ALPHA’S BURDEN
REJECTING FATES
BOOK 1
LUNA LARK
ALPHA’S BURDEN
Copyright © 2024 Veronica Eden writing as Luna Lark
All rights reserved.
No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at this website:
www.lunalarkbooks.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, companies, organizations, locales, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
CONTENTS
Playlist
About the Book
Author’s Note
1. Avery
2. Avery
3. Caden
4. Avery
5. Avery
6. Avery
7. Caden
8. Avery
9. Caden
10. Caden
11. Avery
12. Caden
13. Avery
14. Avery
15. Caden
16. Caden
17. Avery
18. Avery
19. Caden
20. Caden
21. Avery
22. Caden
23. Avery
24. Avery
25. Caden
26. Avery
27. Avery
28. Avery
29. Avery
30. Caden
31. Caden
32. Avery
33. Caden
34. Caden
35. Avery
36. Caden
37. Avery
38. Caden
39. Caden
40. Avery
41. Caden
42. Avery
Epilogue
Thank You + What’s Next?
About Luna Lark
Also by Luna Lark
PLAYLIST
Forest Dream — Sacred Bansuri
Love and War — Fleurie
Burned — Grace VanderWaal
You Put A Spell On Me — Austin Giorgio
Achilles Heel — J. Maya
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? — Taylor Swift
The Moon Will Sing — The Crane Wives
Nobody — Faith Marie
Fate — H.E.R.
Daylight — David Kushner
Moonrise — Anne Buckle
Runaway— AURORA
The Wolf — PHILDEL
Astronomical — SVRCINA
Power — Isak Danielson
Skin and Bones — David Kushner
Two Roads — J. Maya
Dandelion— Gabbie Hanna
The Killing Kind — Marianas Trench
Artemis — Stephen Rezza
Run Baby Run — The Rigs
Messed Up — Once Monsters, Chloe Adams
Make Me Believe — The EverLove
Empires — Ruelle
My Love Mine All Mine — Mitski
Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back.
— PLATO
ABOUT THE BOOK
Fate chose the worst possible mate
for me…my enemy.
Being bonded to Caden Blackburn used to be all I dreamed of. Those dreams were crushed the moment this pack branded my entire bloodline traitors for challenging his father.
Life in Silver Falls isn’t easy. As the only packmate unable to shift, I’m considered broken. No one wants a useless mate. Especially not Caden. Imperfections don’t fit within the rigid way he rules our pack as alpha.
I never thought he’d look at me with anything other than fury until our bond awakens. Instead of disgust, his gaze burns with desire, reviving feelings I buried once I’m in his powerful arms. We almost succumb to the pull to claim each other as fated mates.
But enemies don’t belong together. He reminds me by rejecting me in front of everyone.
I’ve learned to overcome whatever tries to break me, but in my shattered heart I wonder if I’ll survive the pain of Caden turning his back on me a second time.
Yet if he rejected me…why is he going feral if any other male tries to get near me?
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear reader,
Welcome to the Rejecting Fates series!
This shifter romance series features rejected mates who still feel the pull of their fated love rather than in someone new. These pairs will find their guaranteed HEAs with each other after much groveling to earn a second chance with their fated mate.
The fated mate pairs will always end up together in these books.
1AVERY
This is pushing it. I know it, yet I couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity.
Sneaking off packlands is enough of a risk without notifying anyone. Doing it to go to the human town nestled in the foothills at the base of Silver Mountain alone is worse.
Leaving the territory this close to a pack run?
I’m basically asking for our strict alpha to serve me with months of punishment for defying his rules—rules that hardly apply to me. As someone considered Wolfless, I can’t shift and never will. I’m a shifter who has no wolf. My wild instincts are more muted, far easier to control with tonight’s impending full moon.
Compared to the rest of my pack, I’m practically human. My strength, stamina, and senses are hardly better than a strong human male.
It’s not like Alpha Blackburn keeps us from leaving the mountain at all. Anyone from Silver Falls Pack is allowed to visit Ashbury on designated days with supervision. Except those only come once every few months and I’m not likely to have his permission, so that doesn’t work for me.
This is how I’ve adapted to survive.
As long as I’m not caught, it’s fine. I’ve done this hundreds of times before. I have no regrets because sneaking in and out is part of how I make it in a pack of shifters that hate my entire family.
My routine is ironclad—wait for the gap in the scout patrols, leave from the old sloping trail that’s overlooked because of overgrowth, and always stop at the first stream in the foothills to wash off any lingering scent of being around humans before I even step foot on Silver Mountain to return home.
No one ever notices when I’m gone, anyway.
Pausing to lean between the roots of a moss-covered tree, I check the worn leather pack slung across my body for the third time. The corner of my mouth lifts with pride.
Though I lack the blessing of a wolf from the moon goddess, putting me at a huge disadvantage when it comes to things like hunting, I’m still able to provide for my sisters and myself through trading with the people in Ashbury.
The town is small and every year it seems there are less humans around or something new is in disrepair. The younger ones are always talking about getting out, moving to cities.
The residents gladly part with their goods whenever I bring my collection of flora that are difficult for them to obtain from the unforgiving terrain. I don’t have money to pay them otherwise. They’ve grown to rely on me as much as I have in return because the mountain range and river blocks Ashbury off from the accessibility granted to larger, more progressive towns like Davenport or Hillford.
