Pursuing My Rejected Luna Recap Part 1: The Storm

This Pursuing My Rejected Luna recap part 1 covers chapters 1–39 of Cara Anderson's novel: from the morning Skye plans to share her news to the day Nicolai Woolf arrives at Ironwood. Spoilers for this stretch only.

The video version of this recap covers chapters 1–80 in one go. The written recaps are split into shorter parts.

Chapters 1–5: Daddy

Skye has been Luna of the Ironwood pack for three years. She puts on the blue dress Jaxon once liked, ready to tell him she is pregnant before an elders' meeting. She finds him holding her sister Cassandra, who left four years ago and has been back for a month. Nobody told Skye; it "wasn't relevant" to her, Jaxon says. Then a blond four-year-old runs in and calls him Daddy.

The boy is Liam. Cassandra says he was conceived before Skye's bond with Jaxon revealed itself, that she left so as not to stand in the way, and that she came back because Liam is sick. Jaxon tells Skye he will name Liam his heir and that she will "remain Luna". Skye keeps her pregnancy secret and says the words that drive the book: she wants a divorce.

At her clifftop hideaway her childhood best friend Noah, now Jaxon's Beta, reminds her she is the best Luna the pack has had in generations, and promises to stand with her. At home, boxes fill the hallway: Cassandra and Liam are moving into the Alpha house. When Liam has a breathing crisis, Jaxon and Cassandra spend days at the medical wing together, and the pack starts whispering about a second Luna.

Chapters 6–15: Green Springs and the blizzard

Jaxon orders Skye on a trip to the Green Springs hot-spring resort with Cassandra and Liam. In the car Cassandra reminisces with Jaxon while Skye fights nausea. At the resort Cassandra cries that Skye hates her and Jaxon comforts her; when Skye skips dinner because she is sick, he calls it a tantrum and calls her selfish. Cassandra stages family photos, and Liam repeats that his mama says Skye doesn't like them.

On the drive home the SUV breaks down with a storm coming, and one person must stay behind. The Betas Cole and Everett are mates who won't be separated, and Liam has a headache. Skye says she will stay. Jaxon promises a car within two hours. No car comes. After three hours, with no signal and a blizzard closing in, Skye walks to the patrol station in human form so her wolf can wrap around the baby. She collapses five feet from the door.

She spends a week in hospital with frostbite. The baby survives, and nobody knows it exists. Jaxon blames her for making him look bad; the doctors found nothing wrong with Liam. Skye decides she is done waiting for Jaxon Vale to love her.

Chapters 16–30: Diana and the letter

Skye's aunt Diana, who married Skye's father after her mother died, arrives to beg for help: her son Dalton is being held in the capital without charges. Jaxon is friends with the Lycan Prince and could make a call. He refuses, and expects Skye to beg. She doesn't. Instead she makes a deal with Diana: help for Dalton in exchange for her father's future support in a divorce. Then she writes a letter to an old friend she once called Wolfy.

At a farewell dinner, Diana confronts Cassandra, who has come downstairs in a silk nightgown, and tells Jaxon he isn't worthy of the title. Jaxon's grandmother Rose, the one person who can make him apologise, hears everything except the pregnancy. Jaxon's version: one night with Cassandra years ago, a week before the bond, and he has been faithful since. Rose orders Cassandra out once Liam is well. Skye lets everyone believe she has accepted the apology. In private she has already left.

The letter reaches Nicolai Woolf, head of the northern Woolf Family. He has loved Skye for years and kept it brotherly. When an eastern Alpha mentions Woolf at a dinner, Jaxon interrogates Skye at the table, and Cassandra persuades him to have his wife followed.

Chapters 31–39: The anniversary and three black SUVs

Jaxon forgets their third anniversary. In flashbacks we see the Shifting Party where the bond revealed itself, a council that insisted they marry, and a cold wedding night. Jaxon's private view, shown in chapter 33, is that Skye somehow tricked him into the bond, which is why he has always felt trapped.

Skye nearly faints at a dedication and refuses a full exam. Nicolai replies to her request for help: consider it done. Within a week Dalton is released as a case of mistaken identity. Then Nicolai requests a diplomatic visit, and in chapter 39 he arrives at Ironwood in three black SUVs. Skye hides her bump under an emerald dress.

What to watch for

• Liam's emergencies always arrive when Skye and Jaxon are about to talk.
• Jaxon believes he was tricked into the bond. That belief explains most of his cruelty.
• Diana's warning that walking away from a fated mate is agony is personal, as Part 3 reveals.

Next: Recap Part 2: The Divorce. New here? Read our full review first.