Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Skye

The rumors spread faster than I anticipated.

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Despite Jaxon’s best efforts to contain the narrative-carefully worded statements to the elders, strategic conversations with influential pack members–the truth has a way of seeping through cracks. By the end of my first week back, everyone knows that the Alpha left his Luna behind in a storm. That she nearly died while he took his ex-lover and her son to safety.

The whispers follow me everywhere. In the market. At pack gatherings. Even during my Luna duties, I can feel eyes on me, assessing, judging, pitying.

I keep my head high and say nothing

But apparently, the rumors traveled beyond our pack borders.

“Your aunt is here,” Jaxon tells me on a Thursday morning, his tone clipped. “She arrived an hour ago and is waiting in the east sitting room.”

I look up from the scheduling reports I’ve been reviewing. “My aunt?”

“Diana.” He says the name like it tastes bitter. “Your father’s wife. She says she needs to speak with you urgently.”

Diana. Of course.

I haven’t seen my aunt-my stepmother, technically, though I’ve never called her that-in three years. Not since my wedding, where she stood beside my father wearing my mother’s jewelry and smiling like she belonged there.

“Did she say what she wants?” I ask.

“Just that it’s a personal matter.” Jaxon’s jaw tightens. “I offered to join the meeting, but she insisted on speaking with you alone. Luna to Luna, she said.”

I look at this man, my “hero” who saved me from my messed up family, He knows the shitty history I have with my aunt. He used to reject her visits for me. Now, he tells me to see her “Luna to Luna.”

“I’ll see her,” I say, setting aside my papers.

I take a moment to compose myself before heading to the east sitting room. Diana and I have history- complicated, painful history that I’ve spent years trying to ignore. She was my mother’s sister. The woman who braided my hair and taught me how to track deer through the forest. The woman I trusted.

Until she married my father six months after my mother died.

I never forgave her for that.

Diana looks the same as she did three years ago.

She’s in her early forties, still beautiful in that polished way she’s always maintained. Dark hair swept into an elegant chignon, amber eyes similar to mine, wearing a dove-gray dress that speaks of quiet wealth. She rises when I enter, her smile warm but cautious.

“Skye. Thank you for seeing me.”

“Aunt Diana.” The title feels strange on my tongue after so many years. “This is unexpected.”

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Chapter 16

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“I know.” She gestures to the chairs arranged by the fireplace. “May we sit?”

I nod, settling into the chair across from her. A staff member brings tea, and we go through the motions of pouring and adding honey, the ritual buying us time.

“You look well,” Diana says finally. “Considering what I’ve heard.”

“The rumors reached my father’s pack?”

“They’ve reached several packs.” Her expression shifts to something that might be genuine concern. “When I heard what happened, I had to come see you. To make sure you were all right.”

I take a sip of tea, studying her over the rim of my cup. Diana has always been skilled at appearing sincere. It’s how she convinced my father to marry her. How she convinced the pack to accept her as their new Luna.

“That’s kind of you,” I say neutrally. “Though we haven’t spoken in three years. I’m surprised my well-being suddenly concerns you.”

A flicker of hurt crosses her face. “You’re still family, Skye. No matter what’s happened between us.”

“Am I?” I set down my cup carefully. “You married my father and took my mother’s place. You wear her jewelry, sleep in her bed, hold her title. But you’ve never once reached out to me since my wedding. So forgive me if I’m skeptical that you traveled all this way just to check on my health.”

Diana’s composure cracks slightly. She looks down at her hands, twisting the ring on her finger-one of my mother’s rings.

“You’re right,” she says quietly. “I didn’t come just to see how you were. Though I am glad you’re recovering.”

“What do you want, Diana?”

She takes a breath, seeming to gather herself. “Do you remember Dalton? My son?”

I nod. Dalton is a few years older than me, born from Diana’s first relationship. He left our pack when he turned eighteen. I barely know him.

“He was arrested two weeks ago,” Diana says, her voice tight. “In the capital. By the Lycan King’s personal guard.”

The capital. That explains the urgency.

“What was he arrested for?”

“They won’t say. No charges have been filed. No bail has been offered. He’s just… being held.” Her hands tremble slightly. “I’ve tried everything, Skye. Every contact, every favor I’m owed. But the capital operates under the King’s direct authority, and no one will tell me anything.”

I can see where this is going now.

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