Rejected Luna, Claimed by Daddy Alpha

Viya's POV

I adjusted my hair one last time in the silver-framed mirror of our penthouse bathroom.

The woman staring back at me looked softer than I felt. My loose black waves fell over my shoulders, my makeup was delicate, and the crimson dress beneath my black cashmere coat made my skin seem even paler. It was bolder than anything I usually wore. Not vulgar. Not desperate. Just brave enough to say what I had been too afraid to say for three years.

Tonight was our third wedding anniversary.

Three years of being Luna Wilde. Three years of sleeping beside Lucius without ever receiving his mark. Three years of pretending the distance between us was patience instead of rejection.

Serena, my wolf, stirred weakly in my mind. "You look beautiful."

"Do you think he'll notice?" I whispered.

She was silent for a second too long.

I smiled at my reflection anyway. "He has to notice eventually."

Even the coldest Alpha could soften, couldn't he? Even a marriage that began for politics could grow into something real.

At least, that was what I told myself as I drove to the private club where Lucius had gathered with several ranked members of the Wilde Pack. I had prepared his anniversary gift. I had planned a quiet dinner after the meeting. I had imagined, foolishly, that tonight he might look at me not as a suitable Luna, not as a useful alliance, but as his wife.

The hostess recognized me the moment I entered.

"Luna Viya," she said with a respectful bow. "Alpha Wilde is in the Moonstone Room."

"Thank you."

My smile was calm. My hands were not.

As I approached the private room, I heard Lucius's voice through the half-open door.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep pretending."

I stopped.

His tone was raw, intimate, filled with a tenderness I had begged the Goddess to hear from him even once.

A woman answered with a soft laugh. "Then stop pretending."

My blood turned cold.

Lucius exhaled heavily. "Every night I go back to her, I feel like I'm betraying myself."

Her. Me.

My fingers curled around the edge of the wall.

"Lucius," the woman murmured, "you're married."

"I never loved Viya."

The words did not explode. They sank. Quietly. Deeply. Like a silver blade pushed between my ribs.

"She is your fated mate," the woman said, though her voice sounded too pleased to be truly concerned.

"There is no bond," Lucius said coldly. "There never was. She was convenient. A respected wolf doctor. Obedient. Well-connected. The Wilde Pack needed stability, and marrying her gave me exactly that."

Serena whimpered inside me.

I pressed a hand over my mouth.

Convenient.

That was what I had been. Not wife. Not mate. Not Luna in his heart. Just a solution to a political problem.

The woman sighed. "And when will you divorce her?"

"Soon." Lucius's voice lowered. "The herbs are working. In a few more months, her wolf will be too