Pursuing My Rejected Luna by Cara Anderson novel Chapter 76

Chapter 76

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Chapter 76

Skye

I’ve been summoned to the council to give my individual testimony and the nerves are making me sick to my stomach. As if I haven’t had enough of that recently.

I’m as prepared for this as I can be. I’ve spent hours with Gianna rehearsing answers, anticipating questions, building my case with a coldness only a lawyer can summon. But standing in the council chamber, facing the three elders who will decide my future, I realize that all the preparation in the world can’t fully steady my nerves.

Elder Patricia sits in the center, flanked by Elder Graham and Elder Vincent. They watch me with expressions that are carefully neutral, revealing nothing.

“Luna Skye,” Elder Patricia begins. “Thank you for appearing before us today. Before we can make a decision, we have some questions about your petition for divorce.”

“I understand.”

“Can you describe the nature of your relationship with Alpha Jaxon over the past three years?”

I take a breath. This is it.

“You’ve heard testimony about how Jaxon moved my sister, his ex-lover, into our home,” I begin, keeping my voice steady. “And how he left me in a storm to potentially die while he rushed to save her son. But those are only the most recent of his offenses.”

I pause, gathering my thoughts.

“The night our mate bond formed, at my Shifting Party, Jaxon accused me of drugging him. Of basically forcing him into marriage by seducing him while he was too intoxicated to deny the bond. He never asked if it was true, or even asked himself how that would even be possible-he simply decided I was guilty and spent the next three years punishing me for it.”

Elder Vincent leans forward. “Did you? Drug him?”

“No.” I state flatly. “I was just as much a victim of our bond as he was, just as lost to the pull. I couldn’t have formulated such a plan if I’d wanted to. But he refused to believe that.”

They look thoughtful, but don’t interrupt. So I continue.

“Six months into our marriage, I organized a surprise birthday dinner for him. Invited his closest friends. I just wanted to do something nice for him, to show him I cared. He thought he was just meeting me for dinner so he arrived two hours late, brought a friend I didn’t know with him, and spent the entire evening ignoring me. When his Beta asked why he was being so cold, Jaxon said I should have known he doesn’t like surprises. He never thanked me. Never acknowledged the effort.”

The memory still stings.

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Chapter b

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“There are so many more examples throughout our marriage of moments like this. Moments where I was summarily ignored, dismissed. Moments when Jaxon was unnecessarily cold or demeaning toward me. Yet I never gave up hope that he would come around, that we could have a real marriage one day.

“Other times, it would seem like we were actually talking, connecting, almost feeling like partners. I would think to myself maybe we were finally breaking through the walls he’d built. Then he’d pull away or leave without a word, find an excuse to focus on anything but me. That became the pattern. Every time we almost connected, something would pull him away.”

I look at each elder in turn.

“I tried to be the mate he needed. I cooked his favorite meals, even though he rarely ate them. I asked about his day, even though he gave one-word answers. I attended every pack function with grace, even when he barely acknowledged my presence. I worked hard to be a Luna he could be proud of, representing this pack with everything I had.”

Even though the next thing I say is humiliating beyond words, my voice doesn’t waver.

“And despite him making it painfully clear I was nothing to him, I never once banned him from my bed. I knew Jaxon wanted, needed an heir. And I wanted more than anything to give him one. Everytime he touched me, it hurt to know he didn’t feel for me the way I felt for him. Maybe a part of me was even pathetic enough not to care, felt grateful even, for the physical connection when I could get nothing else.

“But none of it mattered. Because he’d already decided he would never love me. And once Jaxon makes up his mind, nothing I or anyone else did could change it. I tried for three years,” I say quietly. “But nothing I did was ever enough. And I can’t do it anymore.”

The room is quiet when I finish, everyone taking a moment to let that sink in. I appreciate that they aren’t taking my testimony lightly at least.

I press my hand to my stomach unconsciously.

“But I won’t raise my child in a home filled with resentment and control. My baby deserves better than watching their mother be slowly destroyed by a mate who can’t see past his own pride.”

I pause, choosing my words carefully.

“I believe a civilized shared custody arrangement will be healthier than staying in a marriage that’s destroying both of us. My child will have two parents who co-parent respectfully, rather than two parents trapped in a toxic bond.”

“And pack stability?” Elder Graham asks.

“I will continue to serve this pack as needed during the transition,” I say. “But pack stability should not require one person’s misery. If the Ironwood Pack can only remain stable by forcing me to stay in an unhealthy situation, then perhaps it’s time to question what kind of pack we’ve become.”

The words are bold. Possibly too bold.

But they’re true.

Cara Anderson Author

Thank you for reading!

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