Alpha Denied My Dying Child

The rocky ground beneath my feet felt uneven as we approached the outskirts of the pack cemetery. I couldn't see the desolate landscape, but I could feel it—a place reserved for the unbonded and the disgraced. The wind carried the scent of wild grass and distant pines, and beneath it all, the faint metallic tang of old blood. This was where rogues were buried, where the pack disposed of those they deemed unworthy of their sacred grounds. My son, an Alpha's true heir, would be laid to rest among them. The irony burned like acid in my throat.

Pearl's voice broke the silence, soft but clear in the evening air. 'We gather under the Moon Goddess's light,' she began, reciting the ancient prayer for departed pups. My heart clenched. That prayer was meant to be spoken by the Luna or the pack Healer—never by an Omega bakery clerk. But Pearl continued, her voice growing stronger with each word. 'May she welcome this innocent soul into her eternal embrace, and may his spirit find peace in her divine light.'

I felt the wooden box being lowered to the ground, and my knees buckled as I knelt beside it. My fingers traced the rough edges, memorizing every imperfection. This was all I could give him now—this makeshift coffin, this forbidden prayer, this moment of dignity snatched from the jaws of disgrace.

A commotion erupted from the gathering crowd. 'What is this blasphemy?' The voice was sharp, female, and dripping with contempt. Sienna Voss. Milan's right hand and the architect of my social exile. I heard her heels clicking against the stone as she pushed through the crowd.

'How dare you perform a sacred rite for a rogue pup?' she snarled, and I heard the sound of a scuffle. One of the Omega volunteers cried out in pain. 'Stop this farce immediately!'

Pearl's voice wavered but didn't break. 'This child deserves—'

'What this child deserves is nothing,' Sienna spat. 'And you'll be lucky if you don't join him in exile for this little stunt. Now hand over that box before I tear it apart myself.'

The tension in the air thickened, pressing against my skin like a physical weight. I could feel the other Omegas trembling, their courage wavering in the face of Sienna's aggression. But Pearl stood her ground, her voice steady despite the threat. 'You have no authority here, Sienna. This is a sacred moment, and even you cannot disrupt it.'

Before Sienna could respond, a new presence cut through the chaos—a suffocating wave of Alpha dominance that made every wolf present bare their necks in submission. Boston. My mate. My betrayer. His scent hit me like a physical blow, and my wolf, what little remained of her, whimpered in agony.

'Enough!' His voice thundered across the clearing, and I heard the Omegas collapse to the ground, their bodies forced into submission by the sheer power of his aura. 'What is this pathetic farce?'

Milan's voice followed, honey-sweet and poisonous. 'Alpha, they're trying to make a mockery of pack law. Holding an unauthorized funeral for a rogue pup... it's an insult to everything we stand for.'

Maximus's cruel laughter echoed in the background, the sound of it twisting in my gut like a knife. 'Pathetic,' he sneered. 'Begging for scraps of dignity for a bastard.'

Boston's footsteps approached, each one deliberate and heavy. I could feel his anger radiating like heat, his pride wounded by this challenge to his authority. 'I command you to stop this ritual immediately,' he growled, his Alpha tone making the very air vibrate with power. 'This... this mockery ends now.'

His hand closed around the wooden box, and I heard Pearl's cry of protest. 'No! Please, Alpha! Let him have this one moment of peace!'

'Peace?' Boston's laugh was cold, devoid of any warmth or compassion. 'This rogue pup will find no peace in my pack. And if you continue this charade, I'll throw his ashes into the river myself. Is that what you want, Aria? For your precious son to be scattered like dust on the wind?'

My hands curled into fists at my sides, nails digging into my palms until I felt blood trickle down my wrists. The mate bond between us pulsed with his anger, his certainty, his absolute belief that he was in the right. And beneath it all, I felt something else—a flicker of doubt, quickly smothered but unmistakable.

He didn't know. After all this time, after everything he'd done, he still didn't know what he had destroyed.