I Chose My Omega Protector Over My Cruel Alpha Mate

Eren didn't answer my question. Instead, he turned away, his shoulders tight. "Pack. Now."

I grabbed a duffel bag from the closet and started throwing clothes into it. My hands moved on autopilot while my mind spun in circles. That sound he'd made. That power. What was he?

A wave of nausea hit me halfway through folding a sweater.

I dropped it, pressing my hand to my stomach. The room tilted. My knees buckled, and suddenly Eren was there, catching me before I hit the floor.

"Zara." His voice was sharp with concern. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I just—" Another cramp twisted through my abdomen, different from the bond pain. Deeper. More insistent.

Eren's nostrils flared. His eyes widened, just a fraction. "No."

"What?" I looked up at him, confused by the horror in his face.

A soft knock at the door made us both freeze. "Miss Hayes?" The voice was familiar. Mrs. Chen, the pack healer. "May I come in?"

Eren hesitated, then nodded. He helped me to the bed as Mrs. Chen slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind her. She was older, with kind eyes that had always treated me with more respect than I deserved in this pack.

"I felt it," she said softly, moving to my side. "The bond breaking. And now..." Her hand hovered over my stomach. "May I?"

I nodded, not understanding.

Her palm pressed gently against my abdomen. Her eyes closed. When they opened again, they were filled with sadness.

"You're carrying a pup," she whispered. "From the last heat cycle."

The words didn't make sense at first. Then they did, and the world stopped.

A pup. Weston's pup.

"No," I breathed. "No, that's not—we were careful, he said—"

"The bond makes us fertile," Mrs. Chen said gently. "Especially during heat. I'm sorry, child."

Eren's hand found mine, squeezing tight.

Mrs. Chen glanced at the door, then back at me. "Alpha Marcus will know soon. He'll use this to keep you here. A bloodline heir, especially from you—" She stopped, shaking her head. "You need to leave. Tonight."

"But the pup—"

"Will be raised by Lilian and Weston," she said bluntly. "Used as a tool to control you. Is that what you want?"

I thought of Lilian's smirk. Of Weston's cold eyes. Of a child growing up watching their mother be humiliated, learning that love meant enduring abuse.

"No," I whispered.

Mrs. Chen reached into her bag and pulled out a worn leather journal. My grandmother's journal. I recognized the handwriting on the cover.

"Your grandmother left this with me before she passed," Mrs. Chen said. "She made me promise to give it to you if you ever needed it. I think that time is now."

She opened it to a marked page. The heading read: Severing Herb.

My hands shook as I took the journal. The recipe was written in my grandmother's careful script, along with a note: For freedom when the bond becomes a cage.

"I can't," I said, but the words felt hollow.

"You can," Mrs. Chen said firmly. "And you must. This pup deserves better than to be born into this toxicity. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is let go."

She pressed a small pouch into my hands. "The herbs. Already prepared. Just add hot water and steep for five minutes."

Then she was gone, slipping out as quietly as she'd come.

I stared at the pouch. At Eren, whose face was carefully blank.

"It's your choice," he said quietly. "I'll support whatever you decide."

But we both knew there was no real choice. Not if I wanted to be free.

I went to the kitchen with shaking hands. Put the kettle on. Watched the water boil. The herbs smelled bitter when I added them to the cup, like earth and endings.

The tea was dark, almost black. Steam rose from it in lazy spirals.

I thought of the pup. Of what could have been, in a different world. A world where Weston loved me. Where Lilian didn't exist. Where I had a wolf and a pack that respected me.

But that wasn't this world.

I lifted the cup to my lips. The first sip burned. The second one hurt less. By the third, I was crying, tears streaming down my face as I drank my freedom.

Eren held me as the cramps started. Worse than before, like my body was tearing itself apart from the inside. I bit down on my lip to keep from screaming, tasting blood.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed into his chest. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't," he said fiercely. "Don't apologize for choosing yourself."

The pain lasted twenty minutes. When it finally faded, I felt empty. Hollow. But also lighter, like I'd cut the last chain holding me to this place.

I stood on shaking legs. "Let's go."

We finished packing in silence. Two bags. That's all I was taking from seven years of my life.

The pack house was quiet as we made our way to the garage. Too quiet. My instincts screamed danger, but we had no choice.

Eren loaded the bags into his old sedan. I was reaching for the passenger door when lights flooded the driveway.

Three Gamma warriors stepped out of the shadows. I recognized them—Jake, Marcus, and Tom. They'd always been loyal to Alpha Marcus.

"Going somewhere?" Jake asked, his voice cold.

"Let us pass," Eren said.

Jake laughed. "Alpha's orders. The valuable breeder stays."

The words hit like a slap. That's all I was to them. A breeder.

"She's not your breeder," Eren said, and his voice dropped into that dangerous register again. "She's not your anything."

"And what are you going to do about it, Omega?" Marcus sneered, stepping forward.

Eren moved.

I'd never seen anything like it. He was a blur, faster than any wolf I'd ever seen. His fist connected with Marcus's jaw, and the Gamma went down hard. Jake lunged, but Eren caught him mid-air, slamming him into the ground with enough force to crack the concrete.

Tom shifted, his wolf form erupting in a shower of clothes. He was huge, easily two hundred pounds of muscle and teeth.

Eren didn't shift. He didn't need to.

He caught Tom's jaws with his bare hands and twisted. The wolf yelped, crashing to the side. Eren's knee came up, connecting with Tom's ribs. I heard bones crack.

Thirty seconds. That's all it took for Eren to take down three trained Gamma warriors without even shifting.

He turned to me, breathing hard, his golden eyes glowing in the darkness. "Get in the car."

I scrambled into the passenger seat. Eren slid behind the wheel, and we peeled out of the driveway, leaving the groaning warriors behind.

"The SUV," I said, pointing to the pack's black vehicle parked near the gate. "It's faster."

Eren nodded. We switched vehicles quickly, and then we were speeding through the gate, leaving the Black Moon Pack territory behind.

I looked back once. The pack house was lit up, figures moving in the windows. Searching for me.

But I was already gone.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Eren's hands tightened on the wheel. "Neutral territory. The Lycan Council. You'll be safe there."

"And then?"

He glanced at me, and something in his expression made my breath catch.

"Then," he said quietly, "I tell you the truth."