The Rejected Luna's Royal Bloodline

When the Alpha's pregnant mistress showed up on my doorstep, I let out a sigh of relief. No one knew how long I had been waiting for this day. Lily tilted her chin up, looking at me with the smug gaze of a victor. "You should know very well who holds Jason's heart." I held up a hand to cut her off. "I know. He loves you." The next second, I wheeled out the chair from behind me. "So, this one's all yours." Lily's eyes fell on the emaciated woman in the wheelchair, her pupils shrinking in terror. "Are you insane? Jason said his mother died years ago!" I waved my hand dismissively. "You're mistaken. This is his father's former mistress." Lily staggered back two steps, her swollen belly bumping against the edge of the table. "What do you mean? What does his father's mistress have to do with me?" I nodded solemnly. "It really had nothing to do with you. But starting today, it does." With that, I shoved a contract into her arms. "From now on, her food, clothes, living expenses, and herbal treatments are all on you. Oh, right, along with financial support for me and my pup." I turned around, dragged out my packed suitcase, and strode toward the door. Heavily pregnant and clumsy, Lily couldn't react in time. Ever since the day I first caught Jason's scent all over her, I had been waiting for this exact moment. Go confront Jason? No. He had already locked down the pack's storehouses tight. Wait for his conscience to kick in? No. An Alpha who betrays his fated mate threw his conscience to the wild dogs long ago. "Stop right there! Thomas's mistress... Why the hell are you dumping her on me?" "Because Jason loves you! Didn't you want to be the mistress of this house? Well, you got your wish!" I slammed the heavy front door shut. Didn't they want to force me out? Fine. I'd hand the whole damn house over to her. Just as I crossed the pack's boundary line, Jason's voice blasted inside my head. The Mind Link. I sped up my pace. Over thirty frantic calls, and I ignored every single one. Then, his command snapped through: "Get your ass back here within the hour and give me an explanation." An explanation? I let out a cold laugh and shot back through the link: "There's nothing to explain. Your father's old flame naturally belongs in your care. Having your precious sweetheart look after the old lady will make quite the heartwarming tale when word spreads." The year we mated, Jason told me about his past. When he was fifteen, his father brought home another woman. That woman drove his birth mother away. He loathed the pair of them with every fiber of his being. Yet fate had a sick sense of humor. Less than two years later, his father died in a hunting accident. The woman who swore she would raise him cleaned out every valuable in the pack overnight. She left behind nothing but a rotting old estate. I once thought my devotion could heal his childhood trauma. Now, I finally saw the truth. He had simply grown up to become his father. "What kind of bullshit are you talking about? Why should Lily have to wait on that bitch hand and foot?" Jason's roar tore through the Mind Link, making my skull throb. I replied calmly: "Because she loves you. Because she's your soulmate. Because she doesn't care about your Alpha title and only wants to spend the rest of her life by your side." Since their love was so transcendent, what was a little trouble between soulmates? I once asked him with tear-stained eyes why he had chosen to walk down the exact same path as his father when he hated betrayal more than anything. He stayed silent for a long time before giving me his excuse: "You're great, but Lily makes me feel alive. Being with her taught me what I truly want. I... I finally understand my father." Looking at his shameless expression, a bone-chilling cold had washed over me. He said he understood his father. He understood the irresistible urge to abandon a wife and child. Yet he completely forgot the hollow, hopeless look in his mother's eyes. Of course. A son could never truly comprehend his mother's pain. Yet he could forgive his father's sins without batting an eye. Since you understand your father so well, I'll make sure you get a front-row seat to the very mess he left behind.Jason was the Alpha of the Crimson Pack. I had never been allowed to touch the pack's hunting vaults. In the early days of our mating, he still shared portions of game and fine pelts with me every month. Ever since that woman came into the picture, he started complaining about barren lands and scarce prey. He mortgaged the ancestral estate his mother left behind to the neighboring Stone Ridge Pack in exchange for massive shipments of supplies. And he made me the co-signer. Later on, claiming resources were stretched thin, he cut off the allowances meant for me and our daughter entirely. Yet that other woman walked around draped in delicate silver jewelry and prime furs. My daughter and I were merely the past he was gradually throwing away. I refused to sit back and wait for slaughter. Otherwise, the day would come when we wouldn't even have a roof over our heads. A plan slowly took shape in my mind. The execution went smoother than expected. Jason's father and that woman had never formally mated back then—she was just a sidepiece. After asking around, I tracked her down. When I saw her in person, I was still taken aback. She was so skin-and-bones she looked like a skeleton, and she reeked of rotting flesh—the unmistakable stench of the Moon Eclipse Curse rotting straight down to the marrow. It seemed her life after running off with the loot hadn't been easy at all. She sized me up, a gleam of cunning flashing in her milky, clouded eyes. "You're Jason's mate?" I didn't answer. I felt nothing but sheer disgust toward this woman. Technically, she was merely Thomas's old fling. By law, she shared no bloodline or mating bond with Jason. After several failed attempts by the Beta to negotiate with Jason, the Beta dumped the old hag straight at my door. I settled her in without delay. The moment she crossed the threshold, her dull eyes lit up. She looked around the furnishings as if she already owned the place. What she didn't know was that Jason hadn't set foot in this house for over six months. Still, I took great care of her, finding healers and procuring rare herbs. Because the best way to punish someone is to let them swallow the bitter fruit of their own making. She thought she had been brought back to live in luxury. She had no idea she was nothing more than a ticking bomb. A sudden wave of unrest washed over my senses across the territory. Jason was back. Standing in the courtyard, he was utterly dumbfounded. The pregnant woman was clinging to his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. The withered woman in the wheelchair gripped the armrests, wailing at the top of her lungs. Jason pressed his fingers hard against his temples. Soon, a second Mind Link message hit me: "Mia, don't think hauling this old hag back gives you leverage over me. Drop the cheap tricks. I was planning to offer you some compensation, but it looks like you don't deserve a damn thing." The corner of my mouth curved, and I thought back: "No rush on the compensation. First, settle your mother's herbal bills and healer fees. I itemized every single coin in the contract." Jason flipped open the parchment, his expression curdling into a scowl. "Late-stage Moon Eclipse Curse?" "Aaargh!" Next to him, Lily shrieked and jumped back. "What did you say? Who has the Moon Eclipse Curse?" Bingo. That was the real reason the Beta dumped the old woman on me. No healer was willing to take her in, and eight caretakers had already fled in terror. The only option was to make her family watch over her in person. Even though she wasn't blood-related to Jason, the Beta had dropped her off with a parting shot: "Deal with it yourself." So, I had been looking forward to this day more than anyone. "All this time, I paid for your mother's herbs and treatments out of my own pocket. It comes out to the value of a hundred prime snow-fox pelts. Pay it back soon." Jason kicked over the stone table with a vicious crash. Amid the shattering stone, both women screamed in unison. The old hag in the wheelchair jerked violently, and a rank, foul puddle leaked down her legs. Nobody dared step forward. Catching the rancid stench, Lily bent over, gagging violently. A moment later, she grabbed her bag and bolted outside. Jason stormed out right behind her.I stared at the old woman in the wheelchair. Sure enough, her trembling fingers reached for her communicator. When the Beta brought her over, he made one thing crystal clear: if Jason refused to take care of her, go straight to the retired Alpha Elders. Those old bastards might have stepped down from leading packs, but they held immense networks and ruthless methods. One former Alpha might not mean much, but a whole council of them banded together could give any sitting Alpha a nightmare. Because of that, the lines I heard most often lately were: "If you don't give me rare herbs, I'm calling Elder Watson!" "If you don't hire a master healer, I'm calling Elder Watson!" "If you don't feed me fresh meat, I'm calling Elder Watson!" To pull off today's performance, I had catered to her every whim. The tonics in her bowl and the silver trinkets on her wrists only fed her endless greed and audacity. She dialed the frequency. "Watson? It's Karen... Thomas's Karen... Yes... Jason dumped me here to rot, without a single soul to care for me..." Two hours later, Jason walked back in. He wasn't dragged back—no one could forcibly haul an Alpha around. Yet his face was green, looking like he had swallowed a mouthful of flies. Elder Watson had sent an envoy with an unambiguous message: "You don't leave your father's woman to rot." There was zero room for debate. Watson had been out of power for twenty years, but he had personally groomed several of the sitting Alphas. He and a bunch of retired geezers frequently got drunk together, tossing their weight around to lecture the younger generation. What these old men cared about most was their bloated pride—if they felt some junior Alpha didn't show them proper respect, they would blacklist him, smear his name across territories, and secretly rally other packs to squeeze him dry. Jason could refuse. The consequence, however, would be the Crimson Pack's northern hunting grounds getting seized by tomorrow, and neighboring packs catching wind that this young Alpha couldn't even show respect to his elders by the day after. If several packs teamed up, not even the Crimson Pack could withstand the fallout. That was the way of those ancient Alphas—a bunch of arrogant, washed-up relics desperately clinging to the illusion of control. The entire council of elders was a volatile powder keg of raw testosterone and bloated egos, ready to explode at the slightest sign of defiance. Worst of all, they had the connections to enforce it. As for pregnant Lily? By pack custom, Jason owed her zero formal obligations. Instead, this very hag who had stolen his family's wealth and driven his mother to her grave was someone he was now forced to choke down and support, all thanks to a single word from Elder Watson. Poetic justice. I used the tyrannical authority of those old Alphas to slam the door on his path to true love. Didn't he claim he finally understood his father? Then let him explain to his dead mother in his midnight nightmares just how absurd this generational "true love" really was. The wheelchair rolled forward. The old woman thrust out her hand, not showing a shred of shame. "Jason, why dwell on the past? Isn't your mother back now? That Lily girl is clearly bad news. Take my advice, Mia is the good one. Go get her back right now." "Shut your mouth!" Jason shot up, snarling: "When you cleared out every scrap of food and coin from the pack, did you give a damn whether I starved to death? Now that you're rotting with disease and have nowhere left to run, you suddenly remember you have a son? Where do you get the nerve to order me around?" Seeing his harsh stance, the old woman merely waved her hand with indifference. "Fine. If you won't acknowledge me, I won't waste my breath. Elder Watson said you have to take care of me anyway. I don't like that Lily girl. Bring Mia back!" With that, she rolled straight into the master bedroom and slammed the door shut. My mind buzzed as Jason's link fired through: "You brought this old hag back, so you deal with her. I don't have time for your games. This has nothing to do with Lily. She has no duty here." Look at that. The classic scheme of a coward. To him, our mating bond was nothing more than an exploitable trap. He thought he had found the perfect loophole. Let Lily enjoy all the perks. Leave me to bear all the burdens. The Beta pushed the stinking old woman onto me because pack law dictated it. The entire pack was helping him scheme against his own mate. Was he stupid? Not in the slightest. He knew all too well how to weaponize the mate bond to strip me of everything under the guise of propriety. I sent the bill back to him once more: "Settle the outstanding balance first. This covers the expenses for your mother's treatment." His mental voice snapped right back: "I told you, she's not my mother. She's a filthy parasite. I don't acknowledge this debt. You treated her without my consent, so that's your problem." With that, he severed the connection. Fine. If that's how you want to play, don't blame me for what comes next.I relayed his words verbatim to the old woman. "Karen, you heard him. Jason refuses to acknowledge the debt. A hundred snow-fox pelts' worth... you'll have to come up with it yourself." Panic instantly gripped her face. "Mia, you know I don't have a penny! If I had anything left, I wouldn't have ended up like this..." I cut her off smoothly. "Did you forget? When Thomas passed, he left behind that ancestral estate. You have a legal share in it." She froze. "The ancestral estate?" "Yes. That property originally belonged to Sarah. After she was gone, Jason and his father each held half." "When Thomas died, his half was split evenly between you and Jason. That gives you a quarter, while Jason holds three-quarters." "Jason will definitely never recognize your share. After all, you took the valuables and ran back then, making your inheritance deed essentially worthless on paper. But if you transfer it to me, things change—I will continue covering your treatments, and your previous debts will be wiped clean." The old woman fell silent. Jason had kept that old estate all these years, not out of sentimental attachment, but because her long disappearance left the title tied up in legal limbo. "Deal!" She finally nodded. "I agree. But you must swear by the Moon Goddess that you'll keep paying for my medicine and never leave me out on the streets." "I swear it by the Moon Goddess." The following morning, after sending my daughter to a safe location, the old woman pressed her thumbprint onto the Bloodline Gift Deed. The entire process didn't require Jason's consent at all. That one-quarter share was the very first asset I claimed. It came from an old hag I once despised, but in that moment, I knew: The enemy of my enemy is an ally. Yet my existing debts were still legally classified as joint mate debts. Afterward, I moved her into an isolated wooden cabin out on the fringes. Her Moon Eclipse Curse meant she had to be quarantined away from my daughter. This new wave of expenses, along with the previous herbal bills, was billed straight under Jason's name once again—as joint mate debt. After all, I was just cleaning up his family mess. Returning home, I began liquidating the house. I traded away the valuables piece by piece. The provisions I got in return went straight toward paying off the herbalist debts I owed. Then, I rented the entire property out. The monthly rent brought in just enough to cover the old woman's ongoing medicine. My daughter was left safely in the care of my parents. Look how ironic fate could be. He thought he had set the rules of the game, leaving me hopelessly trapped inside. He forgot that rules are a double-edged sword. If he could build high walls, I could carve out an escape tunnel. A few days later, seeing no noise from my end, he assumed I had finally accepted defeat. Until his key failed to unlock his own front door, and a strange werewolf answered instead. Every single trace belonging to me and my daughter had been wiped clean from the home. Panic finally set in. He pinged my Mind Link frantically, only to be met with absolute silence. Soon after, a leather pouch was delivered to his hands. Inside was the deed transferring the one-quarter share of the ancestral estate. Attached to it was a note: "No need to look for Karen's signature. The share has already been transferred. If you wish to sell or renovate the estate, please consult me first." Right beneath it was a one-year lease agreement for the quarantine cabin, complete with an official isolation certificate signed by the healer. Then came the caretaker employment contract, with a note clearly stamped: *Special Infectious Disease Care, High-Risk Compensation.* Finally, a densely packed ledger of upfront expenses—herbs, room, board, and specialized nutrition... enough to make his eyes bleed. He kicked the leather pouch across the floor, letting out a furious snarl: "Mia! If I ever throw you another scrap of bone, I'm not fit to be this pack's Alpha!" Yet this time, he didn't come hunting me down. He knew Elder Watson was already giving him enough hell to deal with. He merely severed all pack communications with cold finality. And that was precisely what I had been waiting for.