After I Saved My Alpha, He Rejected Me

For three weeks, Pack Healer Maren had shoved hollow needles into my hips. She had drained my wolf’s marrow to cure Sterling’s Moonblight.

I gave it freely because he was my mate, my Alpha, and I was the Luna of the Silverfang Pack.

The procedure saved his life. But it wrecked mine. My wolf awoke as an enormous, hyper-muscled beast, nearly Alpha-sized. My sweet white jasmine scent warped into something sharp, cold, and metallic.

When I finally walked out of the clinic and headed to the pack house to see my mate, our weakened mind-link flickered to life.

Sterling’s voice bled directly into my skull. It was low, intimate, and breathless.

"Her new scent makes my wolf recoil, Kalani," he whispered. "It smells like rusted iron. I can barely stand to touch her."

A soft, girlish giggle answered him. Kalani Dixon. An unmated Omega who worked as his personal assistant.

"Poor Alpha," she murmured through the slightly open bedroom door down the hall. "You shouldn't have to force yourself. A true Luna should be gentle and pretty. Not... whatever she turned into."

I froze in the dim corridor. The mate bond throbbed in my chest, delivering every word like acid poured over raw skin. I didn't burst into the room. I didn't scream. I stood there, absorbed the blow in silence, and walked to the spare bedroom at the end of the hall.

I spent the night alone in the dark.

The next morning, I arrived at the pack training grounds at exactly 6:00 AM. Not a second early, not a second late. I was still Silverfang’s Luna. Training the warriors was my duty.

Sterling was already standing on the central platform. Beside him stood Kalani, wearing spotless designer athletic gear.

Sterling didn't look at my face. His nose twitched, his jaw tightening as the wind blew my metallic scent toward him.

"Attention," Sterling announced, his voice carrying over the yard. "As of today, Giselle Weaver is relieved of her position as Lead Warrior. Kalani will assume the post. She will also stand beside me as my partner at the upcoming Pack Alliance Summit."

Murmurs rippled through the ranks. The Summit seat belonged exclusively to the Luna by sacred pack law. Giving it to an Omega with zero combat experience was an open slap in the face.

I kept my spine straight and said nothing.

During the mid-morning sparring drills, I paired off with a Delta warrior. As I sidestepped a strike, Kalani suddenly dashed into my lane. She clipped my shoulder, threw herself backward onto the gravel, and shrieked.

"Alpha, help me!" she wailed, clutching her knee. "Giselle attacked me! She used excessive force!"

Sterling marched toward us. He straightened his shoulders—his usual tell before deploying his authority.

"Submit, Giselle!" he roared, unleashing the full, crushing weight of his Alpha tone.

The invisible pressure slammed into my chest, trying to force my knees to the dirt. Lesser wolves would have collapsed.

"You’re nothing but a jealous, broken she-wolf!" Sterling barked. "Get on your knees and apologize to her!"

My teeth ground together so hard I tasted blood, but I refused to bend.

Four figures broke from the ranks. Gamma Cord and three senior warriors stepped between me and Sterling.

"Alpha, this is wrong," Cord said firmly. "Giselle didn't attack her. Kalani threw herself into her sparring circle."

Sterling's eyes flared crimson. "You dare question your Alpha? For defending a deformed she-wolf who can't even lead?" He glared at the four of them. "Cord, you and your squad are stripped of your titles. You are demoted to Omegas. Effective immediately."

Cord didn't flinch. Neither did the three warriors behind him.

I locked eyes with Sterling through the suffocating haze of his Alpha tone. I held my head high, standing tall in the dust, and said nothing.

The humiliation peaked that evening at the annual pack banquet.

The grand dining hall was packed with hundreds of wolves. Crystal chandeliers hung above tables covered in white linen. Sterling stood at the head table with a microphone in hand, Kalani clinging to his arm in a shimmering red silk gown.

"For the stability and future of the Silverfang Pack," Sterling declared into the mic, "I am officially stripping Giselle Weaver of her Luna title. From this moment on, Kalani Dixon will serve as our new Luna."

The room went dead silent.

Then, Sterling’s mother stood up. Former Luna Elaine.

Two months ago, this woman had knelt on the floor of my quarters. She had wept, clutching my hands, begging me to endure the agonizing marrow transfer to keep her son alive.

Now, Elaine smoothed her velvet dress and sneered at me.

"This is the right decision," Elaine announced, her voice ringing clear. "A Luna must reflect the grace of our bloodline. Giselle’s monstrous new wolf form is an embarrassment to Silverfang. Kalani is a proper Luna."

Whispers filled the room. Pitying looks and cruel smirks turned my way.

I sat at my table, perfectly still. My hands rested calmly on the white tablecloth. I did not flinch. I did not shed a single tear.

Deep inside my chest, the warmth of the mate bond turned into ice. And the ice hardened into pure, unbreakable iron.