After I Died, My Mate Chose the Murderer

Elara POV

Ever since my fiancé, Ryland Ashford, the Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack, reconnected with his first love, Selene Hawthorne, he forbade me from keeping flowers. His hatred for them seemed to grow stronger each day as if the very sight of a bloom disgusted him.

One stormy night, I was bound and gagged and taken into a dilapidated cabin at the edge of Darkwood Forest, a known hideout for rogue wolves. The rogue wolves that captured me forced me to call Ryland.

“Ryland, the flowers in the garden are dying. Please, can you hurry to the woods near the East River and bring back some fresh seeds?”

But Ryland didn’t sense anything unusual instead he yelled at me. "How many times have I told you not to grow flowers? Selene’s allergic to pollen! Do you even care why she ended up in the pack hospital? How can you be so selfish?”

I heard a soft feminine voice in the background but before I could say anything else, he ended the call.

The next day, sacks marked with a silver paw print were scattered all over Crescent Moon Pack. One sack was left at the front gate of the packhouse, where our Alpha held his daily meetings.

Ryland was urgently called back to investigate.

It took him three agonizing days and nights to piece together the contents of those sacks. When he finally did, he realized it was me—his fiancée, the woman he had been bonded to since childhood.

When Ryland arrived at the packhouse, he still had the colourful ribbons used to celebrate Selene’s recent recovery around him.

“When was the first sack discovered?” he asked with a sour expression.

“It was a member of the patrol team,” responded Ethan, the Beta of our pack. “He found the first one outside the eastern gate. At first, he thought it was a sack of deer meat, maybe a rogue wolf’s kill, and was going to take it home. Later, he caught the scent of werewolf blood and brought it here."

"This is a direct challenge to our pack!" Ryland snarled, his fists clenching beside him. “Whoever did this wants war.”

In addition to the sack found at the Packhouse entrance, a dozen more of varying sizes were discovered and brought in. Ryland's brow furrowed, this was an unusual case. Whoever had done this was ruthless.

"The damage is severe," Ryland muttered, "Piecing it together will be a challenge.”

News of the incident spread like wildfire through Crescent Moon, setting the entire pack on the edge. The Pack council and elders were demanding that the culprits be found swiftly. The attack wasn’t just a mere attack, it was an open challenge to the authority of our pack, and an attempt to break the unity Ryland and his Beta Ethan had worked so hard to maintain.

Beta Ethan was the one who relayed the message of the council with a deep sigh. “Alpha Ryland, the entire pack knows your autopsy skills are the best in the regions. The Elders and the council have given you 72 hours to find the culprits and deliver justice. Everyone is hoping for a quick resolution…”Beta Ethan trailed off, giving Ryland another sympathetic look.

"Your Joining ceremony with Elara is just around the corner, and we're interrupting your preparation time. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

At the mention of the ceremony and my name, Ryland’s eyes darkened with disdain as disgust and contempt flashed in them. “There's no way I’m going through with the Joining Ceremony with Elara. Don’t ever mention that name to me again!”

My spirit hovered nearby, feeling the weight of his words sink into the very core of me. Even after death, I could still feel the ache of his rejection.

Ryland had changed the moment Selene returned to the pack. Once, he had been kind, and loyal, the man I thought I would spend the rest of my life with. But Selene’s reappearance poisoned his heart, turning him against me.

When Selene was first admitted to the pack hospital due to her pollen allergy, his disgust for me grew. He lost interest in our Joining Ceremony preparations. He took time off from his duties as Alpha, not for me, but for Selene. He spent every waking moment by her bedside, tending to her needs while our bond slowly fizzled out.

The night I was kidnapped, I received a breakup text from him and he had rejected me through our mind link. When my body was discovered, he was celebrating Selene’s discharge from the pack hospital. He didn’t even have the decency to reject me in my face and break up our bond. Throwing away years of friendship since childhood along with our relationship as if they had meant nothing to him.

If he knew the body he was about to piece together was mine, that I was the reason his Joy over Selene’s recovery was interrupted, he would despise me even more.

Beta Ethan was stunned for a moment, then let out a chuckle. “We’ve all been there. Any misunderstanding can be cleared up if you talk to her. You should do that, you’ll see it’ll help.”

“There’s no misunderstanding, Ethan,” Ryland snapped. “Elara has always been manipulative and scheming. Always making herself the victim. She fooled everyone, but not me. Now, I can see her for what she is.”

His words cut through me like the cold wind, leaving a hollow in my chest. Even after death, I couldn’t escape being bad-mouthed by him or escape the pain he caused me.

I had once dreamed of a future where Ryland and I would rule the Crescent Moon Pack together, side by side, as Alpha and Luna, but now, that dream was buried—along with the pieces of my body that had been strewn across the pack territory.

To Ryland, I was nothing but a forgotten memory from his past that he wished to erase from his life. And yet, as I watched him, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was still a part of him that would mourn me—if he knew the truth.