My Alpha’s Rejection-Replaced by His Mistress

My knees slammed against the icy stone floor as Celeste, my mate’s mistress, tripped me with a cruel flick of her heel. The pack’s mocking laughter roared through the hall, swallowing her fake gasp.

Blood seeped from my torn palms, my dress in tatters, but Alpha Ryker—my mate—and our son, Adrian, turned away. Ryker’s cold eyes devoured Celeste, as if she were his true mate.

“Clumsy Mama,” Adrian, my son, jeered, his words a knife to my heart. “Celeste is so much better than you.”

“Oh, Adrian, hush,” Celeste cooed, her venomous smirk curling as she twirled a lock of hair. “I’ll be Luna soon. We mustn’t be too hard on your mother.”

Her voice was honeyed poison, her gaze sparking with glee at my son’s betrayal. She pressed herself against Ryker, claiming him like they were the ones bound by fate.

Ryker lifted her hand, kissing it with reverence. “You’re Adrian’s true mother,” he vowed. “My Luna. My only mate.”

But as I staggered to my feet, defiance ignited in my chest. One thought burned hotter than my pain—I’d make them all pay.

...

I was barely able to stand. My body ached from fever, my limbs heavy as if they had been chained down. Every movement sent a dull pain rippling through my muscles, but I pushed forward. Today wasn’t about me. It was about my son.

Adrian’s birthday.

The packhouse was silent in the early morning, the moon still clinging to the sky as I worked alone in the kitchen. A grand feast had to be prepared—meats marinated, bread baked, desserts carefully plated.

Not because I was expected to do it, but because I wanted to. Because despite everything, despite the way my son had started looking at me like I was nothing more than a servant, I still held on to the hope that maybe—just maybe—he would look at me with love today.

The fire in the hearth crackled softly, casting long shadows across the stone walls as I kneaded dough with trembling fingers. My fevered skin felt as though it was on fire, but I ignored it. There was no room for weakness in this pack.

Certainly not in the presence of her.

Celeste.

The she-wolf who had slithered into my husband’s bed, sinking her claws into him and twisting them until I was little more than a forgotten shadow.

I could already imagine the way she would glide into the hall later, her silky golden hair cascading down her back, her lips curved into that ever-smug smile.

Sweet, perfect Celeste, the one the pack whispered about in hushed voices. The true Luna, they called her, while I was nothing more than a lingering inconvenience.

I could still remember the first time I’d caught them together. The sting of betrayal.

The cold, dismissive way Ryker had looked at me, as if I were nothing more than an insect beneath his boot. But worst of all? The way Adrian had taken to her so effortlessly, like