After My Alpha Replaced Me with His Mistress

The bitter wind of the northern border howled through the pines, but the chill in my heart had nothing to do with the weather. I trailed behind the patrol group, my boots crunching softly on the frost-hardened earth. Even here, amidst the warriors of the Blackwood Pack, I was an outcast.

Up ahead, Alpha Ronan Pierce moved with the lethal grace of a predator. His broad shoulders blocked the wind, his aura radiating a power that made my wolf, Silver, whine in submission. Walking beside him—too close, always too close—was Blair. Her laughter tinkled like shattered glass, sharp and artificial, as she whispered something in his ear. He leaned in, listening. He never listened to me.

"Focus, Elise," I scolded myself, wrapping my thin coat tighter. I was the Luna, even if they treated me like an Omega.

The scent hit me first—a pungent, rotting odor masking the crisp pine. Rogues.

"Ambush!" I screamed, but my warning was swallowed by the roar of the earth.

From the ridge above, boulders the size of cars broke loose, thundering down toward the path. Not nature—a trap. They were aiming directly for the Alpha. Ronan was distracted, turning toward my voice, too slow to see the death hurtling toward him.

I didn't think. I didn't breathe. I just shifted.

The change ripped through me, clothes shredding as Silver burst forth. I wasn't a warrior; I was small, silver, and often mocked for my size. But I was fast. I launched myself forward, a silver blur against the grey stone, and slammed my shoulder into Ronan’s chest, shoving him out of the kill zone.

*CRACK.*

The sound was sickening. The falling rock didn't miss me. It crushed my hind legs, pinning me to the frozen ground. A howl of pure agony tore from my throat, echoing through the canyon. Pain, white-hot and blinding, exploded up my spine. My back legs were useless, shattered beneath the crushing weight of the stone.

Dust swirled around us. The chaos settled into a terrifying silence. I whimpered, looking up through the haze, waiting for Ronan. He was safe. I had saved him.

Ronan stood up, brushing dust from his tactical gear. He looked at me, but his eyes held no gratitude. They were hard. Cold.

"Oh, for Goddess's sake," Blair’s voice cut through the ringing in my ears. She stepped out from behind a tree, barely a smudge of dirt on her pristine face. "Look at her, Ronan. Always the victim. It was just a few loose rocks, and she's wailing like a dying pup to get your attention."

*No,* I tried to mind-link him, but the pain made my mental voice static. *My legs... I can't move.*

"The Rogues are gone," Blair continued, her voice dripping with fake pity. "She probably sensed them miles away and waited for the dramatic moment. She’s weakening the pack, Ronan. A Luna who cries over a scratch?"

Ronan’s jaw tightened. The disgust in his scent hit me harder than the boulder. "Shift, Elise."

I whined, scraping my front claws against the frozen dirt. I couldn't. Shifting with broken bones would be torture.

"I said, *shift*!" Ronan roared, using the Alpha Tone.

The command slammed into me like a physical blow. It bypassed my will, forcing my body to obey. I screamed—a human scream this time—as my bones snapped and rearranged. The rock didn't move, so my legs had to pull free from underneath it. The sound of grinding bone made the warriors look away, but Ronan didn't blink.

I lay naked and shivering in the snow, my legs twisted at unnatural angles, the skin purple and bleeding. I gasped for air, tears freezing on my cheeks.

"Get up," Ronan commanded, looming over me.

"I... I can't," I sobbed, reaching a trembling hand toward him. "Ronan, please. They're broken."

"Stop acting!" he spat, stepping back as if my touch would infect him. "Blair is right. You use your weakness as a weapon. I am done coddling you."

He turned his back on me. "If you want to be Luna, you will return to the Pack House under your own power. No assistance. That is an Alpha command."

"Ronan, no!" I screamed, but he was already shifting into his massive black wolf. Blair smirked down at me, her eyes dancing with malice, before shifting into her russet wolf and trotting after him. The warriors hesitated, looking at my mangled legs, but the Alpha’s command was absolute. They left.

I was alone.

The blizzard rolled in minutes later, turning the world into a wall of white. I dragged myself by my elbows, leaving a trail of blood on the pristine snow. Every inch was a battle against unconsciousness. My fingers turned blue, then grey.

*Protect the baby,* I chanted internally, the only thought keeping me alive. *I have to save the heir.*

I hadn't told Ronan yet. I wanted it to be a surprise. Now, the secret felt like a heavy stone in my belly.

Through the howling wind, shadows emerged. Not pack.

Rogues. The ones who had set the trap.

"Look what the Alpha left behind," a rough voice sneered.

I tried to scramble back, but my broken legs were dead weight. A boot slammed into my ribs, flipping me onto my back. I screamed, curling into a ball to protect my stomach, but I was weak, frozen, and broken.

They descended on me like vultures. Blow after blow rained down. I couldn't fight. I couldn't shift.

Then, the kick came. A heavy, steel-toed boot drove straight into my lower abdomen.

Time stopped.

The pain wasn't physical. It was spiritual. Deep inside me, a tiny, golden tether—the bond I had felt growing for weeks—suddenly snapped. The warmth in my womb turned to ice.

"No..." I whispered, the sound lost in the wind.

Blood, hot and terrifyingly copious, soaked the snow between my thighs. The Rogues laughed, satisfied with their cruelty, and faded back into the storm.

I lay staring up at the grey sky. The physical pain of my legs was gone, replaced by a hollow, crushing void where my baby used to be. The Alpha heir was gone. My pup was gone.

As darkness finally took me, I didn't pray for Ronan to save me. I prayed that when I woke up, I wouldn't love him anymore.