The rejected life of Luna Madison

Goodbye

Madison POV

Madison had watched Nathan walk away with Lauren tucked into his side. He had walked straight to the elevator, not even looking back at her. Madison could only stare as she watched Nathan, rubbing Lauren’s back as he whispered words of comfort, through the closing elevator doors.

She was rooted to the spot, once again left to fend for herself. When had this shift happened? She had been the most important thing to Nathan only weeks ago.

Now, she couldn’t even finish a sentence in his presence.

Maybe it was time to leave and cut her losses while she still could? But how would Nathan react to her taking his pup with her? Should she even tell him? She wasn’t so sure anymore. Not when she had seen firsthand how Lauren was now Nathan’s priority.

Lauren would not take kindly to her mate having a pup with someone else. Madison knew how vicious Lunas could be. She had heard enough stories of Alphas who had conceived a child with their mistress, only to have the Luna give the order to have mother and child killed.

No, she wouldn’t tell him.

But Nathan’s behavior had not been the only shift that Madison had noticed. The pack was now openly disrespecting her. Sure, not all of the pack members, but most didn’t even greet her as ‘Luna’ anymore. And why would they? When even their Alpha wasn’t sure about what he wanted anymore.

It had been a huge slap in the face when she had heard one of the omegas call Lauren ‘Luna’ in passing. They hadn’t realized Madison was there to witness it, which only made it worse.

Madison closed her mind off to the pain and decided it was best to call it a night. She would start packing tomorrow and say goodbye to Nathan. She had a pup to think about, and this stress wasn’t healthy.

If Nathan ever found the courage to reject Lauren, he would know where to find her.

Madison’s eyes snapped open as she felt a warm hand clamping down over her mouth, preventing her from screaming.

“Come on, princess, don’t make this harder than it has to be.” A gruff voice demanded. Madison did the first thing that came to mind and opened her mouth, biting down on the inside of the man’s hand, until a metallic taste filled her mouth.

“Auw! b***h!” He growled, backhanding her in the face. “Grab her legs!” He growled out, drawing Madison’s attention to the others in her room.

“NATH-!” Madison managed to scream out, before she was hit on the head, causing her to feel momentarily dazed.

“This is taking too long!” The man that Madison assumed was the leader barked. “We should have been out by now!”

Suddenly, Madison felt a piercing pain in her neck, followed by a burning sensation in her veins. She groaned against the hand that had repositioned itself over her mouth.

Her eyes went wide when she noticed she couldn’t move.

Madison was woken by a soft voice calling her name. “Maddie, it’s okay, it was just a nightmare, wake up.” Her sister Mackenzie’s soft voice brought her back to the present. Madison threw off the covers, her nightgown sticking to her skin.

“Are you okay?” Her sister's piercing gaze rested on her, patiently waiting for Madison to reply.

It had been three days since that awful day, when she was kidnapped and almost murdered. She thanked the Goddess for the man who had saved her life.

After the drugs had worn off, Madison had taken the bag of food and stumbled out of the cabin that she had been kept in. Walking a few steps in the direction she had received from her savior, Madison found her car covered with leaves and branches.

What followed was a blur of scenery as her mind kept flashing to everything that she had just left behind.

Suddenly, she came to a screeching halt.

She had somehow gotten to the Shadow Rock pack unharmed, and she finally let out the breath she had been holding for what felt like forever.

Her exhaustion caught up with her and her fingers ached from gripping the steering wheel the whole drive.

She looked down to see that blood was slowly oozing out of a wound on her leg. She must have hurt herself while removing the branches from her car.

Her wolf wasn’t actively healing her. She had retreated to the back of Madison’s mind, the exhaustion from the fight and flight proving too much for her beast.

Suddenly, someone was knocking on the window.

Madison felt numb. Tears started streaming down her face at the realization of what had just happened. How did this happen?

The door slowly opened.

Maddie! What happened? She faintly heard her sister’s voice.

She wanted to tell her everything but couldn’t make the words leave her mouth. All she could do was sob. Her restraint was finally snapping.

“Madison, come on, let’s get you to the pack hospital.”

Madison nodded, slowly stepping out of the car and trying to lean on her wounded leg.

She heard her sister calling out to someone.

Madison felt Mackenzie lift her arm over her shoulder as someone on the other side did the same. She was too numb to register who it was, but she recalled the scent. Tony. Her sister's mate.

They pulled her along towards the pack hospital, but Madison stopped dead in her tracks, unable to comprehend all that was going on around her. It felt as though she couldn’t breathe.

“Maddie, you need to see a doctor..” She heard Mackenzie say in a desperate attempt to get her moving again.

She tried to speak again, but only mumbles came out.

“What did you say?” Mackenzie asked in a gentle voice. Madison cleared her throat.

“Mackenzie…” Madison began. “Nathan found his mate.”

After that, darkness claimed her, and she woken up in a bedroom that she didn’t recognize. By then, Mackenzie was already aware of Madison’s pregnancy.

She had been furious. She was already planning a war by the time Madison had snapped out of her sorrow and was able to tell Mackenzie the whole story. Not that that had helped much. But it had definitely calmed her sibling down enough to stop ranting about burning the Prescott Valley pack to the ground.

“Maddie?” Her sister's voice brought her back to the present.

“Yes, sorry to wake you. It was that dream again.” Madison sighed.

“I’m so sorry, Maddie.” Mackenzie choked out, as emotion gripped her sister. “I’m sorry that this had to happen to you…If you hadn't had to save me, you never would have signed that mating contract and..”

“Hey hey,” Madison held up her hand to stop her sister, “though I might be heartbroken right now, I wouldn’t want to change anything about being mated to Nathan. It was beautiful while it lasted, and I got something beautiful from it.” Madison smiled through tears while placing a hand on her growing baby bump.

She would never regret the life of her pup.

Her sister pulled her into a comforting hug. Madison closed her eyes as she thought of the life she had left behind.

Madison wondered how Nathan would react to her being gone. Would he even notice? Would he send out a search party? Or would he be glad to be rid of her so that he could finally start his life with his new mate?

Would they mark and mate immediately? Or would they abide by pack tradition and hold a marking ceremony like Nathan and her were planning?

Madison removed the block she had kept in place to keep her heart from shattering and allowed the pain back in little by little. She let out a soft sob as she sunk deeper into her sister’s embrace.

Would Nathan and Lauren start a family immediately?

Madison cried. She cried as she thought of Nathan and Lauren together. She let her mind imagine them kissing. She imagined them sleeping together… she even imagined them tucking in their pup together. Something her child would never have.

Madison gave in to the pain for a few minutes. She knew that blocking the pain out permanently was not the answer. She had to grieve. She had to become a strong woman. For her pup.

After a while, she pulled back from her sister’s embrace while wiping her tears from her face. She noticed that her sister had been crying as well.

“This isn’t the life that I wanted for you.” Mackenzie had explained her tears. She knew that her sister couldn’t stand to see her suffering. She was the same.

Once she pulled herself together, she let her mind drift to her own future. She had a lot to think about.

But she did know one thing. She couldn’t keep wallowing in self-pity. She needed to decide on a permanent residence. She needed to find a new job.

And she knew just where to find it.