Rejected by My Pack, Crowned by the Empire Chapter 01

Rejected by My Pack, Crowned by the Empire Chapter 01

Everyone in the Mooncrest Pack knew that every pair of parents would craft a unique Moonlit Wedding Carriage for their daughter.

It had been six years since my Moonlit Wedding Carriage had been fully completed.

Yet across nineteen scheduled wedding dates, my adopted sister Serena had always found an excuse to cancel the ceremony.

Then came the day of my mating ceremony—and once again, she’d locked me inside..

I smashed the window open, battered and bruised, and rushed straight to the altar, only to find the ceremony already underway.

Serena was sitting inside my wedding carriage. My older brother Zayne walked beside her, guiding her step by step toward Damon, my Alpha fiancé.

Up on the dais, my parents stood there with tear-filled eyes, begging Damon to cherish their daughter.

The moment they spotted me, my best friend Iris threw herself in my path to block the doorway.

“Yep,” she confessed flatly. “This bride-switching scheme was planned by all of us together.”

“Serena’s dying from a severe illness. We’re just trying to make her final wish come true. Could you just cut us some slack and be the bigger person here?”

Zayne strode over fast, his voice sharp with warning.

“Mom and Dad already said it—if you keep your cool and don’t cause a fuss today, we’ll pay you ten times over in compensation later, and split our love evenly between you and Serena for good.”

“Otherwise, you will lose your place in the Mooncrest Pack for good.”

I curled my hands into tight fists, refusing to shed a single tear in front of them.

He had no idea my foster parents had long prepared wedding gifts worth millions for me.

I didn’t want their half-hearted affection anymore.

A flimsy slip of paper was held out before me. I stared at the diagnosis slip Zayne held out—its hospital’s name was blurred beyond recognition, with a crooked, poorly stamped seal in the corner.

How many different illnesses has Serena pretended to have at this point?

Last year it was stomach cancer; the year before that, bone cancer.

Years prior, she’d also faked heart disease, leukemia and severe depression.

If I could spot the forgery at a single glance, my parents must have seen through it as well.

The nonstop processional music echoing through the altar hall stung my eardrums and pierced my heart in equal measure.

I’d personally picked out the bridesmaid dress Iris was wearing.

Her tone turned impatient.

“I’m telling you, don’t start drama. You grew up way out in the sticks, and marrying Damon is totally way out of your league. If you humiliate everyone here, he might very well decide he doesn’t want you at all.”

She darted a glance toward the altar as she spoke.

“And it’s not like we hid this from you on purpose. It’s just that you’re petty and always act as if the whole world owes you something. Honestly? Damon and Serena make such a perfect match.”

I stared at her blankly, my throat so tight I couldn’t force out a single word.

She’d been my only friend ever since I joined the Mooncrest Pack.

Four years ago, when the pack members bullied her relentlessly, I’d stood in front of her to protect her.

For four whole years, we’d been inseparable.

Just days earlier, while I tried on my wedding gown, she’d wrapped her arms around me with a bright smile.

“Mooncrest Pack tradition dictates that an unmarried she-wolf may only serve as a bridesmaid once in her lifetime.”

“Evelyn, I want that spot to be mine. I want to stand there and watch you get your happy ending.”

But now she stood firmly on the opposite side.

Celebratory chatter swelled louder inside the altar hall.

“Damon, if you ever treat Serena wrong, I’ll raise hell and make your life miserable if you hurt her,” my grandmother said—the same grandmother who’d once doted on me endlessly.

“Man, Damon’s hit the jackpot getting to mark someone as amazing as Serena. He’s gonna worship the ground she walks on, and the rest of us are totally jealous,” one of Damon’s Beta friends chimed in. That same man had called me “Luna” just the night before.

Each well-wish cut into me like a knife.

Seeing my raw, wounded defiance, Zayne frowned and grabbed my arm roughly.

“Don’t go in there and humiliate yourself. I might as well tell you straight—Damon was the one who suggested switching brides and locking you away for this mating ceremony.”

My body shuddered violently, and a deafening ringing filled my ears, blocking out every other sound.

“Evelyn, I’ve finally found you. Just be mine.”

No one had believed the proud, untamable Alpha Damon would spend three whole years sitting quietly beside me in the library just to keep me company.

It was also him who’d dropped to one knee the tenth time my parents forgot my birthday.

“Evelyn, I will mark you on your birthday, letting the entire pack celebrate with you.”

“You deserve everything good this world has to offer.”

I glanced down at the Luna ring on my finger, its moonstone catching the light and sending small, bright glints that made my eyes ache.

Today was my birthday.

I pried my brother’s fingers off my arm one by one, then stepped forward and walked into the altar hall.