They can take everything from us whenever they want, and no one even questions them.”

”Of course, no one cares about omegas,” Andrew admitted, his expression turning grim. ”That’s the reality you’ve been forced to live with.”

Seeing Caroline’s tears fall, a deep rage tightened inside Andrew’s chest. It was the kind of anger that made him want to tear Victor’s heart out with his bare hands, especially knowing that Victor was already on his way there.

Andrew reached out and gently placed his warm hand against Caroline’s cheek. She closed her eyes at the comforting touch.

”He promised me the world,” she whispered, her voice breaking. ”I truly believed he loved me. If only I hadn’t gone to his house to tell him about my pregnancy, maybe my parents would still be alive today, and so would my pup.”

”Why would you want to keep the pup of a bastard who never loved you?” Andrew asked, his voice calm but clearly disapproving.

”Because it was mine too,” Caroline whispered. ”It wasn’t only his.”

She swallowed hard as another tear slipped down her cheek. ”When the doctor told me I was pregnant, I felt so happy. It was such a warm feeling that I couldn’t even process it at first. I thought Victor would finally declare me as his mate in front of the pack after hearing the news. I thought he would be happy too. You don’t understand what I felt at that moment...”

Andrew listened silently, watching the pain on her face.

He rose from the chair and sat beside her on the bed. His fingers gently brushed the damp strands of hair away from her cheek, making Caroline slowly open her eyes.

”I want you to marry me,” Andrew said.

Caroline stared at him, clearly caught off guard by his words.

”Become my Luna,” he continued. ”I can’t promise you the kind of feelings you were hoping to receive from Victor, and I won’t pretend that I can replace what you lost. But I can promise you something else. I will love you in the way I know how, protect you with everything I have, and make sure no one ever dares to look down on you again.”

His voice became firmer as he added, ”If you become my Luna, no one in this kingdom will have the authority to question your worth. No one can do anything to you unless you allow it. That’s the kind of power you’ll have as my Luna. No one will be able to control you, threaten you, or decide your fate for you.”

He paused, giving her a moment to take in his words.

”And as for love...” A faint smile touched his lips. ”You will eventually fall for me. Madly and deeply. With time, you’ll forget that bastard and everything he made you believe about love.”

Caroline remained silent, her eyes still filled with tears.

”Dwelling on the past won’t bring your parents or your pup back,” Andrew said firmly. ”You can’t change what happened, but you can decide what happens next.”

His expression hardened with determination.

”So don’t let their deaths be meaningless. Become stronger. Rise above the people who destroyed your life.”