Ellie

The only time Jaxon and I eat together is on Friday nights. These dinners are the highlight of my week, even though I'm usually met with indifference or scorn from my mate. But this Friday was different. Jaxon seemed distracted, shifting uncomfortably in his seat across from me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked hesitantly.

He sighed, not meeting my eyes. "There's something I need to discuss with you."

I braced myself, expecting the worst. Jaxon so rarely spoke to me directly. When he did, it was usually to criticize or command.

"Emma is pregnant," he said flatly.

My shoulders relaxed in surprise and relief. Emma was my best friend in the pack. I wondered why she hadn't told me herself, but this was good news.

"Well, congratulations," I said. "I'm so happy for her."

Jaxon stared at me evenly. "The child is mine."

His words hit me like a physical blow. I froze, fork halfway to my mouth. Jaxon gazed back impassively as he waited for my reaction.

Emma, my best friend, was having Jaxon's baby. The alpha who I was mated to, bound to for life, was going to have a child with another woman.

Rage boiled up inside me, momentarily choking my words. I had endured years of Jaxon's cruelty and neglect. He treated me like an unwanted burden, not a true mate. I was kept isolated, sexually frustrated, verbally degraded. And now he dared betray me so blatantly, right in front of my face.

"How could you?" I finally managed to hiss.

Jaxon's eyes narrowed. "Watch yourself," he warned. "You are still only the Luna."

"Only the Luna," I repeated with biting mockery. "Only your worthless, barren mate who you've abused for years!"

Jaxon slammed his fist on the table, making the dishes rattle. "It is my right as Alpha to take another mate if you cannot produce an heir," he snarled.

"Produce an heir?" I laughed harshly. "You won't even touch me! You act repulsed by my very scent!"

His lip curled in a sneer. "Can you blame me? You are far too pathetic to be a proper Luna."

Angry tears burned in my eyes but I blinked them back. I would not let him see me cry.

"You disgusting pig!" I shouted, rising from my seat. "I devoted myself to you! I sacrificed everything for this pack, and this is how you repay me?"

Jaxon slowly stood to meet my gaze, anger brewing beneath the surface. "You will watch your tongue when speaking to your Alpha."

"My Alpha? No. You lost the right to call yourself that when you betrayed me by breeding my best friend behind my back!"

I trembled with rage and adrenaline. I had never dared speak to Jaxon this way before, but I no longer cared about the consequences.

I shoved my chair back and stood up. Jaxon rose slowly, an ominous glint in his eyes.

"Sit down," he commanded in a low, dangerous tone. "We are not done."

But I was done being his weak, obedient little Luna. The secretly desperate mate who cried herself to sleep at night, aching for his affection. That part of me had snapped.

"No, Jaxon," I said clearly, meeting his incensed gaze. "I will not sit. I am not some toy for you to cast aside once broken. I was your true mate and you dishonored me!"

He stomped around the table, looming over me threateningly. But I held my ground, tilting my chin up defiantly.

"You dare speak to your Alpha with such disrespect?" he growled. "You are replaceable. Since you cannot give me an heir, I have taken a fertile mate. Emma will make a fine Luna."

The words were like a knife to my chest. Emma had betrayed me too, then. She was supposed to be my closest friend, yet she had seduced my mate behind my back!

"Emma?" I laughed bitterly. "That whimpering little beta could never be a Luna."

Jaxon crossed his arms. "She will be after you step down. I have made my decision."

"Over my dead body," I snarled. "I am your true mate, Jaxon. The goddess bound us together, for life! Or does that vow mean nothing to the great and arrogant Alpha?"

Jaxon moved in closer, his musky scent enveloping me. Once that smell would have brought comfort or arousal. Now all I felt was disgust and defiance.

"I could kill you for that insolence," he whispered coldly. "Then Emma would take your place immediately."

A chill ran down my spine at the look in his eyes. He meant every word. The mate I had once loved was truly gone, replaced by this cruel and ambitious stranger.

I took a step back, my heart pounding with fear and adrenaline. "You wouldn't dare," I breathed. "It would turn the entire pack against you."

His mouth twisted in a sneer. "No one would question their Alpha. Not when I have given them a fertile Luna, instead of you."

I felt like I had been punched in the gut. He was right - if he killed me now, few in the pack would object. They revered Jaxon, and I was never popular, kept isolated as I was. Emma had ways of charming people to her side.

Right then, I knew I had to get away. Not if I wanted to survive.

"We will finish this discussion later," he said coldly. "I expect you to come to your senses and accept your fate."

With that, he pushed past me and stormed out of the dining room, leaving me shaking with adrenaline. I couldn't believe I had found the courage to finally stand up to him. But now I was terrified about what he would do to me - or Emma - in retaliation.

As I hurried to my bedroom suite with tears blurring my vision, I literally ran into Emma in the hallway. She grabbed my arm gently.

"Ellie, can we talk?" she asked, concern in her pretty green eyes.

I yanked my arm furiously from her grasp. "Get away from me, you deceitful snake!"

"Please, let me explain-" Emma began.

But I was in no state of mind to listen to her excuses. I pushed past her and raced to my rooms, slamming the door behind me. Finally alone, I collapsed on my bed in heaving sobs, my heart shattered by Jaxon's cruelty and Emma's betrayal.

What was I going to do now? I had nowhere to turn and no one to trust. Jaxon despised me and would surely make me pay for my defiant outburst over dinner. And Emma - my friend, my sister - had conspired with him to steal everything that was rightfully mine.

I had never felt so hopeless and alone. Curled up on my enormous empty bed, I cried until I had no tears left. What did the future hold for me now that I had lost my mate and my best friend in one fell swoop? Should I stand and fight? Or accept defeat and relinquish my title as Luna, which had only brought me pain? I tossed and turned all night, plagued by nightmares, as I agonized over what to do next.