Knotting His Rejected Breeder

Destiny stood alone on the top step of the grand stone terrace, staring down into the courtyard.

Below her, the entire pack had gone deathly quiet. Families from the outlying properties stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their collective gaze fixed on the terrace.

Destiny kept both hands buried deep in her coat pockets, her fingers curled so tightly into the fabric that her knuckles physically hurt. They were trembling, and she refused to let anyone see it.

She didn’t feel like a fearless leader standing before her people. She felt exposed.

Every instinct honed over years of running screamed at her to turn back toward the safety of the main house. A lifetime spent on the road had taught her a simple rhythm for survival: when trouble finds you, leave.

She stayed only because she felt the heavy weight of Ramon’s presence just behind her.

His boots came to a halt a few feet to her left, while Sonia took her place on Destiny’s right. Behind them, Marcus and Kalessie remained anchored in the threshold of the double doors, their broad frames physically blocking the entrance to the hall.

She would assume that the four badass werewolves guarding her back should have offered some comfort.

It didn’t.

Yet the solid feel of their presence kept her feet planted on the spot where she stood.

Near the bottom of the terrace, where the broad steps met the cobblestone yard, Hannah leaned heavily against the wrought-iron handrail.

Dane’s sister looked utterly drained. Loose, damp strands of hair clung to her pale face, and her coat hung unbuttoned against the biting wind. She hadn’t joined the rest of Sorin’s anxious crowd in the center of the yard, but she hadn’t retreated indoors either.

She simply stood there, her dark eyes fixed on Destiny.

There was no anger in her expression.

"They brought Eren through the side entrance a few minutes ago," Hannah said. Her voice was flat and rough, stripped of any warmth. "They put him in the equipment shed behind the stables because his mother was sitting in the front foyer, and nobody wanted her to see the tarp."

Destiny looked down at her, the chill of the news settling deep in her chest.

"Is she still in the foyer?"

"No." Hannah wiped her nose with the back of her sleeve, her shoulders sagging. "Ivy took her into the kitchen. She’s sitting by the fireplace now just going through her emotions."

Before Destiny could process the words, a man near the middle of the crowd surged forward.

It was Miller, one of the valley farmers. His face was flushed red from the biting cold, though Destiny couldn’t tell where the chill ended and his rising temper began.

"My place is two miles from where they found Eren," Miller shouted, pointing a calloused hand toward the treeline stretching beyond the estate’s main gates. "I have two girls under twelve with no mother! We are all we’ve got."

His voice cracked with strain.

"Dane isn’t even here. He’s sitting three towns over talking territory with Silvercrest while my children’s safety is left wide open!"

He took another aggressive step toward the terrace, looking straight up at Destiny.

"So you tell us, girl. Are we supposed to pack our clothes and move into the cellar, or do we stay on our land and wait to get slaughtered?"

Destiny parted her lips to respond, but the sheer weight of their paranoia locked the air in her throat.

Before the silence could stretch, Ramon moved up to the terrace ledge.

"Nobody is packing up their land, Miller," he growled, his voice cutting cleanly across the yard. "And nobody is hiding in a cellar."

"Then send guards!" Miller snapped back, stepping closer to the base of the stairs. "Send men to the southern farm road! You’ve got fighters sitting inside this main house doing nothing while the outer lots are completely under attack!"

"The outer lots are under attack because the perimeter watch failed," Ramon countered evenly.

"So what’s the plan?"

The call came from the back of the crowd. A young mechanic from the estate motor pool pushed forward, dark grease still smudged beneath his fingernails.

"Exactly Ramon, what’s the plan for our safety?"

Ramon swept his stern gaze across the gathered faces. "You go back to your properties and lock your main gates. If you’ve got hunting rifles, load them and keep them on the kitchen table. Any family living past the creek line moves their kids into the main estate quarters down in the lower hall, starting right now. The barracks are open."

Ramon turned his head toward the side corridor archway that adjoined the terrace.

Sorin stood in the shadow of the doorway, his head lowered and his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Sorin," Ramon called out.

Sorin slowly lifted his head.

"Take three guys, go to the armory, and pull the night-vision rigs," Ramon instructed briskly. "I want two men on the water tower and two on the south gatehouse. If anything bigger than a fox moves along the treeline, don’t chase it. Hit the horn and fall back to the perimeter fence. Understood?"

Sorin’s jaw tightened.

For a tense second, Destiny thought he might reignite the argument from inside. But whatever fire had driven him earlier had burned out, leaving only exhaustion behind.

He offered a single, stiff nod, then gestured for two younger men near the steps to follow him as he headed toward the rear garages.

Sonia stepped up beside Ramon, folding her arms over her leather jacket as she surveyed the remaining crowd.

"The rest of you, go home," she commanded.

Her tone was quieter than Ramon’s, but the authority behind it echoed off the stone walls.

"Get off the drive. Standing out here in the freezing cold isn’t helping Eren, and it isn’t securing the border." She paused, letting her eyes sweep the anxious faces. "We have three patrols moving out on the south road within twenty minutes. If you see lanterns near your fence, it’s our people. Keep your heads down and let us work."

Nobody rushed to leave, but the unified wall of the crowd began to break apart.

People murmured in hushed tones, gathering their families before heading through the stone archway toward the lower roads. Women pulled their heavy shawls tight against the wind, and the scrape of boots over wet gravel gradually faded into the night.

Within five minutes, the yard stood empty.

Only the lanterns mounted on the stone pillars remained, casting a sickly, flickering yellow light across the slick cobblestones.

Except for Hannah.

She remained at the bottom of the terrace steps, her head bowed as she stared down at her trembling hands.

Destiny swallowed hard, drawing the frigid night air deep into her lungs. The bite of the cold briefly loosened the tight knot in her chest.

Gathering her coat around her, she walked down three steps, stopping a few feet above the younger woman.

"Hannah," she said softly.

Hannah looked up, her bloodshot eyes framed by dark circles of exhaustion.

"Don’t," she rasped, lifting a hand to cut her off. "Don’t give me the speech. I don’t need you to tell me it’s going to be fine. And I definitely don’t need to hear that Dane will fix everything the second he gets back."

Destiny paused on the step.

"I wasn’t going to say that."

"Good."

Hannah leaned her shoulder heavily against the iron railing and turned her gaze toward the empty, dark driveway.

"Because Dane isn’t here. He’s off at Silvercrest trying to negotiate a treaty that won’t mean a damn thing if our people are getting butchered on our own fence line." She dragged both palms over her face, exhaling a ragged breath. "My dad is trying so hard to keep everyone from panicking."

A hollow, bitter laugh escaped her.

"But everyone should be panicking."

She turned her sharp focus back up to Destiny.

"Sorin was wrong about a lot of things," Hannah said softly, her voice carrying across the quiet stone. "He acts like an idiot when he’s terrified. But he wasn’t lying about one thing."

Destiny waited, her heart hammering against her ribs.

"Those four men didn’t die because of some stupid boundary dispute," Hannah said, her gaze locking onto Destiny’s. "They died because whoever is hunting out there knows you’re inside this house."

Destiny’s hand moved instinctively to her chest, her fingers clutching the silver stone hanging beneath her shirt. The cold metal bit into her collarbone through the thin fabric.

"I know," Destiny whispered.

Hannah searched her face for a long moment before pushing herself away from the railing.

"I’m going to the kitchen," she said quietly. "Eren’s mother needs someone who actually grew up in this valley to sit with her."

Destiny watched in silence as Hannah walked down the side corridor, the heavy wooden door clicking shut behind her.

A moment later, heavy footsteps echoed down the terrace.

Marcus descended two steps, the leather of his boots squeaking in the absolute quiet of the yard. He stopped beside Destiny, his eyes darting nervously toward the looming black trees beyond the estate wall.

"We shouldn’t have stayed here," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

Destiny recognized that tone instantly.

She had heard it in cheap motel rooms, in borrowed cabins, and from the back seats of idling cars. It was the familiar fear that had driven their lives for ten long years.

"We should have kept going north, Destiny," Marcus urged, turning to her with raw desperation in his eyes. "We could have been across the state line by now."

Destiny turned her head to look at her father.

She didn’t feel brave, and she certainly didn’t feel like the powerful Luna this pack needed her to be. Looking at Marcus, all she saw was the haunted, weary man who had spent a decade running from shadows.

"There is no north, Dad," she said, her voice steady despite the cold.

"Destiny..."

"There’s just the next house," she cut in softly, looking back toward the silent, treacherous trees. "The next shed. The next four dead men."

She lowered her hands into her pockets, feeling the solid, unyielding earth beneath her feet.

"We’re done running."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!