The Alpha's Rejected Luna (eBook)

A Second Chance Werewolf Romance of Redemption and Fated Mates

Mia Blackwood (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025 | 1. Auflage
283 Seiten
Prism Literary (Verlag)
978-0-00-090418-8 (ISBN)

Infos

What happens when the omega everyone underestimated becomes the Luna no one saw coming?

Dr. Sophia Hayes thought she'd left her werewolf past behind forever. Three years ago, Alpha Marcus Blackwood shattered their mate bond in a public rejection that nearly killed her. Now she's built a successful veterinary practice in the human world-until her adoptive mother's cancer diagnosis forces her back to the one place she swore she'd never return: Crescent Falls.

Perfect for readers who love:

Strong, independent heroines who fight for what they deserve

Protective alpha heroes who must earn their second chance

Pack politics, ancient traditions, and supernatural intrigue

Steamy romance with genuine emotional depth

Found family and chosen bonds that heal old wounds

Inside this captivating paranormal romance, you'll discover:

A rejected mate who returns stronger than ever

Deadly pack rivalries and ancient bloodline secrets

A Luna challenge that will determine everyone's fate

Heart-stopping action and spine-tingling romance

A satisfying enemies-to-lovers journey with a guaranteed HEA

When Shadow Ridge pack threatens everything Sophia holds dear, she must embrace the power she never knew she possessed. But can she trust the man who once destroyed her heart to stand beside her as an equal? Or will the secrets of her true heritage tear them apart forever?

If you crave paranormal romance with fierce heroines, swoon-worthy alphas, and plots that keep you turning pages until dawn-one-click now and lose yourself in this addictive werewolf saga!

Textauszug

Chapter 1: Coming Home

The ancient Honda Civic chose the worst possible moment to die.

Steam hissed from under the hood as Sophia Hayes coasted to a stop directly beneath the weathered "Welcome to Crescent Falls - Population 2,847" sign. The irony wasn't lost on her. Three years of successfully avoiding this place, and her car had to break down at the literal threshold of her past.

She turned off the engine and sat in the sudden silence, her hands gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles went white. The late afternoon sun slanted through the windshield, highlighting the stress lines she'd developed since Margaret's diagnosis two weeks ago. At twenty-six, she shouldn't have lines like these. But then again, most people didn't have their entire world shattered at twenty-three, either.

The drive from Seattle had taken eight hours, eight hours of white-knuckling the steering wheel and fighting the urge to turn around at every mile marker. She'd made it through Spokane, through the countless small towns that dotted the route back to her past, telling herself the entire time that this was temporary. A few weeks, maybe a month at most, and then she'd be back to her real life. Her safe life.

But looking at that sign now, with its faded paint and the bullet hole someone had put through the second 'L' in Falls, she felt like that scared twenty-three-year-old girl all over again. The one who'd believed in fairy tales and fated mates and happily ever after, right up until the moment her world had come crashing down around her.

You're not her anymore, she reminded herself firmly. You're Dr. Sophia Hayes. You have your own practice, your own life, your own identity that has nothing to do with this place or anyone in it.

The affirmation helped, but only marginally. Her inner wolf, dormant for so long she sometimes forgot it existed, stirred restlessly at being back on pack territory. Even though she was technically outside the official boundaries, this whole region belonged to the Crescent Moon Pack. Had belonged to them for over a century, according to the local folklore that most humans dismissed as quaint mountain legends.

The phone buzzed on her passenger seat. Another text from her adoptive mother.

Safe travels, sweetheart. Don't let the past hold you back from coming home. I need you.

Sophia's chest tightened. Margaret Chen had saved her life when she'd shown up on the woman's doorstep three years ago, broken and bleeding from a rejection that had nearly killed her. The least she could do was return the favor now that Margaret was fighting stage three breast cancer.

Margaret had never asked questions when Sophia had arrived in Seattle, soaked to the bone from walking in the rain and shaking so hard she could barely speak. She'd simply opened her door, wrapped Sophia in a warm blanket, and fed her soup until she stopped looking like a ghost. It had taken weeks before Sophia could even explain what had happened, and Margaret had listened without judgment, holding her hand while she sobbed through the story of her rejection.

"Honey," Margaret had said when Sophia finished, "I don't know much about werewolves or mates or any of that supernatural business. But I know a thing or two about men who are too stupid to recognize a good thing when they see it. And I know even more about women who are stronger than they think they are."

Margaret had been right about both things. It had taken time, therapy, and more than a few nights of crying herself to sleep, but Sophia had eventually rebuilt herself from the ground up. She'd finished her veterinary degree on scholarship, started her own practice, and created a life that had nothing to do with pack dynamics or mate bonds or any of the things that had once defined her entire existence.

She popped the hood and climbed out, immediately regretting the decision to wear her good jeans for the drive. The October air carried the familiar scents of pine, wood smoke, and something else that made her stomach clench with unwanted memory. Home. This place still smelled like home, despite everything.

The mountains rose around the valley like protective walls, their peaks already dusted with early snow. She'd grown up hiking those trails, learning the territory like the back of her hand under the patient guidance of her pack. Before she'd learned that being an omega meant she was considered expendable by the people who were supposed to protect her.

"Need help?"

The voice came from behind her, and Sophia nearly jumped out of her skin. She spun around to find an elderly man with kind eyes and grease-stained coveralls approaching from a small auto shop she hadn't noticed. The building was practically hidden behind an overgrown hedge, its hand-painted sign so faded she could barely make out "Morrison's Garage."

"Oh, thank you," she said, forcing a smile. "It just started overheating about a mile back."

"Let me take a look." He peered under the hood, poking at various components with the practiced ease of someone who'd been fixing cars longer than Sophia had been alive. "Yep, your radiator's shot. Been leaking for a while, I'd guess. You're lucky you made it this far."

Lucky. Right. "How long would it take to fix?"

"Need to order the part. Two, maybe three days." He straightened, wiping his hands on a rag that had seen better decades. "Not much call for Honda parts around here. Most folks drive trucks."

Three days. In Crescent Falls. With no way to leave.

"There's a bed and breakfast just up Main Street," the mechanic continued, oblivious to her internal panic. "Martha runs a clean place. Good breakfast too, if you're not in a hurry to get anywhere. And if you need anything else, most everything's within walking distance."

Walking distance. In a town where everyone knew everyone, and where her presence would be noticed within the hour. Where he lived. Where the entire pack would smell her scent on the wind and know she'd returned.

"Thank you," she managed. "I'll... I'll figure something out."

The mechanic, whose name tag read 'Bill', gave her a business card that was as weathered as everything else in this town. "I'm Bill Morrison. Been running Morrison's Garage for thirty years. I'll call you when the part comes in."

Morrison. The name tugged at something in her memory, dragging up images of study groups and school dances and the normal teenage life she'd had before everything went to hell. "Any relation to Jenny Morrison?"

"My daughter-in-law. Sweet girl. You know her?"

Sophia's smile turned genuine for the first time in hours. Jenny had been one of the few pack members who'd stayed neutral during the disaster that had ended with Sophia's exile. Not supportive, exactly, but not actively hostile either. "We went to high school together. Tell her Sophia Hayes says hello."

Bill's expression shifted, recognition dawning slowly as he really looked at her for the first time. "Sophia Hayes. Well, I'll be damned. You're Margaret's girl."

The warmth in his voice nearly undid her. Margaret had lived here for fifteen years before Sophia had arrived on her doorstep, working as the town's only veterinarian and earning the respect of both the human and supernatural communities. The woman had apparently claimed her as family to anyone who would listen.

"Yes, sir. I'm here to help take care of her."

"Heard about the cancer. Damn shame. Margaret's good people." He patted her shoulder with a gentle familiarity that reminded her why she'd once loved this town, back when she'd been young enough to believe that good people would always do the right thing. "Don't you worry about the car. I'll take good care of it. And I'll give you the family discount."

Family. The word hit harder than it should have. The Crescent Moon Pack had been her family once, until they'd made it clear that some family members were more expendable than others.

"Thank you, Mr. Morrison. I really appreciate it."

She gathered her luggage from the trunk, shouldering her duffel bag and pulling her small suitcase behind her. Everything she'd brought fit into two bags, which said something about either her packing skills or her commitment to making this trip as short as possible. The wheels caught on every crack in the sidewalk as she made her way toward Main Street, each step taking her deeper into the heart of a place she'd sworn never to return to.

Crescent Falls looked exactly the same. The same Victorian storefronts lined Main Street, their painted facades cheerfully bright despite the fading light. Murphy's Hardware still had the same crooked awning, and the old movie theater still advertised films from two months ago on its marquee. Even the same old-fashioned street lamps were already beginning to flicker on, casting pools of golden light on sidewalks that had probably seen more supernatural drama than most people could imagine.

The same potted mums decorated the sidewalks, orange and burgundy bursts of autumn color that reminded her of high school homecoming and Friday night football games and all the normal teenage experiences she'd had before her world had turned upside down. Before she'd learned that fairy tales and fated mates were just pretty stories that covered up ugly realities.

It was like stepping back in time, except she was a different person now. Dr. Sophia Hayes, DVM, with her own practice in Seattle and a life she'd built from nothing. She wasn't the broken, abandoned omega who'd fled this place with her tail between her legs and nothing but the clothes on her back and seventeen dollars in her checking account.

The thought of tails made her inner wolf stir restlessly, and Sophia...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 18.6.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 0-00-090418-X / 000090418X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-00-090418-8 / 9780000904188