Rebirth Of The Rejected Luna Chapter 98: Pain And Anger

**Tiana's POV**

The nerve of them.

I stared at my father and brother with hard and unmoving eyes, trying to restrain myself from lunging at them. They had searched for me but didn't think to search or ask around other packs. I was certain they only searched through the forest and concluded I was dead after a while because they didn't care enough. I had come to Shadowclaw without changing anything about myself— my hair, name and identity remained the same. They had not been worried enough to send word out to other packs.

"Tiana," Theo said softly. I could not look at him because I was scared that the soft gaze he would give me might make me cry. He squeezed my hand tighter.

"I will not deny that we were a bit harsh," my older brother Viktor said, moving closer to me.

"A bit?" I scoffed, raising my eyebrows, my lips curling into a bitter smile. "You think calling it 'a bit' changes anything, Viktor? You think it undoes years of treating me like I was nothing?"

He faltered, his confident façade cracked. "We were harsh,” he admitted, his voice quieter this time as if saying it too loudly would make it sting more.

I took a step closer, tilting my head, my eyes never leaving his. “Harsh doesn’t even begin to cover it. You were cruel. You all were. You didn’t care how much it hurt me, how much it broke me. And now, what? You want to sit here and pretend you did your best? Don’t insult me, Viktor.”

My father finally spoke, his voice strained, his posture tense. “Tiana, we were wrong. But you have to understand—”

“I don’t have to understand anything!” I snapped, cutting him off. “Not when you treated me worse than a servant in my own home. Not when you stood by and watched as everyone blamed me for things I had no control over. I was just a child! A scared, grieving child, and you… you made it worse.”

The room was suffocatingly silent, Theo squeezed my hand again, grounding me, but I still didn’t look at him. I couldn’t.

Viktor tried again, his tone more pleading now. “Tiana, we’ve changed. We’ve had time to think about everything, to see the mistakes we made. Can’t we just—”

“Enough!” a voice interrupted sharply. It was Peter, he had a look of annoyance on his face. “Why don’t we start dinner? Meals have a way of making things… happier.”

Happier? I almost laughed at the absurdity of it. Nothing about this situation could be fixed with food, but I held my tongue, not wanting to create an even bigger scene.

Theo gently guided me toward the table, his touch a silent reassurance. I sat down stiffly, the anger still burning in my chest, and I could feel my father and brother’s eyes on me.

Dinner was anything but happy. The tension hung over the table like a storm cloud, and I could barely focus on the food in front of me. I wasn’t the only one. Theo barely touched his plate, his jaw tight and his movements rigid.

And then Derek, the idiot, had to open his mouth.

“You look… different, Tiana,” he said, his voice carrying across the table. "And beautiful."

My grip on my fork tightened, and I heard Theo’s sharp intake of breath beside me. His entire body tensed, and I knew he was seconds away from saying something.

Derek’s father shot him a glare that could have frozen fire. He leaned over and whispered something to Derek, his tone low and harsh. Whatever he said made Derek’s face pale slightly, and he quickly looked away, focusing on his plate.

The rest of the dinner passed in a strained, awkward silence. I could feel Theo’s anger radiating off him, his hand gripping my thigh under the table as if to keep himself grounded.

I didn’t speak. I couldn’t. My mind was spinning, and the emotions I’d tried so hard to suppress were threatening to overwhelm me. I kept my head high, though, refusing to let them see how much they were getting to me.

**Derek’s POV**

I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Tiana.

She was beautiful, even more so than I remembered. The woman sitting across the table from me wasn’t the same girl I’d known back at Moonstone. Her presence was commanding, her confidence unshakable, yet there was a rawness in her voice, a vulnerability that pulled at the strings of my heart.

And it was breaking.

I sat there, listening to her lash out at her family, her voice sharp with pain and anger. Every word cut deeper than the last, not because they were directed at me, but because they weren’t.

She had every right to hate me just as much as she hated them.

She hadn’t even looked at me yet.

I wanted to speak up, to tell her I was sorry, to explain that I had searched for her but it was futile. But the words stuck in my throat, swallowed by the weight of my shame.

And yet, as much as her anger was tearing her family apart, she hadn’t aimed it at me. Not yet.

Why?

Why hadn’t she lashed out at me the way she had with Viktor and Beta Neville? I deserved it just as much, if not more. I had been her mate, or at least, I thought I had been. Back then, I’d convinced myself that I was not the one she was destined for because she wasn't good enough, and I had let my ego blind me to everything else.

Maybe that was why she hadn’t called me out. Maybe I didn’t even matter enough for her to bother.

Then my eyes travelled to where she sat with Theo, their hands intertwined. He looked at her lovingly and squeezed her hand which made anger course through my veins. That was meant to be my hand she was holding.

"You look different Tiana," I said, deciding to tread dangerous waters. "Beautiful..."

"What are you trying to do? Must you ruin everything?" My father whispered.